The effects of a second language background and approach to learning on the comprehension and writing of expository text by senior secondary and tertiary students

A theoretical model of text processing is proposed through which processes involved in comprehension and writing are described. Processes ranging from lower level operations relating to features, letters, syllables, words and meaningful word groups, to higher level operations relating to individual ideas, main ideas and themes are described. In general, the lower level operations need to be automatic if sufficient working memory is to be made available for processing at higher levels of meaning. For learners with a second language background (SLB), the lack of rhetorical competence imposes extra strains on working memory. How the extra processing demands are compensated for is explained in terms of a "Reduction Hypothesis", which proposes that rhetorical competence and approach to learning interact to determine the focus and level of the learning outcome. An experiment involving secondary and tertiary SLB and native English speaking subjects is reported. Subjects completed a comprehension ratings task and wrote an explanatory essay based on material relating to riots on a mythical island. The results confirmed the general predictions of the Reduction Hypothesis, but suggested also that interactions between approach to learning, rhetorical competence and level of study were important determinants of processing outcomes. Essays were analysed both holistically and analytically in order to establish both their level of abstraction and level of structural complexity. The results are discussed in relation to both the theoretical and instructional implications of the study.