Abstract
This case study explored adult Chinese-Mandarin-speaking English learners’ reading for academic purposes. Drawing on transactional socio-psycholinguistic perspectives, the researchers analyzed English learners’ reading processes through retrospective eye movement miscue analysis. Six international graduate students studying social science and engineering read selected academic texts in their disciplines, retold the texts, watched their eye movement videos, and discussed their miscues and eye movements. In addition, the researchers interviewed participants about their reading perspectives and strategy uses in their respective disciplinary areas. The findings showed that all participants read for meaning and learning new knowledge. Participants’ previous instruction and current disciplines both impacted their academic reading. They used general reading strategies and specific disciplinary strategies to read in their areas. The findings suggest that participants used all cueing systems and perceived academic reading as learning the content more than the language. Social science participants valued strategies and constantly reflected to improve their learning content knowledge. In contrast, engineering participants better identified their miscues and tended to correct for accuracy. Overall, the retrospective conversations helped them develop metacognition, understand their reading processes, and discover their strategies. This study offers educational implications for supporting post-secondary English learners’ reading for academic purposes.
Published Version
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