1. EXPLORING THE ROLE OF PROFICIENCY AS A MEDIATOR
OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORKING MEMORY AND
TEXT COMPREHENSION IN THE L2
Bora DEMİR
co-advisors:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülcan Erçetin (Boğaziçi University)
Asst. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Koçoğlu (Yeditepe University)
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2. Presentation outline
•Purpose of the study
•Research questions
•Background
 Working memory (WM)
 WM and language learning
 WM and L2 reading/listening research
•Method
 Participants/instruments/procedure
•Significance of the study
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3. Purpose of the study
The aim of this study is to find out whether there is
a relationship between working memory (WM)
capacity and listening/reading, and whether this
relationship is mediated by learners’ proficiency
level in the L2.
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4. Research questions
1. Is there a relationship between WM capacity and
listening comprehension in the L2?
2. Is there a relationship between WM capacity and
reading comprehension in the L2?
3. Does WM’s relationship to L2 reading and listening
change as learners’ proficiency level increase?
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5. Background
(Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)
Memory manipulation
STM transformation
passive
stores
LTM processing of
information
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6. Working Memory (WM)
Baddeley and Hitch (1974, 2000)
•This system has the ability to store and process
information simultaneously.
•WM refers to a limited capacity system of
temporary storage and manipulation of input that is
necessary for complex tasks such as comprehension
and reasoning.
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7. Figure 1. Baddeley’s model of working memory (2000)
Central
Executive
Visio-spatial Episodic Phonological
sketch-pad buffer loop
Visual Episodic Speech based
LTM Language
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8. Measurement of WM
WM span tasks
Simple span tasks Complex span tasks
storage storage and processing
not only the storage of information and rehearsal
but also the immediate cognitive processing of
incoming information (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980)
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9. commonly used complex span test is the Reading Span test
(RST) (Daneman & Carpenter 1980).
The RST assesses an individual’s ability to simultaneously
read and comprehend a set of sentences and then recall a
target word for each, usually the last word in the sentence.
Listening Span Test (LST) is a spoken version of the
RST, which follows the same format but requires participants
to listen to a set of sentences and recall the last word.
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10. Working memory and Language Learning
WM is significantly involved in language comprehension and
is reported as a predictor of language proficiency.
the role of WM in various L1 language processes including,
 reading (Conway, et al., 2005; Daneman & Carpenter, 1980)
 grammar (Ellis, 1996; Williams & Lovatt, 2003)
 speaking (Daneman, 1991; Daneman & Green, 1986)
 writing (Kellogg, 2001; Kellogg, Olive, & Piolat, 2007;)
 listening (Mackey, Adams, Stafford & Winke, 2010)

11. Working memory and Language Learning
In contrast to L1 language processing there has been less effort to
systematically examine the role of WM in L2 processing.
the role of WM in various L2 language processes including,
 overall proficiency (van den Noort, Bosch & Hugdahl, 2006)
 reading (Harrington & Sawyer, 1992; Leeser 2007)
 writing (Adams & Guillot, 2008)
 sentence processing (Felser & Roberts, 2007; Juffs, 2004)
 grammar (French & O’Brien, 2008; Juffs, 2006)
 speaking (Fortkamp, 1999; Mizera, 2005)
 listening (Dörnyei & Skehan 2003; Robinson, 2005)
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12. Method
Participants
two groups of students at different proficiency levels from
Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University
a) Upper-intermediate level
the prep students of the departments of English Language
Teaching and English Language and Literature
b) Advanced level
the junior students of the departments of English
Language Teaching
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13. Number of Target
participants population
Advanced level 50 135
Upper- 50 130
intermediate level
Total 100 265
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14. Instruments
R e a d i n g S p a n Ta s k s ( L 1 )
WM R e a d i n g S p a n Ta s k s ( L 2 )
N o n - w o r d r e p e t i t i o n Te s t
Reading & Certificate in Advanced
Listening English (CAE – Cambridge
Comprehension level 4)
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15. Data collection procedures
1. At the beginning of the Spring semester, 2012, both
the prep and the ELT students will be given the CAE.
2. The RSTs and the non-word repetition test will be
administered to all the students individually.
3. At the end of the Spring semester, both the prep and
the ELT students will be given a parallel form of the
CAE.
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