Resource consumption as a function of topic knowledge in nonnative and native comprehension

Previous research suggests that low-level receptive language processes are less developed for nonnative than for native listeners, yet experienced nonnatives seem to comprehend effortlessly in everyday situations. One possible explanation is that experienced nonnatives use topic knowledge to reduce working memory (WM) requirements. Native and experienced nonnatives attended to Bransford and Johnson's (1972) Washing Text while performing a concurrent task, with half of each group given the topic of the passage. Scores on the concurrent task were compared with baseline to index WM consumption. The results showed a relatively greater WM consumption for nonnatives than natives when the topic was unavailable, suggesting that nonnatives rely more than natives on topic knowledge in comprehension. Implications for foreign language learning are discussed.