Unlocking Metaphorical Minds: Associations of Working Memory and Contextual Support with Iranian L۲ Learners’ Metaphor Comprehension

Current studies probe the essence of using language that conveys a meaning different from its literal interpretation. Although figurative language has been widely studied, metaphors themselves have received less attention (e.g., Lee & Choi, ۲۰۲۳; Tocaimaza-Hatch, ۲۰۱۹). This study used an online experiment to investigate how working memory (WM) resources are associated with metaphor processing in nonnative sentence comprehension. Sixty TEFL students at Shahrekord University participated in the study and were classified as intermediate or advanced according to their scores on the Cambridge Proficiency English (CPE) test. Before the experiment, ۱۰۰ TEFL postgraduates rated the familiarity of base words from Cardillo et al. (۲۰۱۷). A self-paced reading task, which included critical sentences such as “The gossipy coworker was an amplifier, spreading rumors and gossip,” was designed using E-Prime software. Participants’ WM (storage and recall) was measured using a computerized test based on Shahnazari’s (۲۰۱۳) reading span test (RST) corpus. Data were analyzed using E-Prime and SPSS. Results showed better performance in storage than in recall in the RST. Reading times for metaphorical sentences were slightly faster with metaphorical versus literal context. Higher WM capacity was associated with quicker reading of metaphorical sentences. These findings suggest that metaphor processing is more cognitively demanding than literal language, and L۲ learners with higher WM tend to comprehend metaphors more efficiently.

کلیدواژه ها:

L۲ processing ، Self-Paced reading ، Literal meaning ، Metaphorical meaning ، Working Memory