Abstract
The present study was to examine if working memory capacity was related to the performance of Japanese EFL learners on listening comprehension sub-skills. More specifically, the study focused on L1 and L2 working memory capacity, and its effect on two dimensions in L2 listening comprehension: literal comprehension and inferential comprehension. The study also investigates the extent to which the role of working memory in the processing of L2 listening varies according to different levels of L2 proficiency. The results of the correlation and regression analysis suggested that the individual differences in working memory capacity were related to inferential comprehension in the higher-level group, and both inferential and literal comprehension in the lower-level group. The results of the study will discuss the implication of these findings and suggest that working memory resources can be allocated to the execution of top-down processing in the case of the higher-level listeners, and both top-down and bottom-up processing in the case of the lower-level listeners.
