The phonological loop as a language device: an update

The phonological component of the working memory system is specialized in maintaining a sequence of verbal items (digits, letters, words, pseudowords) over a very short period of time. Therefore, a central issue has been why we are provided with such ability, and what is its functional role. A series of studies on healthy people, on children learning their mother tongue, on children and young adults learning a second language and, crucially, on neuropsychological patients with a selective deficit of auditory-verbal short-term memory has clearly shown that a fundamental function is to maintain a new phonological representation for a period of time long enough to build permanent phonological representations. This is exactly what happens when we learn a new language. In this chapter I will report converging evidence involving different languages showing how this important result has been obtained.