Article1998

Evidence for Mental Models: How Do Prior Knowledge, Syntactic Complexity, and Reading Topic Affect Inference Generation in a Recall Task for Nonnative Readers of Spanish?

90 citations0/0 files storedModern Language Journal

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Second Language Acquisition and Learning EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Reading and Literacy Development

Abstract

This study tested how domain-related knowledge, syntactic complexity, and reading topic influence inference generation in the written recalls of English-speaking participants after they read Spanish historical texts. Three types of inferences were examined: within-text inferences, elaborative inferences, and incorrect inferences. The total number of inferences generated indicated the richness of the mental model, and the type of inferences generated provided evidence for the nature and accuracy of the model. Two groups of students, a high-knowledge and a low-knowledge group, read three Spanish passages, each on a different topic and at a different level of syntactic complexity as defined by the number of embedded clauses per sentence. Results suggest that high-knowledge readers generate a richer and more accurate mental model than low-knowledge readers. In addition, the level of complexity and the reading topics indicate a complex pattern of influence on the generation of inferences.

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References

1960A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales 1991Handbook of reading research 1980Individual differences in working memory and reading 1985Strategies of Discourse Comprehension 1983Mental Models 1995Long-term working memory.1986Strategies of discourse comprehension . By Teun A. van Dijk and Walter Kintsch. New York: Academic Press, 1983. Pp. xi, 418. $38.50.1985Reading in a Foreign Language

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