Shallow and Deep Processing – An Integrated Cognitive Architecture for Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

This article aims to present an architecture for the integration of shallow and deep processing techniques in the context of foreign language learning. Since the concept of “levels of processing” has been originally proposed by Craik and Lockhart in 1972, specialized literature has been constantly tried to replicate this cognitive-based architecture in order to find its applications to different domains. In an endeavor to fill the existing gap in the literature that attempts to “marry” language learning and psycholinguistics, this study offers an added cognitive neuroscience perspective to the understanding of shallow and deep processing encoding mechanisms that facilitate effective language learning. Starting from a brief theoretical report of the role of cognitive processes activated for the acquisition and learning of a foreign language, this study will propose some integrated pedagogical suggestions for promoting learners’ effective processing of L2 data in the classroom.