The effects of verbal and spatial abilities on reading comprehension task performance in multimedia environments with respect to individual differences among learners

Abstract

The rapid advance in the application of the current instructional and educational technology lead language educators to recognize the effect of individual learner differences on text comprehension within multimedia environments. In the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and with the increasing use of new visualization resources, individual differences concerning visual/verbal abilities and visual/verbal modes of information processing have received wide attention over the past few years. This paper discusses and reviews the related literature concerning individual differences and their effect on second language text comprehension with multimedia environments. The issues to be included are rationales for the need to investigate individual differences, the importance of individual differences about reading comprehension, and readers’ variables. Additionally, the paper offers some theoretical, instructional, and pedagogical implications and proposes potential areas for future research.