體現動作推理與英語句子閱讀理解

Abstract

從體現認知的觀點來看，閱讀理解的深度取決於建構多模態表徵的能力。多年以來，研究已發現當動詞為實驗刺激時，在第二語閱讀者腦中觀察到與動作模擬相關的腦區活動。但是目前尚未有任何研究觀察這個現象是否也會出現在當實驗刺激為動作語句。 因此本研究極欲探究體現模擬是否會在英語為外語者閱讀動作語句時出現。這項研究收集了大學生在進行句圖辨識作業時的反應時間和眼動軌跡，並在作業結束後進行線索回溯放聲作業。在句圖作業裡，句子裡描述的動作與圖中出現的動作可能相符或不符。圖片裡的關鍵區域則設在動作者的肢體上。反應時間的結果顯示，抑制效應出現在句圖動作不符時。在眼動資料上，當句圖動作相符時，肢體的凝視時間比在不符的情況下短暫。但是這個效應的顯著性並不是出現在初期處理時間的指標上。而線索回溯放聲作業的資料也顯示，其結果與以上兩種研究方法得到的結果均一致。總的來說，在閱讀英語動作語句時，英語為外語的讀者是可以依據句中描述的情境而模擬與情境相關的動作的。這個結果意味著，即便不是讀者的優勢語言，體現模擬依然在閱讀理解中扮驗重要角色。

From the perspective of embodied cognition, an ability to construct multimodal representations is the key to achieving high-level reading comprehension. For years, studies have shown that motor simulation occurs in L2 learners exposed to isolated action verbs, but it is still unknown whether the same simulations also occur during L2 processing of action verbs within sentences. This study explores whether embodied simulations of action sentences can be observed among EFL readers. Fifty-six advanced EFL college-aged readers were recruited to do a sentence-picture verification task during which their response time and viewing behaviors were measured. In the task, each sentence implicitly described an action that was either congruous or incongruous with a pictured action. The head, hands, and legs of the character performing the action were set as Areas of Interest (AOIs) using an eye tracking system. Cued retrospective reports were also collected by way of audio-visual recording after the experiment to cross-verify the quantitative data. An impeding effect was observed from the response time data in the incongruous condition. Consistent with the response time data, eye tracking data revealed that fixation time was longer at the body effector executing an action in the incongruous condition compared to the congruous condition. This trend was most pronounced in the late processing eye movement measures. Furthermore, post-experiment cued retrospective reports indicate that processing for the actions was not a priority in comparison to the processing of other objects or entities. Overall, advanced EFL readers did automatically simulate and infer the actions relevant to situations described in English sentences, indicating that embodied grounding is crucial to reading comprehension in one’s less dominant language.