The Effects Of Working Memory And Vocabulary Knowledge On English Reading Comprehension Among Art Major Students

Reading is a complicated psychological process which involves many different factors,either linguistic or non-linguistic.Linguistic variables consist of words,phrases,sentence structures and so on,while non-linguistic variables include memory,background knowledge,textual knowledge,reading strategies and so on.These factors make different contributions to reading comprehension.This study aims to explore the effects of working memory and vocabulary knowledge on English reading comprehension.To be specific,the study is intended to answer three questions:(1)How do working memory and vocabulary knowledge correlate with reading comprehension?(2)What are the differences between high-level and low-level readers in working memory and vocabulary knowledge?(3)What contributions do working memory and vocabulary knowledge make to reading comprehension?A total of 102 sophomores in the program of Environmental Art and Design from a university in Jinan,Shandong Province participated in this study.Instruments administered to students included a visual working memory test,an auditory working memory test,a vocabulary knowledge test and a reading comprehension test.Those tests were borrowed from other researchers' and adaptations were made.The tests were done in English class;working memory tests were done individually,and other tests collectively.SPSS 20.0 was used to analyze the collected data.Data analysis indicated that there were correlations between working memory and reading comprehension and between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension.Compared with visual working memory and vocabulary knowledge,the correlation between auditory working memory and reading comprehension was more significant.The correlation between auditory working memory and reading comprehension was 0.41(p<0.01),the correlation between visual working memory and reading comprehension was 0.36(p<0.01),and the correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension was 0.30(p<0.01).Moreover,independent samples t-test showed that significant differences existed between high-level and low-level readers in visual working memory(t = 2.33,p=0.023),auditory working memory(t = 2.78,p = 0.007)and vocabulary(t = 3.03,p=0.004).Results of stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that working memory,especially auditory working memory,had predictive influence on reading comprehension,while vocabulary could not independently predict reading comprehension.This study bears both theoretical and practical significance.Theoretically,the present study helps to better understand the relationship among working memory,vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of art major students.Practically,visual working memory and vocabulary knowledge,especially the training for auditory working memory should be given more attention in language teaching.