How the relationship between verbal and nonverbal text signals influences second language expository text comprehension: knowledge structure analysis

Two questions regarding text signals’ influence on second language (L2) science expository text comprehension were examined. First, the contextual relationship between verbal headings and non-verbal underlining signals (i.e., related or unrelated) was manipulated to investigate how these verbal and nonverbal text signals influence L2 text comprehension. Second, the physical distance between a heading and the underlined terms (i.e., close or distant) was manipulated to investigate how the physical proximity to the heading influences L2 text comprehension. University mixed proficiency Korean English language learners (n = 160) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions by proficiency level in a 2 (related or unrelated) × 2 (close or distant) design; one coherent text and three incoherent texts. Then all participants read assigned multiple-topic expository text, created a visual map of the text they read, and then completed a comprehension posttest (all in English). For the low proficient L2 readers, a heading served primarily as a general visual cue, leading the readers to respond only to underlined information regardless of the relatedness of heading and distance. For the high proficient L2 readers, a heading acted as a content-specific cue leading the readers to respond more to underlined information that related to the heading content and heading closeness. These results have direct instructional text design implications for organizing L2 expository texts for L2 readers.