چکیده

Working memory (WM), as a temporary storage and processing system, has been the focus of much recent second language research. Memory processes are assumed to be influenced by a large number of affective factors, including emotional stimuli. Furthermore, it is suggested that there is a trade-off between storage and processing components of WM. This assumption has been the likely point of departure for studies investigating the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in processing emotional stimuli through various tasks. However, examining this impact through analyzing eye movement patterns in a second language has been neglected in prior studies. To examine this effect, 30 English emotion words of various valence types were put into single line sentences as targets. Words and sentences were previously normed on a similar group of participants for comprehensibility and matched on lexical variables known to affect eye movements across conditions. Fifty-four intermediate EFL learners read experimental sentences while their eye movements were recorded. Participants’ proficiency levels and WMC were assessed a priori through Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and the automated version of Operation Span Task (OSPAN), respectively. The analyses of the results of first-pass fixation duration measures (e.g., first fixation duration, single fixation duration, and gaze duration) showed that high WMC readers were faster in processing L2 emotion words of various valence types, but there was no significant difference between the high and low WMC readers in processing neutral stimuli. These results indicate that individual differences in WMC play a significant role in L2 sentence processing which can be modulated through different experimental tasks.

کليدواژه ها

Working Memory Capacity, Operation Span Task, Emotional Words, Eye Movements, Bilingualism

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Hannaneh Abbasnejad , 1398 , Working Memory Capacity Effects on Processing L2 Emotional Words: An Eye Movement Study , اولين کنفرانس بين المللي مطالعات زبان انگليسي