| Abstract: | This study examined the effects of linearity of language (e.g., de Saussure, 1916/1972) on performance on a sentence comprehension task, manipulating (a) presentation method (simultaneous, phrase, or flow) and (b) reading method (oral or silent reading). The study also examined the predictive powers of the digit span test (DST) and the reading span test (RST) for task performance. Fifty‐four undergraduate and graduate students participated in the experiment. The results showed that the DST score predicted performance on both garden‐path (GP) and non‐garden‐path (NGP) sentences, whereas the RST score did so only for GP sentences. This suggests that the sentence comprehension task requires not only comprehension but also temporarily storing verbal information, and that the RST score reflects the degree of tolerance for deviation from linearity. The results also revealed that silent reading has an advantage over oral reading in simultaneous presentation and vice versa in flow presentation, whereas the difference between reading methods disappeared in phrase presentation. This suggests that oral and silent reading require different strategies to facilitate sentence comprehension. |
