Reader question formation as a tool for measuring comprehension: Narrative and expository textual inferences in a second language

Psychological models of first language (L1) textual comprehension distinguish between expository and narrative texts but are unclear on differences of inference generation between the two types of texts in a second language (L2). Forty-seven undergraduate students performed a comprehension task using two narrative and two expository texts in an L2. Participants generated questions at specific points throughout each text. Responses were categorised under six question types: scripturally implicit, textually implicit, textually explicit, linguistic and miscomprehension. Results showed that subjects generated more inferences for narrative texts while exhibiting more miscomprehension for expository texts. United Kingdom Reading Association 2002.