On the Use of the Recall Task to Measure L2 Reading Comprehension

The free written recall task is used in much current L2 reading research (Bernhardt, 1983; Carrell, 1983, 1984a, 1984b; Connor, 1984; Lee and (2) to report the results of experimentation that attempts to test the significance of the language of recall (native versus target) and the effect of knowing, prior to reading, that the subjects would be required to recall the passage. Results showed that passage recall is significantly better when done in the subjects' native language than in the target language. Also, a significant interaction was found for prereading instructions and level of the learner. Implications for research design are discussed.