抄録
The effect of working memory capacity and L2 listening proficiency on recall errors on the L2 Listening Span Test was investigated with 210 Japanese EFL learners. With the addition of error analysis by type of recall errors made on the listening span test, the number for each type were compared between the higher-level and the lower-level listeners. The interaction between L2 proficiency and working memory capacity on the specific types of recall errors was also investigated. Recall errors were coded as either intrusion errors or omissions. Intrusion errors were defined into delayed intrusions, immediate intrusions, phonemic intrusions, categorical intrusions, and non-categorical intrusions. With regard to the error analysis, the higher-level listeners made less total recall errors and phonemic intrusion errors than the lower-level listeners, but both groups of listeners did not significantly differ in their omission errors and delayed intrusion errors. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between L2 proficiency and working memory capacity for immediate intrusion errors. The findings suggest that the recall errors of the lower-level listeners with lower working memory capacity could be caused by a deficit in decoding skills and the ability to inhibit irrelevant immediate information.
