The Role of Working Memory in Explaining Reading Comprehension Performance in University Students

Abstract

This study investigates the crucial role of working memory capacity in reading comprehension in young adults; it describes readers’ working memory abilities and their reading comprehension capacities, and it examines the effect of students’ working memory on their reading comprehension. To this end, two tests measuring storage abilities and reading comprehension are administered to one hundred third year English language students. Finally the calculated correlations have shown a very significant relationship between working memory and reading comprehension.