Inserted adjuncts, working memory capacity, and L2 reading

Empirical studies in first language (L1) research support the use of inserted adjunct questions to facilitate L1 reading comprehension. The status of this comprehension technique for second language (L2) readers, however, remains unclear. Given the possibility that adjunct questions augment the cognitive demands of the task, the current study investigated the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and text adjuncts, as well as the effect of inserted adjuncts on L2 reading comprehension. Seventy learners of intermediate Spanish read two texts that contained either targeted segment (“what”) questions inserted into both passages, elaborative interrogation (“why”) questions inserted into both passages, or no questions in either of the two passages. Participants were administered an L1 working memory (WM) test-the Reading Span-and three comprehension assessments. Although the “why” questions were slightly more facilitative than the “what” questions and no questions, results indicate no significant effect of adjunct condition. When interactions with WM surfaced as significant, the pattern was apparent: the greater the WMC, the more beneficial the adjunct questions were for L2 readers. These findings suggest that, for intermediate learners of Spanish, there is no advantage to including inserted adjuncts in L2 expository texts, but that WM may explain performance differences in some cases.