University of Isfahan Applied Research on English Language 3134-0644 3 2 2014 08 01 The relationship between working memory and L2 reading comprehension 19 34 15492 10.22108/are.2014.15492 EN Mohammadtaghi Shahnazari-Dorcheh Assistant Professor, University of Isfahan, Iran Rebecca Adams Research Fellow, University of Auckland, New Zealand & Associate Director, Northcentral University, USA Journal Article 2013 12 03 Since  an  important  role  for  working  memory  has  been  found  in  the  first  language <br />acquisition  (e.g.,  Daneman,  1991;  Daneman  &  Green,  1986;  Waters  &  Caplan,  1996), <br />research  on  the  role  of  working  memory  is  emerging  as  an  area  of  concern  for  second <br />language  acquisition  (e.g.,  Atkins  &  Baddeley,  1998;  Miyake  &  Freidman,  1998; <br />Robinson,  1995,  2002,  2005).  The  present  study  focused  on  the  role  of  working  memory <br />capacity  in  the  development  of  second  language  reading  ability.  55  L1  Persian  EFL <br />learners  at  three  proficiency  levels  from  a  private  language  school  participated  in  this <br />study.  They  completed  a  battery  of  reading  and  working  memory  measures.  Memory <br />measures included phonological short-term memory, and reading span test (RST). Reading <br />measures  included  two  expository  reading  comprehension  tests.  Multiple  regression <br />analysis was applied to determine whether there are any significant relationships between <br />working  memory  capacity  and  reading  measures.  Results  of  this  study  indicated  a <br />significant  relationship  between  working  memory  capacity  (as  measured  by  RST)  and <br />reading ability at lower levels of proficiency. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15492_c4cd54814e8c6df6f9190c7cc715bb24.pdf