Chapter One INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Need for the Study 3
1.3 Significance of the Study 6
1.4 Organization of the Dissertation 11
Chapter Two PROCEDURAL MEMORY AND LANGUAGELEARNING 13
2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 Information Processing-Based Memory Research 13
2.3 Multiple Memory Systems 16
2.4 Procedural Memory 23
2.5 Studies of the Role of Procedural Memory in Language Learning 35
2.6 Drawbacks with Previous Studies 51
2.7 Summary 53
Chapter Three FINDINGS ON ORAL PRODUCTION 54
3.1 Introduction 54
3.2 Physiological Mechanisms of Speech Production 55
3.3 Psychological Processes in Oral Production 61
3.4 Studies Related to Non-linguistic Factors Influencing Oral Production 66
3.5 Studies Related to Indices of Oral Production Ability 67
3.6 Problems with the Previous Studies 68
3.7 Summary 71
Chapter Four A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PRESENT STUDY 72
4.1 Introduction 72
4.2 The Focus of the Present Study 72
4.3 A General Information-Processing Framework 75
4.4 A New Approach to Linguistic Competence 78
4.5 Identification of Functioning of Procedural Memory 80
4.6 Oral Proficiency in the Newly-developed Concept of Linguistic Competence 86
4.7 Summary 97
Chapter Five RESEARCH DESIGN 98
5.1 Introduction 98
5.2 Research Principles 99
5.3 Research Questions 103
5.4 The Pilot Study 105
5.5 A Cross-sectional Study between High-proficiency and Low-proficiency L2 Speakers 106
5.6 A Comparative Case Study between Native English Speakers and Non-native English Speakers 135
5.7 A Longitudinal Case Study of a Low-proficiency Subject 144
5.8 A Cross-comparative Case Study between and within Subjects 149
5.9 Summary 151
Chapter Six RESULTS AND DISCUSSION （1）：DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH-PROFICIENCY AND LOW-PROFICIENCY L2 SPEAKERS 152
6.1 Introduction 152
6.2 Differences of Oral Production between High-proficiency and Low-proficiency L2 Speakers 153
6.3 The Effects of Chunks 168
6.4 Major Factors Influencing Oral Production 170
6.5 Summary 177
Chapter Seven RESULTS AND DISCUSSION （2）：FEATURES OF NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS AND HIGH-PROFICIENCY NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS 178
7.1 Introduction 178
7.2 Similarities and Difficulties between Native English Speakers and High-proficiency Non-native English Speakers 179
7.3 The Effects of Chunks 192
7.4 Major Factors Influencing Oral Production of the Object Clause Structure of Indirect Speech 193
7.5 Summary 194
Chapter Eight RESULTS AND DISCUSSION （3）：THE EFFECTS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PROCEDURAL MEMORY ON ORAL PRODUCTION 195
8.1 Introduction 195
8.2 Major Results and Discussion for Fluency 196
8.3 Major Results and Discussion for Accuracy 209
8.4 Major Results and Discussion for Complexity 214
8.5 Results and Discussion for the Interviews 218
8.6 Other Findings and Discussion 220
8.7 Summary 223
Chapter Nine CONCLUSION 224
9.1 Introduction 224
9.2 Major Findings 224
9.3 Implications 230
9.4 Limitations 236
9.5 Suggestions for Future Research 237
9.6 Summary 238
REFERENCES APPENDICES 267
Appendix 1 An Oral Task 267
Appendix 2 全国大学英语四六口语考试（CET-SET）大纲 268
Appendix 3 Multiple Choices 270
Appendix 4 CBE Ⅰ： Listen，Judge and Speak＆Listen and Repeat 274
Appendix 5 CBE Ⅱ： Questions and Answers 276
Appendix 6 Questionnaire 278
Appendix 7 The E-prime Expenment： The Change of Sentence Patterns 281
Appendix 8 The Tests and Training Plans for Jun 282