Anaphoric Resolution In Expository Texts. EFL Learners' Ability To Make A Coherent Mental Representation Of The Text Content

      Аннотация: The present study was intended to investigate the relation between anaphoric resolution ability, language proficiency and academic performance of undergraduate EFL learners. The study also investigated the underlying process of anaphoric resolution among a group of undergraduate EFL students as they read expository texts. To carry out the study, ninety participants- twenty male and seventy females- were randomly selected from among the population of undergraduate EFL students at Azad University, Khorasgan Branch, Iran. The participants were assigned into three groups based on their language proficiency test scores. The test data were collected and scored utilizing a descriptive hypothesis testing design. The findings showed that there was a high correlation between anaphoric resolution ability, academic performance and language proficiency. Anaphoric resolution was also affected by underlying linguistic and textual factors, such as the type and inferential rigidity of anaphoric ties.

Ключевые слова: Anaphors, Anaphoric resolution, Inferential rigidity, Expository text, reading comprehension, language proficiency, academic performance