| Reading is an essential way of language learning and it plays an indispensable part in language input.Reading comprehension scores objectively reflect learners’ reading ability to some extent.In addition,cognitive style and working memory are momentous components of individual differences and cognitive psychology.Cognitive style is the preferred and habitual way in which an individual organizes and processes information.Working memory refers to the temporary storage and processing of information.Both are involved in the processing aspect of information and perform a pivotal function in many higher cognitive activities.However,previous research in the area of the interaction between cognitive style and working memory in English reading is insufficient or the research findings are inconsistent.Currently,the amount of English reading as well as reading ability of most junior high school students fail to meet the requirements of the English Curriculum Standards for Nine-Year Compulsory Education(2022)and they are gradually losing interest in English reading and lack critical understanding of discourses.Therefore,to improve junior high school students’ English reading ability and further cultivate and develop students’ reading literacy,this study discusses the effects of cognitive style and working memory on improving junior high school students’ English reading ability.The research questions are as follows:1.What is the current situation of junior high school students’ cognitive style,working memory and English reading academic performance?2.What is the correlation between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive style and English reading academic performance? And what is the correlation between working memory and English reading academic performance?3.Is there any interaction between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive style and working memory?The subjects consist of 102 freshmen of junior high school from the author’s two internship classes.The study instruments include a Cognitive Style Figure Test,a Working Memory Test(a Reading Span Test),and their reading comprehension scores are obtained from three exams: the opening exam,the midterm exam,and the exam near the end of the semester.After all the data is collected,SPSS 22.0 is used for analysis.Descriptive analysis,frequency analysis,Pearson correlation analysis,independent samples t-test,and multi-factor ANOVA are used in the data analysis of this study.The study achieves the following findings:1.Currently,junior high school students’ cognitive style tends to be field-independent.The number of junior school students with high working memory capacity are more than those with low working memory capacity.And they have a relatively good English reading academic performance.2.There is a significant relationship between field-independent,field-dependent cognitive style and English reading academic performance and there is a marked difference between field-independent and field-dependent subjects in English reading academic performance.Field-independent subjects can get higher grades in reading than field-dependent subjects.In addition,there is also a significant relationship between working memory and English reading academic performance,and a marked difference exists between subjects with high working memory capacity and low working memory capacity in English reading academic performance.Subjects with high working memory capacity achieve higher reading scores than those with low working memory capacity.3.The main effects of field-independent and field-dependent cognitive style and working memory on English reading academic performance are significant.Field-independent subjects with high working memory capacity have the highest average scores of English reading comprehension tests while field-dependent subjects with low working memory capacity get the lowest mean.In addition,the interaction between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive style and working memory is not significant.According to these findings,field-independent and field-dependent cognitive style and working memory capacity are significantly related to English reading academic performance.Both teachers and students need to make applicable adjustments for the sake of fostering and developing English reading literacy. |
