Logical connectives as catalysts for interactive L2 reading

Abstract

The present paper focuses on logical connectives as catalysts for interactive reading. Its basic purpose is to clarify how text comprehension can be affected by the types of logical relations and by the levels of proficiency in English (L2), using Japanese university students as the subjects for experimentation and focusing on three logical connectives; for example for illustrative, therefore for causal and however for adversative. A special test (Logical Relations Reading Test) was developed, in which the subjects were asked to select appropriate logical connectives for the target logical relations. The results show that the low proficiency group's performance varied from one type of logical relation to another while the high proficiency group were little affected by the type of logical relations in their reading performance. Also shown is that the low group had a tendency to favour for example over therefore, and therefore over however while the high group had a tendency to select each of the three logical connectives evenly. Based on these findings, a concept of cognitive load is proposed as an additional factor causing the difference in performance among readers of different L2 proficiency levels, thus supplementing Murray's continuity hypothesis.