An Empirical Research Of Dual Coding Theory In Foreign Language Reading Process

Throughout the decades, investigators have been arduously working towards the formulation of theoretical models which can account for the reading process. The recent reading theories like bottom-up theories, top-down theories, schema theory and interactive theory can partly explain the reading process. However, all these theories put much emphasis on linguistic factors in the reading process and ignore the nonverbal factors, which are equally important in the reading process. Different from other reading theories, Dual Coding Theory (DCT), a relatively new reading theory put forward first by Allan Paivio in the 1990s, claims that cognition in reading and writing consists of the activity of two separate coding systems of mental representation, one system specialized for language and one system specialized for dealing with nonverbal objects and events, mental imagery and affective responses, which accordingly play the mediating and ancillary roles in thorough comprehension and longer recall of the text. Another important assumption of DCT is that concrete texts are easier to understand, more interesting and better recalled than abstract texts. In accordance with current needs, the present investigation makes an empirical research on nonverbal factors and on language concreteness effect on comprehensibility, interest and recall of the texts by adopting Dual Coding Theory as the theoretical base. Specifically speaking, the author tries to testify whether the subjects eliciting more mental images and affective responses in the reading process can understand and recall the text better than those arousing few mental images and affective responses. Furthermore, we attempt to verify whether the concrete texts are more comprehensible, more interesting for the subjects to read and can be better recalled.Two experiments, employing thirty sophomores in English Department of Zhixing College, Northwest Normal University as subjects, are carried out to test the above-mentioned hypotheses through quantitive and qualitative analytical methods. Experiment one investigates whether the subjects eliciting more mental images and affective responses in the reading process can understand and recall the text better than those arousing few mental images and affective responses. Results indicate that eliciting mental images and affective responses is a natural part in reading process, not only in first language environment but also in foreign language environment, those evoking more mental images and affective responses are apt to understand and recall the texts better than those eliciting few mental images and affective responses. Experiment two is carried out to investigate whether the concrete texts are more comprehensible, more interesting for the subjects to read and can be better recalled. Results reveal that concreteness is the best predictor of comprehensibility, interest and recall of a text. The concrete texts are rated highly in terms of comprehensibility, interest and recall than abstract texts. Furthermore, language concreteness effect on comprehensibility, interest and recall of texts varies in different text type; the effect of language concreteness is greater for argumentative and less for expository texts and narrative texts.The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction to the present research,including the overview of the current situation of reading process research, the aims and the significance of the present research.Chapter two is devoted to literature review. It provides a brief review of reading theories from the 1960s and a selective literature review of recent studies abroad and in China on Dual Coding Theory, then the difference of our present research from those in the past are stated.Chapter three is concerned with the theoretical background-Dual Coding Theory. The basic concepts relevant to this theory are first presented, then, the basic units, the general model and the general reading process of DCT are introduced. Finally, the functions of DCT are summarized.Chapter four is devoted...