Effects of Reader's Knowledge, Text Type, and Test Type on L1 and L2 Reading Comprehension in Spanish

Abstract

The present study examined how a reader's subject knowledge, the analogy versus nonanalogy difference in text type, and type of test (written recall, sentence completion, and multiple choice) affect first language (L1) and second language (L2) reading comprehension. There were three participant groups: (a) 53 native Costa Ricans enrolled in advanced English as a Foreign Language courses in San José, Costa Rica; (b) 102 university-level students of intermediate Spanish in the United States; and (c) 138 university students of advanced Spanish in the United States. The participants read two scientific passages, two versions each (Hammadou, 2000). Analysis of covariance revealed that subject knowledge related significantly to reading comprehension as measured by three assessment tasks. However, the addition of analogies to scientific texts did not compensate for the lack of subject knowledge. There was no overall positive effect of the analogy text type on L1 and L2 comprehension as measured by recall, sentence completion, and multiple choice tests. The positive effect for the nonanalogy version held for the recall task. The participants scored higher on the nonanalogy version of both texts than on the analogy version when assessed by the recall test; no such differences emerged for either passage on the sentence completion and multiple choice tests.