A Study On The Effects Of Working Memory On Learners’ Thematic Inference Processing Of L2Narrative Pssaages

This study is designed to investigate the effects of the working memory onlearners’ thematic inference generation during L2narrative reading comprehension.The experiment is implemented by using E-Prime and L2narrative passages tomeasure the response time and response accuracy on topic sentences.85sophomoreEnglish-major students in a university in Jiangxi Province were tested. Theexperimental design is a2(working memory: low-span and high-span)×2(discourserelation: same-theme condition and different-theme condition) factorial.The experimental results demonstrate that (1) Working memory span contributesconsiderably to Chinese EFL learners’ thematic inferential processing during L2narrative reading comprehension. Learners with the high working memory spanrespond significantly faster to topic sentences in both same-theme and different-themeconditions, whereas their low-span counterparts do not. Compared with low-spansubjects, high-span subjects get higher response accuracy during thematic inferencegeneration.(2) On the response time aspect, the main effect of working memory spanand the main effect of discourse relation are all significant. The interactive effect ofboth two factors was not significant. On the response accuracy aspect, the maineffects of each factor and the interactive effect of both two factors are not significanton the generation of thematic inferences.(3) Discourse relation also influencesChinese EFL learners’ thematic inference construction. Under the same-themecondition, both high-span and low-span working memory learners can make thematicinferences faster and more accurately than under the different-theme condition. But onthe response accuracy aspect, no significant difference was found. Hence, the result ofthis research supports the contention that readers’ working memory is a crucial factorduring the generation of thematic inferences.The findings of the current study contribute theoretically, methodologically andpedagogically to the fields of L2reading and EFL teaching in China. From theoreticalperspective, this study points out some fundamental issues in L2narrative passageprocessing and the model of thematic inference construction, thus facilitating to theresearch on thematic inference and working memory. Methodologically, the presentinvestigation employs reading time measurement to explore Chinese EFL learners’ thematic inference processing. Therefore, it also expands research methods to theresearch on L2reading and inferencing research. On the aspect of teaching practice,the findings of the current study indicate that EFL teachers and learners shouldconvert the traditional teaching and learning methods in English reading and pay moreattention to individual differences and the cognitive process of readingcomprehension.