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Cognitive Load Theory, Redundancy Effect and Language Learning

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The Idea and Practice of Reading

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Abstract

When learners read a text they turn to an array of cognitive procedures to process information, mainly retrieving and storing new input which is often associated and connected with previous knowledge. To be able to process this information, they need to deploy and make use of a number of reading strategies to make sense of what they read. This chapter aims to investigate the extent to which the so-called redundancy effect influences the L2 reading comprehension skills of two groups of young learners with different proficiency levels in a middle school in Argentina. Both groups completed a reading comprehension task. The first group was exposed to a single mode of instruction—reading—while the other was presented with a twofold format which combined reading with listening. Results showed that the group which worked with the single mode of instruction obtained better scores than the other group. Based on these findings, the extent to which language proficiency compensates for or reduces the redundancy effect is analysed. Finally, some pedagogical implications for the teaching of L2 reading comprehension are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Carlos Machado & Pedro Luis Luchini

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  1. Carlos Machado
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  2. Pedro Luis Luchini
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Correspondence to Carlos Machado .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

    R. Joseph Ponniah

  2. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

    Sathyaraj Venkatesan

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Machado, C., Luchini, P.L. (2018). Cognitive Load Theory, Redundancy Effect and Language Learning. In: Ponniah, R., Venkatesan, S. (eds) The Idea and Practice of Reading. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8572-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8572-7_11

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8572-7

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