The Process of Constructing Mental Representations: Investigating the Units of Inferences Activated in Japanese EFL Reading

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The present study aimed to identify the units of inferences activated by Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in reading, and to examine the process by which they constructed coherent situation models through integrating inferences into their mental representations. The results of three experiments showed that Japanese EFL learners made bridging and predictive inferences and associated them with textbase understandings. Moreover, the process of constructing mental representations involved revising prior situation models into new ones by using these inferences. Evidence also demonstrated the effects of learner factors (e.g., proficiency, and higher-level and lower-level reading skills) and text factors (e.g., flashback and causal relatedness) on the course of reading processes. These findings suggest that teachers should carefully take into account EFL learners’ reading processes whenconstructing coherent understandings of texts in a classroom instruction.