The effects of illustration inclusion, placement, and type, and target language experience on foreign language learners' comprehension of text
Glass, William Ralph
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/21423
Description
Title
The effects of illustration inclusion, placement, and type, and target language experience on foreign language learners' comprehension of text
Author(s)
Glass, William Ralph
Issue Date
1992
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Lee, James F.
Department of Study
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
Discipline
Spanish
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Language and Literature
Education, Reading
Language
eng
Abstract
Both first language (L1) and second language (L2) reading research have suggested that illustrations facilitate comprehension, though results have been disparate. Moreover, L2 research has been minimal and many variables shown to be important in the L1 literature have not been manipulated in L2 research.
The current study addresses three issues in the area of reading comprehension and the role of illustrations: (1) the effects of the position of illustrations within a text, (2) the effects of illustration type, and (3) the effects of target language experience on reading comprehension insofar as this interacts with the aforementioned. The issue of generalizability of findings to other passages is also examined.
Eighty-one third-semester and seventy-three fifth-semester learners of Spanish read two expository passages under one of five possible treatment conditions. Each passage was supplemented by three representational illustrations. After reading each passage, subjects performed a free-written recall task in English and also completed a multiple-choice task.
For the recall task for the Illustration Placement Analysis, significant main effects were found for target language experience and passage. There was also a significant interaction for passage x treatment condition. Fifth-semester subjects outperformed third-semester subjects, and scores on Passage A were higher than on Passage B. For the multiple choice task, a significant main effect was found for target language experience with fifth-semester learners scoring higher than third-semester learners.
"For the recall task for the Illustration Type Analysis, significant main effects were found for target language experience and illustration type. There was also a significant interaction for illustration type x target language experience. Fifth-semester learners outperformed third-semester learners, and subjects recalled more information that was represented in the""Chain"" and ""Photo"" illustrations than was represented in the ""Cross-sectional"" adjunct. For the multiple-choice task, significant main effects were found for treatment condition and illustration type. Scores received under the ""Sequential"" treatment were higher than those received under the ""No picture"" treatment. Subjects answered more multiple-choice items correctly whose content was represented in the ""Chain"" pictorial adjunct than in the ""Photo"" adjunct."
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