The Impact of Local and Global Conjunctions on ESL Reading Comprehension: A Systemic Perspective

Abstract

This paper investigated the impact of conjunctions on the reading comprehension of ESL learners. To this end, three different versions; original, local-conjunctions-free and global-conjunctions-free, of an IELTS reading test where the logico-semantic relationships had been manipulated were administered to 45 upper-intermediate subjects assigned to three equal groups. The results indicated that the performance of the groups on reading comprehension was significant: the group receiving the unmodified test outperformed the other two; and the group taking the local-conjunctions-free test performed better than the other. It was concluded that conjunctions employed to link and texture the information at the local and global levels across the text affected the reading comprehension of ESL learners, and more importantly that the global conjunctions influenced reading comprehension more than the local conjunctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]