Nowbakht Mohammad
Department of English Language, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
J Psycholinguist Res. 2019 Apr;48(2):353-370. doi: 10.1007/s10936-018-9607-2.
This study is designed to explore the role of second language (L2) English learners' working memory (WM), language proficiency, and age in the processing and comprehension of English anaphoric sentences. To this end, 40 EFL learners participated in the study. The proficiency levels of the participants varied from elementary to high-intermediate, as measured by the Quick Placement Test. A first-language Operation Span Task and a self-paced reading task were employed to measure the participants' WM capacity and anaphoric sentence processing and comprehension respectively. The results of standard multiple regression analyses revealed that 36% of the variation in anaphoric processing, and 70% of variation in anaphoric sentences comprehension could be accounted for by the independent variables of the study, with the composite WM as the only significant predictor. Moreover, both components of WM, i.e. WM processing and WM storage, significantly predicted 36% and 72% of variation in anaphoric processing and comprehension respectively; with the WM processing having a greater contribution in both cases. The findings of the study provide empirical evidence on the significant role of WM on anaphoric resolution.
本研究旨在探讨第二语言（L2）英语学习者的工作记忆（WM）、语言 proficiency 和年龄在英语指代句加工与理解中的作用。为此，40 名英语外语学习者参与了该研究。通过快速安置测试衡量，参与者的 proficiency 水平从初级到高中级不等。采用第一语言操作广度任务和自定步速阅读任务分别测量参与者的 WM 容量以及指代句的加工与理解。标准多元回归分析结果显示，该研究的自变量能够解释 36%的指代加工变异以及 70%的指代句理解变异，其中复合 WM 是唯一显著的预测因素。此外，WM 的两个组成部分，即 WM 加工和 WM 存储，分别显著预测了 36%和 72%的指代加工与理解变异；在这两种情况下，WM 加工的贡献更大。该研究结果为 WM 在指代消解中的重要作用提供了实证依据。
