Reading in a second or foreign language: Models, processes, and pedagogy

Abstract

Abstract Current research on reading in a second or foreign language is reviewed. Good L2 reading is characterised by fast, automatic word recognition which releases more time for the use of syntactic and contextual information. Successful readers also make good use of background information. Many strategies for L2 reading are generalised from L1 reading, but the degree of successful transfer is limited by the learner's overall proficiency in L2. Research provides no decisive answers to the issue of correct sequencing of L1 and L2 reading instruction, and suggests that findings will have to be interpreted in the light of the socio‐economic, linguistic, and cultural context. The integration of top‐down and bottom‐up strategies is also a feature of good L2 reading. Overall, L2 reading instruction should focus on the construction of meaning jointly from the reader's own background information and the new information contained in the text. Simplified texts should not be used unless the readers still have basi...