The Role of Conjunctions in L2 Text Comprehension

Abstract

Conjunctions make explicit the logical relations between propositions and signal text structure. There is evidence from L1 research literature to show that skilled and less skilled readers differ in the degree to which they utilize explicit logical relations markers (i.e., conjunctions) in text and in the degree to which they infer implicit logical relations. The purpose of the research reported here was to discover whether and at what level of L2 proficiency the meaning of conjunctions is comprehended by the adult literate L2 learner. Universitylevel L2 learners with English as L2 performed a number of tasks in which their comprehension of logical relationships and the conjunctions used to signal them was tested intrasententially, intersententially, and at discourse level. Results suggest that the ability to realize the nature of logical relationships within local contexts is a necessary but not sufficient component of comprehension of such relations in extended discourse. With increased proficiency, L2 learners improve their ability to utilize and infer logical relationships in extended discourse.