Reading Processing and Retention of Textual Information:Effects of Topic Familiarity and Reading Purpose AcrossLower and Higher Working-Memory Capacity Groups

Socorro Gardênia Carvalho  de Paula; Vládia Maria Cabral  Borges

Authors

Drª. Socorro Gardênia Carvalho de Paula Instituto Federal do Ceará. Paracuru, Ceará, Brasil.
Drª. Vládia Maria Cabral Borges Universidade Federal do Ceará. Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.

Keywords:

working memory, prior knowledge, immediate retention of textual information

Abstract

In the light of contemporary approaches to the interface between language and cognition, this study investigates not only isolated but also cumulative effects of prior knowledge (topic familiarity) and reading purpose on immediate retention of textual information among readers with lower and higher working memory capacity. Although the literature reports significant advances in the isolated investigation of these constructs, studies examining their combined effects on retention of reading information are still scarce, especially when readers’ individual differences in working memory capacity are taken into consideration. The results show compensatory effects of prior knowledge and reading purpose, as well as positive effects when both constructs are present, especially in the retention performance of readers with lower working memory capacity. Discussions are based on Baddeley’s version of the working memory model (2000), since the results reflect a more efficient allocation of limited working memory resources due to these cognitive facilitators. The results are also discussed from the perspective of the reading model proposed by Van Dijk and Kintsch (1983), since both constructs are suggested as facilitators of more coherent mental representations promoting more retention. These contribute to the understanding of cognitive mechanisms involved in reading processing and offer theoretical and empirical support for ongoing discussions in Psycholinguistics and language processing research.

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Author Biographies

Drª. Socorro Gardênia Carvalho de Paula , Instituto Federal do Ceará. Paracuru, Ceará, Brasil.

Possui doutorado em Linguística pela Universidade Federal do Ceará, graduação em Letras com habilitação em Português e Inglês pela Universidade Federal do Ceará e mestrado em Estudos da Tradução pela Universidade Federal do Ceará. Ex-bolsista Fulbright (2013), participando do programa de certificação de Língua Inglesa para professores de Inglês, na Universidade do Texas em Austin. Ex-bolsista Capes (2024), como pesquisadora visitante na Northeastern University em Boston. Atualmente, atua como professora efetiva do Instituto Federal do Ceará - Campus Paracuru. Tem experiência na área de Linguística, com ênfase em Cognição, Processamento e Desenvolvimento da Linguagem, atuando principalmente com os seguintes temas: Memória de Trabalho e Desempenho em Tarefas Orais e de Leitura; Memória de Trabalho e Processamento de Leitura; Processamento de Leitura em Meios Digitais; Ensino e Aprendizagem da Língua Inglesa e Estudos da Tradução.
Drª. Vládia Maria Cabral Borges , Universidade Federal do Ceará. Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.

Ph.D. em Educação pela Universidade de Rhode Island, EUA (2006). Professora adjunta do Departamento de Letras Estrangeiras da Universidade Federal do Ceará desde 1994, Diretora do Centro de Humanidades da UFC, pelo quadriênio 2015-2019, e coordena o Programa Inglês sem Fronteiras no âmbito da UFC. Pesquisa e orienta pesquisas nas áreas de: processamento textual; metodologia de ensino-aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras; e ensino-aprendizagem de línguas mediado pelo computador.

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