storage, interaction with long term memory, processing, and guidance toward current goals. Then he summarized some positive effects of working memory, such as that people who have outstanding working memories turn out to be good storytellers, and perform excellently on standardized tests. However, working memory also has its shortcomings in capacity, duration and focus. Fortunately, at the end of this speech, Dr. Doolittle stated some effective ways to deal with these limits, for example, processing simultaneously, practicing repeatedly, guessing and checking, and connecting the new to the old. Combining this with my own experience, here I am going to say more about repeated practice.
Recently, I have re-started learning English, because for years, my English has not improved. As we all know, when you speak a foreign language, you should pay attention to your pronunciation, word choice, context, logical thinking and so on. However, when you speak your own language, the burden on your working memory, in general, is not so heavy. This is because you do not need to waste much of your working memory on dealing with your pronunciation or your word choice. So, how can we release our working memory while we are speaking a foreign language? My way is to do“ deliberate practice,” which was first put forward by a Swedish psychologist- K. Ander Ericsson. He insists that although statistics show the limit of working memory is 5- 9 digits, his experiments show that it can be improved to 80 digits in less than 400 hours of training. I am not sure whether we can change our working memory, but I quite agree with the following words from his article:“ practice puts brains in your muscles.” Personally, I understand this to mean that through practice muscles can share the burden of your working memory.
Now I will introduce one kind of practice suggested by my English coach when I am learning English. The problem I am going to deal with is“ linking” in pronunciation, specifically, for example, linking in the phrase“ my umbrella.” First, I repeat it. When I can say it, I divide it into groups and add rhythm to it.( Groups and rhythm will take up your working memory, thus if you can still pronounce it fluently, your linking has improved, but keep in mind that there is no boundary to the definition of“ mastery.”) However, after such practice, I found I had made a new word –‘ yumbrella.’ And even after I say‘ my’ for a while, I’ ll pronounce‘ umbrella’ as‘ yumbrella’. Then, I regulated my practice. I said‘ my’ and‘ umbrella’ separately, then linking them together, which is practiced as one group. This arrangement helped me to understand‘ linking’ is not just the production of sounds, but a natural sound flow combined with the meaning. In other words, by doing focused, repeated practice, I made the same natural blend that native speakers use. Through regulated practice of parts, I learned the whole at a higher level. In sum, notice your problem, improve your design until you feel comfortable with it, and repeat your practice. The most important thing is to“ practice with your head.”
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