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HOW INVOLVED ARE AMERICAN L2 LEARNERS OF SPANISH IN LEXICAL INPUTPROCESSING TASKS DURING READING?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

Diana Pulido
Diana Pulido*
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
*
*Address correspondence to: DianaPulido, Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and AfricanLanguages, Michigan State University, A-744 Wells Hall, East Lansing, MI,48824-1027; e-mail: pulidod@msu.edu.
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Abstract

This study examines the nature of the involvement load (Laufer &Hulstijn, 2001) in secondlanguage (L2) lexical input processing through reading by considering theeffects of the reader-based factors of L2 reading proficiency and backgroundknowledge. The lexical input processing aspects investigated were lexicalinferencing (search), attentional allocation during target word (TW)verification (evaluation), TW episodic memory after verification, TW retention,and changes in lexical input processing. This study also addresses therelationships between inferencing and retention as well as the relationshipsamong the various phases of lexical input processing. A questionnaire onself-reported strategy use during the TW verification task was designed toexamine motivation and cognitive involvement. A repeated-measures design wasused with a cross-sectional sample of 35 adult L2 learners of Spanish.Participants read narratives (one more and one less familiar) that containednonsense words. They guessed the meanings of the TWs. After reading all of thestories, participants completed an online inference verification task whose goalwas to confirm or to correct guesses and to encourage deeper processing of TWs.This was followed by a test of TW episodic memory (yes/no verification) and astrategy questionnaire. Afterward, participants completed two teststhat measured receptive retention of meaning. Analyses reveal differentialeffects of the reader-based variables across the different aspects of lexicalinput processing and negative changes in lexical input processing due to aninteraction between reading proficiency and background knowledge. Resultsillustrate how reader-based factors also affect learner involvement and lexicalinput processing.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 31 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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