Effects of Stress and Working Memory Capacity on Foreign Language Readers’ Inferential Processing During Comprehension  

Oleh:

Rai, Manpreet K.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies (Full Text) vol. 61 no. 1 (2011), page 187-218.
Topik: foreign language; reading comprehension; working memory; inferences; inferential complexity; stress; anxiety; Attentional Control Theory
Fulltext: Volume 61, issue 1 (March 2011), p. 187-218.pdf (364.35KB)

Isi artikel

This study contains some information that has been presented at the AnnualMeeting of the Society for Text and Discourse (2008). This work was supported by funds from the Kansas State University Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. The authors wish to acknowledge the work of Bernardo de la Garza, Patricia Barros, Karlie Mann, Becky Steinert, Breeanna McSpadden, Jamie Travis, and Kristen Geri, who helped in discussion and data collection for the experiment. The authors also wish to thank Randall Engle for providing us with the Automated Operation Span task and Scott Smerchek for programming the experiment. Finally, we wish to thank Yasmin Diaz and Bradley Shaw for help in translating and proofreading our Spanish texts, and the Spanish instructors in the Kansas State University Modern Languages department for encouraging their students to participate in our study. working memory (WM) capacity, and inferential complexity on Spanish FL readers’ inferential processing during comprehension. Inferences, although necessary for reading comprehension, vary in inferential complexity and WM demands. We measured 55 intermediate-level Spanish FL learners’ reading comprehension, using questions with three levels of inferential complexity: non-inference (factual), bridging inference (pronoun referent), and pragmatic inference. We measured participants’ WM capacity and varied their stress level between blocks using a video camera. Results showed that higher WM learners were more accurate overall. Inference construction during comprehension was negatively related to inferential complexity. Stress increased processing time overall, with a trend toward greater effect on response times (RTs) for questions requiring greater inferential complexity. Higher WM learners showed a greater effect of inferential complexity on RTs than lower WM learners. More generally, and consistent with the Eysenck, Santos, Derekschan, and Calvo’s (2007) Attentional Control Theory, analyses showed that higher WM learners strategically traded reading speed (processing efficiency) for greater comprehension accuracy (processing effectiveness), whereas lower WM learners only did so under stress and did so less successfully. Thus, stress impedes FL reading comprehension through interactions between WM capacity and inferential complexity, and such effects are moderated by strategy use

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