What Do We Really Mean by Text Difficulty?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan M. Parkinson ◽  
Patricia A. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Text Difficulty

The interplay of glossing with text difficulty and comprehension levels

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110204
Author(s):  
Seyede Faezeh Hosseini Alast ◽  
Sasan Baleghizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Language ◽  
Think Aloud ◽  
Text Difficulty ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Think Aloud Protocols ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
L2 Reading Comprehension ◽  
Underlying Processes

The aim of this experiment was to investigate how glossing influences second language (L2)reading comprehension in relation to text difficulty and the two local and global meaning representations. Fifty-eight undergraduate students were asked to read three easy, moderate, and difficult texts and, following each passage, answer twenty comprehension questions targeting local and global concepts in one of the two first-language-glossed and unglossed conditions. Half of the participants in each group were supposed to think aloud while reading. The results revealed a significant difference between the performance of glossed and unglossed groups on comprehension of local concepts in all three difficulty levels. However, the impact of glossing on comprehension of global concepts was significantly influenced by text difficulty. The qualitative analysis of think-aloud protocols suggested a substantial difference in glossing functionality on fluency between the easy and the difficult texts. Furthermore, it is suggested that revisiting the glossing effect in combination with text difficulty on the reading product and underlying processes might reconcile some divergent hypotheses on glossing impact on fluency.

Does the presence of formulaic language help or hinder second language listeners’ lower-level processing?

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Yeldham
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Text Difficulty ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
The One

This study examined the influence of formulaic language on second language (L2) listeners’ lower-level processing, in terms of their ability to accurately identify the words in texts. On the one hand, there were reasons for expecting the presence of the formulas to advantage the learners, because the learners would process these formulaic words more holistically than the surrounding non-formulaic words. On the other hand, though, because formulas are commonly uttered in more reduced fashion than their surrounding non-formulaic words – and L2 learners commonly face challenges understanding reduced speech – it was possible that the formulas would negatively impact the learners’ processing. The participants listened to four texts, which were paused intermittently for them to transcribe the final stretch of words they had heard prior to each pause. The researcher had previously categorized these words as being part of formulas or non-formulas through corpus analysis. By comparing the listeners’ identification of the formulaic and the non-formulaic language, the study found that formulaic language facilitated their lower-level listening. This degree of advantage, however, varied across text difficulty level and listener proficiency level. Based on the findings, implications for L2 listening instruction are discussed.

When Text Difficulty Benefits Less-Skilled Readers

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A McDaniel ◽  
Robert J Hines ◽  
Melissa J Guynn
Keyword(s):  
Text Difficulty ◽  
Skilled Readers
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