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Suppression and Working Memory in Auditory Comprehension of L2 Narratives: Evidence from Cross-Modal Priming

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Abstract

Using a cross-modal priming task, the present study explores whether Chinese-English bilinguals process goal related information during auditory comprehension of English narratives like native speakers. Results indicate that English native speakers adopted both mechanisms of suppression and enhancement to modulate the activation of goals and keep track of the “causal path” in narrative events and that L1 speakers with higher working memory (WM) capacity are more skilled at attenuating interference. L2 speakers, however, experienced the phenomenon of “facilitation-without-inhibition.” Their difficulty in suppressing irrelevant information was related to their performance in the test of working memory capacity. For the L2 group with greater working memory capacity, the effects of both enhancement and suppression were found. These findings are discussed in light of a landscape model of L2 text comprehension which highlights the need for WM to be incorporated into comprehensive models of L2 processing as well as theories of SLA.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Shiyu Wu

  2. Shanghai Maritime University, Pudong, People’s Republic of China

    Zheng Ma

Authors
  1. Shiyu Wu
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  2. Zheng Ma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shiyu Wu.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human Volunteers/Animals Participants

We certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human Volunteers/animals were followed during the course of this research.

Informed Consent

Verbal informed consent was obtained from each participant before study enrollment. The informed consent was composed of four parts: name, aim and expected benefits of the study, and the rights of participants during the study.

Additional information

This research was supported by The National Social Science Fund of China (Shiyu Wu) (Grant No. 14BYY007). The authors are grateful to Nan Jiang, Robert Dekeyser, and Kira Gor for helpful discussions of this work.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Sample Stimulus for the auditory narrative comprehension

Sample experimental story

GR—goal remention; NG—no goal; NEUT—neutral

Section 1 INTRODUCTION: David had recently inherited a million dollars from his rich grandfather and wanted to invest in his own business. His current boss, Mr. Wilson, had just decided to move to Montana because he was tired of city life. David thought he could use some of his inheritance to make a bid on Mr. Wilson’s business.

TRANSITION 1: He lay awake in bed for hours weighing his options for the future.

TEST 1: Nevada

Section 2 Goal Manipulation

GR: David decided to go to the bank the next morning to discuss purchasing the business. David met with the woman who had been handling his account for years. He spoke with her about buying the business for nearly an hour.

NG: David decided to go to the bank the next morning to discuss purchasing a new house. David met with the woman who had been handling his account for years. He talked to her about buying a house for nearly an hour.

NEUT: David decided to go to the bank the next morning. David met with the woman who had been handling his account for years. He talked to her for nearly an hour.

TRANSITION 2: David walked out of the bank to find that it had started to rain.

TEST 2: Business

CONCLUSION: The rain was a refreshing change from the stuffiness of the bank. David couldn’t imagine working in such an atmosphere. He had once thought of working as a bank teller to get himself through college. David was glad he had bagged groceries instead!

TEST 3: Thunderstorm

Multiple Choice Question:

What did David decide to do with his large inheritance?

a. To move somewhere remote and peaceful

b. To invest in his own business

c. To meet with a nice young woman

d. To get himself through college

Sample Filler Story

INTRODUCTION: Kerry was determined to get the grant money for her new research project. She was confident and outspoken, which always gave her an advantage. Kerry was prepared to work non-stop until her grant was funded.

TRANSITION 1: Unfortunately, Kerry’s ulcer had been acting up lately.

TEST 1 : grant

NEUT: Her doctor told her that she just had to stop working so hard. The doctor suggested that Kerry try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. She wasn’t certain if she had the time!

TRANSITION 2: Kerry tried to think of things that would help her relax.

TEST 2 : Nurse

CONCLUSION: She decided to treat herself to a massage. It wasn’t often that she allowed herself to be pampered.

TEST 3 :Whirlpool

She thought she might sit in the sauna for a while after the massage.

Multiple Choice Question:

What gave Kerry the advantage to get the grant money for her project?

a. She was confident and outspoken

b. She was prepared to work non-stop

c. The doctor gave her suggestions

d. She allowed herself to be pampered

Appendix 2

List of the Replacement Words (or phrases)

Note: Words (or phrases) in parentheses are the original ones

Experimental narrative stories

  1. 1.

    colleagues (work buddies)

  2. 2.

    marked with (inscribed with)

  3. 3.

    have some tea (have some pan)

  4. 4.

    bought a new car (bought a new van)

  5. 5.

    go hiking (do some yoga)

  6. 6.

    wild months (hectic months)

  7. 7.

    attractive new dress (glamorous new dress)

Filler stories

  1. 1.

    dinner party (PROM)

  2. 2.

    by a computer (buy a new Modem)

  3. 3.

    buy a large boat (buy a YACHT)

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Wu, S., Ma, Z. Suppression and Working Memory in Auditory Comprehension of L2 Narratives: Evidence from Cross-Modal Priming. J Psycholinguist Res 45, 1115–1135 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-015-9390-2

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