Working Memory Capacity and L2 University Students' Comprehension of Linear Texts and Hypertexts

Autor/inn/en	Fontanini, Ingrid; Tomitch, Leda Maria Braga
Titel	Working Memory Capacity and L2 University Students' Comprehension of Linear Texts and Hypertexts
Quelle	In: International Journal of English Studies, 9 (2009) 2, S.1-18 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1578-7044
Schlagwörter	Short Term Memory; Second Language Learning; Reading Comprehension; Second Language Instruction; Hypermedia; Measures (Individuals); Recall (Psychology); Reading Tests; English (Second Language); Language Acquisition; Interference (Language); Cognitive Processes; Chinese; Native Speakers; Portuguese; Graduate Students; Brazil; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Leseverstehen; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Messdaten; Abberufung; Lesetest; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; China; Chinesen; Muttersprachler; Portugiesischunterricht; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Brasilien; Großbritannien
Abstract	The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between working memory capacity and L2 reading comprehension of both linear texts and hypertexts. Three different instruments were used to measure comprehension (recall, comprehension questions and perception of contradictions) and the Reading Span Test (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980) was used as a measure of working memory capacity. Forty-two speakers of English as an L2 from two different L1 backgrounds (21 Brazilians and 21 Chinese) participated in the study. The results obtained signal to the fact that hypertexts might compromise comprehension, especially for low-span participants. The broad conclusion achieved in this study is that different variables including readers' working memory capacity, their first language, and the mode of text presentation may interfere in L2 reading, and each one of these aspects might hamper, in different ways, the construction of a coherent mental representation of the text being read. (Contains 2 footnotes and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Murcia. Department of English Philology Merced Campus, Calle Santo Cristo 1, Murcia 30071 Spain. Tel: +34-868-88-3406; Fax: +34-868-88-3409; e-mail: publicaciones@um.es; Web site: http://www.um.es/ijes
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10