L2 Reading Research Articles

Impact of Interventionist Dynamic Assessment on Iranian EFL Learners’ L2 Reading Comprehension and Classroom Engagement

The current study investigated the impact of an interventionist model of dynamic assessment, using a repetitive process of pretest-teach-posttest design, on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension and classroom engagement. To this end, 40 intermediate participants were selected through convenient sampling from among the English majors of a university in Kerman, Iran, and assigned to two control and experimental groups, each including 20 students. Then, during 4-month period, the experimental group was exposed to reading comprehension class, using an interventionist model of DA, while the control group did not receive ant dynamic assessment program. At the end of the treatment, the participants’ scores on the pretest and post-test were statistically compared. The obtained results revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the scales of reading comprehension skill. A change was also observed in the classroom engagement of the experimental group, but not for the control group. Indeed, the results showed that dynamic assessment can boost participants' performance in a practical and effective way, not only in terms of reading performance but also in terms of motivating more classroom engagement among EFL learners. This finding has implications for teachers to design more efficient courses which are the ultimate goal of education.

Reassessing second language reading comprehension: Insights from the psycholinguistics notion of sentence processing

Theories and practices in second language reading pedagogy often overlook the sentence processing description from the psycholinguistics perspective. Second language reading comprehension is easily associated with vocabulary learning or discourse strategy. Yet, such activities can lead to an unnatural way of reading such as translating vocabularies or pointing out information as required. Meanwhile the authentic way of reading should encourage a natural stream of ideas to be interpreted from sentence to sentence. As suggested by the sentence processing notion from the psycholinguistics point of view, syntax appears to be the key to effective and authentic reading as opposed to the general belief of semantic or discourse information being the primary concern. This article argues that understanding the architecture of sentence processing, with syntactic parsing at the core of the underlying mechanism, can offer insights into the second language reading pedagogy. The concepts of syntactic parsing, reanalysis, and sentence processing models are described to give the idea of how sentence processing works. Additionally, a critical review on the differences between L1 and L2 sentence processing is presented considering the recent debate on individual differences as significant indicators of nativelike L2 sentence processing. Lastly, implications for the L2 reading pedagogy and potential implementation in instructional setting are discussed.

Assessing the Reading Skills of the Saudi Elementary Stage EFL Learners

The purpose of this research was to investigate the current practices of assessing L2 reading skills of Saudi EFL elementary stage learners. The research also attempted to offer more effective assessment tools of L2 reading skills than the current ones. For this purpose, a sample of (30) elementary stage EFL classes were observed, and (15) teachers of these classes were interviewed. The collected data were recorded, organized, coded, analyzed, and interpreted qualitatively. The findings revealed that most EFL learners and their instructors practice learning/teaching L2 reading skills driven by exams, focus more on bottom-up approach, and committed to the assigned reading materials ignoring extracurricular ones. Almost all the observations and interviewees’ responses indicated that the assessment measures are affected by the poor learning/teaching practices of the L2 reading skills. It was implied that in order to improve the assessment tools of the L2 reading skills, the teaching practices must be improved first.

L2 Reading Difficulties Faced by Malaysian Students in a Korean University

The current study investigates how Malaysian ESL learners’ L2 (English) speaking fluency is reflected in advanced L2 reading and what difficulties they encounter in reading comprehension. Nine Malaysian students attending a Korean university participated in qualitative research using in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The data revealed that L2 was a very familiar language, and their speaking fluency in L2 reduced the anxiety of L2 reading in general. However, it did not play a significant role in reading at an advanced level. Their difficulties in reading were mainly due to a lack of vocabulary knowledge. However, insufficient background knowledge and interest also frustrated their reading tasks. These factors lowered their reading comprehension, causing inaccurate interpretations or discouraging their endeavors to find messages from the given text. Thus, these findings should be carefully addressed in reading classes for Korean L2 learners as well as international students.

Exploring which test-taker characteristics predict young L2 learners’ performance on listening and reading comprehension tests

Test-taker characteristics (TTCs), or individual difference variables, are known to be a systematic source of variance in language test performance. Although previous research has documented the impact of a range of TTCs on second language (L2) learners’ test performance, few of these studies have involved young learners. Given that young L2 learners undergo rapid maturational changes in their cognitive abilities, are susceptible to affective factors in unique ways, and have little autonomy with respect to the context of L2 acquisition, the relationship between their personal attributes and their test performance merit separate research attention. To fill this gap, we investigated the extent to which sixth-grade, Korean-L1, EFL learners’ ( n = 107) TTCs predicted their performance on tests of L2 listening and reading comprehension. The TTCs under investigation included three cognitive characteristics (aptitude, phonological working memory, L1 competence), one affective factor (motivation), and two demographic variables (socioeconomic status and gender). Results showed that aptitude and phonological working memory significantly predicted participants’ performance on both L2 listening and reading comprehension tests, whereas motivation predicted performance on the L2 listening comprehension test only. These findings suggest that higher aptitude, phonological working memory, and motivation contribute positively to young learners’ L2 outcomes.

Testing young foreign language learners’ reading comprehension: Exploring the effects of working memory, grade level, and reading task

Extensive research has demonstrated the impact of working memory (WM) on first language (L1) reading comprehension across age groups (Peng et al., 2018), and on foreign language (FL) reading comprehension of adults and older adolescents (Linck et al., 2014). Comparatively little is known about the effect of WM on young FL readers’ comprehension, and even less within testing contexts. Young FL readers are still developing their L1 reading skills and general cognitive skills (e.g., attentional regulation abilities). Completing FL reading tests might be particularly taxing on their WM, and differences in WM capacity – as well as other learner and task characteristics – might create construct-irrelevant variance in test performance.In this study, we investigate the effects of WM, grade level, and reading task on young learners’ FL reading test performances. Ninety-four young English language learners (Grades 6–7) in Hungary completed the TOEFL®Junior™ Comprehensive’s reading test and a WM test battery. Our mixed-effects model predicted significantly higher comprehension accuracy among learners with higher WM capacity, and among learners in Grade 7 compared to learners in Grade 6. Reading task differences were not associated with significant comprehension accuracy differences. We discuss the implications of our findings for testing young learners’ FL reading comprehension.

Verbal Working Memory in Second Language Reading Comprehension: A Correlational Study

This study investigated the correlation and predictive capacity of verbal working memory (VWM) to the reading comprehension of children in their first language (L1) and second language (L2). The term verbal working memory refers to a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold and manipulate verbal and auditory information temporarily. A sub-aim was to investigate the contribution of L2 linguistic knowledge in L2 reading comprehension. Sixty-three Grade 3 South African children completed a reading comprehension test and VWM assessment (forward span, backward span, and sentence repetition tasks). L2 participants completed a receptive language assessment to delineate whether their linguistic knowledge (L2 vocabulary and grammar knowledge) would be more predictive of L2 reading comprehension in comparison with VWM. Regression and correlation analyses revealed that VWM is not predictive of L1 or L2 reading comprehension. L2 linguistic knowledge, however, significantly correlates with L2 comprehension and VWM capacity, although it is not a significant predictor of L2 reading comprehension. Our findings suggest that reading in an L2 is a multidimensional skill in which no single isolated variable can account for good versus poor reading comprehension.

Non-native Readers Are More Sensitive to Changes in Surface Linguistic Information than Native Readers*

AbstractIn the present study we challenge the generally accepted view based primarily on L1 data that surface linguistic information decays rapidly during reading and that only propositional information is retained in memory. In two eye-tracking experiments, we show that both L1 and L2 adult readers retain verbatim information of a text. In particular, the reading behaviour of L2 German learners revealed that they were sensitive to both lexical (synonyms) and syntactic (active/passive alternation) substitutions during a second reading of the texts, while L1 exhibited only reduced sensitivity to the lexical substitutions. The results deliver an important piece of evidence that complies with several current processing (e.g., Shallow Structure Hypothesis), acquisition (Declarative/Procedural Model) and cognitive (e.g., Fuzzy Trace Theory) approaches and adds a new dimension to their empirical and theoretical basis.

Examining the Simultaneous Effects of L1 Writing, L2 Reading, L2 Proficiency, and Affective Factors on Different Task Types of L2 Writing

ABSTRACT The present study examined the complex structural relationships between the factors that influence L2 writing in more and less cognitively demanding tasks. To this end, 298 10th graders were recruited from a local high school in Korea. Participants completed tasks measuring L1 and L2 writing skills, L2 reading comprehension, L2 proficiency, L2 motivation, and L2 anxiety. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling based on a total of six sets of instruments. The results showed that for less cognitively demanding literacy tasks, L1 narrative writing skill, L2 proficiency and L2 writing anxiety had a direct impact on L2 narrative writing. L2 motivation had an indirect impact on L2 narrative writing through L2 proficiency. For more cognitively demanding tasks, L1 argumentative writing, L2 inferential reading, L2 proficiency, and L2 writing anxiety showed direct association to L2 argumentative writing. L2 motivation had an indirect effect on L2 argumentative writing through L2 proficiency and L2 inferential reading skill. These results suggest that differential sets of factors are working in tandem along the pathways to successful performance in more and less cognitively demanding literacy tasks.

The Interactive compensation effects of L1 reading comprehension and L2 language proficiency on L2 reading ability

The Interactive compensation effects of L1 reading comprehension and L2 language proficiency on L2 reading ability

Digital storytelling with chatbots: mapping L2 participation and perception patterns

PurposeThis study aims to increase language learning (L2) output by incorporating a digital storytelling chatbot system (known as a “storybot”) that focused interactions on a narrative. This study also sought to investigate student perceptions of these storybot interactions and improve on poor perception rates from previous studies.Design/methodology/approachThis one-sample exploratory study was of student-storybot participation rates and student perceptions towards a storybot activity designed to increase L2 output. A combination of storybot participation analytics and survey analysis of student perception was carried out.FindingsThe use of storybots in the L2 class resulted in mixed participation rates. Students read nine times more than they wrote, indicating a high degree of reading comprehension necessary for storybot interaction. Survey results revealed that students believed storybots helped them meet their L2 goals, were relevant to their L2 and were easy to navigate.Research limitations/implicationsInteractions were through text messaging so no impact on speech or pronunciation could be observed. Further, the context was within a single university class in South Korea, restricting the generalization of findings to outside regions or with younger learners. Finally, while storybots proved to be valuable reading comprehension activities, the next step in this line of chatbot research should incorporate more writing prompts.Practical implicationsStorybots revealed explicit benefits to reading comprehension, as measured by cohesion between storybot delivered comprehension questions and student responses. Moreover, storybots can be used as examples for students in their own story creation, classroom forms to collect relevant student information regarding learning objectives and platforms for class quizzes.Social implicationsStorybots scaffold students through conversations, which abide by socio-pragmatic norms, providing models for L2 learners to incorporate in real-world text-based communication. Additionally, a wide range of idiomatic expressions is contextualized in comprehensible interactions that students can learn from the storybot then practice with friends.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the growing research on the use of chatbots for second L2 and offers specific insight into the use of narrative storybots as a means to increase L2 output and potentially benefit L2 reading comprehension.

A study of the differences among EFL/ESL methods for reading Comprehension and language awareness

The present paper reports on the effectiveness of the Grammar-Translation
 Method, Communicative Language Teaching and Content and Language Integrated Learning upon reading comprehension and language awareness. The study recruited a convenience sample of 164 Spanish students from a rural area in southern Spain who randomly received these three ESL/EFL methods. The research was focused on two hypotheses. Firstly, L2 reading learning is more effective from CLT and CLIL than GTM. Secondly, CLT and CLIL demand more contextual learning. Results showed CLT method offered more similar results among the reading comprehension tasks (p<.01). However, from a descriptive study, GTM obtained the best performance globally. In all three methods, scores were weakest for pragmatic awareness. However, the interaction between reading comprehension and language awareness suggested that the intervention was more supportive for CLT. Also, significant intra-gender differences according to the learning methodology were found. Study limitations and future research recommendations also were discussed.

Developing L2 Learners Metacognitive Strategies through Reading Group Activities

The trend of teaching reading comprehension has shifted the gear from cognitive development to metacognitive orientation and Reading Group activity is one way to foster knowledge constructions and meaning-making in the scheme of metacognition. Reviewing the theoretical foundations of reading group activities, this article theoretically addresses how a reading group can promote individual L2 readers' metacognitive reading strategies. This article emphasizes the importance of implementing a reading group to support second language readers to self-regulate their metacognitive reading strategies by planning, monitoring, and evaluating an academic reading text. Further, this article elaborates on adapting principles in setting up reading group activities, based on the authors' L2 teaching practices. Finally, recommendations and directions for future studies are also provided.

Use of morphological and contextual cues in children\u2019s lexical inferencing in L1 and L2

In an experimental design, we investigated how fifth-grade readers use morphological and contextual information to infer the meaning of unknown words, and to what extent this is related to their cognitive and linguistic skills. A group of 166 fifth-grade Dutch children (59 L1, 107 L2) performed a lexical inferencing task in which the availability of morphological and contextual information was manipulated. Readers used both morphological and contextual information in lexical inferencing. Good decoding skill was related to more use of morphological information. Reading comprehension skill was associated with the use of morphological and contextual cues. L1 and L2 readers did not differ with respect to the use of morphological information. L2 readers used contextual information less in their inferences than L1 readers did. This difference was driven by L2 readers with weak vocabulary. The use of contextual information was especially high in L1 readers with good reading comprehension skills, and especially low in L2 readers with low vocabulary. Results indicate that to access morphological information, decoding is crucial, whereas for contextual inferencing, a minimum of linguistic competence is needed, which makes it more challenging for L2 readers.

Suprasegmental but not segmental phonological awareness matters in understanding bilingual reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese and English: a 3-year longitudinal study.

This study examined whether, and if so how, L1 and L2 segmental and suprasegmental phonological awareness is longitudinally related to L1 and L2 reading comprehension difficulties among Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. Using a regression approach, we identified five types of comprehenders, i.e., 11 poor-Chinese/average-English comprehenders, 19 poor-English/average-Chinese comprehenders, six poor-Chinese/poor-English comprehenders, 12 average-Chinese/average-English comprehenders, and seven good-Chinese/good-English comprehenders among 223 Grade 4 Chinese-English bilingual children who were comparable in age, nonverbal IQ, and word reading, but differed in reading comprehension. These children were compared retrospectively on segmental and suprasegmental phonological awareness in both Chinese and English for three consecutive years from Grade 2 to Grade 4. The results revealed that only Cantonese lexical tone awareness distinguished poor comprehenders from typically developing comprehenders. Specifically, the poor-English/average-Chinese comprehenders performed worse than the average-Chinese/average-English and good-Chinese/good-English comprehenders in Grades 4 and 3, but not in Grade 2; and the poor-Chinese/average-English comprehenders performed worse than the good-Chinese/good-English comprehenders in Grades 4 and 3, but not in Grade 2. These findings suggest that suprasegmental phonological awareness, especially Cantonese lexical tone awareness, is critical for both Chinese and English reading comprehension development among Hong Kong bilingual children.

Reading across writing systems: A meta-analysis of the neural correlates for first and second language reading

AbstractNumerous studies have investigated the neural correlates of reading in two languages. However, reliable conclusions have not been established as to the relationship of the neural correlates underlying reading in the first (L1) and second (L2) language. Here, we conduct meta-analyses to address this issue. We found that compared to L1, the left inferior parietal lobule showed greater activation during L2 processing across all bilingual studies. We then divided the literature into two categories: bilingual participants who learned two languages with different writing systems and bilinguals who learned two languages with similar writing systems. We found that language differences in the neural correlates of reading were generally modulated by writing system similarity, except the region of the left inferior parietal lobule, which showed preferences for L2 reading in both types of bilinguals. These findings provide new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying reading in bilinguals.

Is letter position coding when reading in L2 affected by the nature of position coding used when bilinguals read in their L1?

Using four-character Chinese word targets, Yang, Chen, Spinelli, and Lupker (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(8), 1511-1526, 2019) and Yang, Hino et al. (Journal of Memory and Language, 113, 104017, 2020) demonstrated that backward primes (Roman alphabet example-dcba priming ABCD) produce large masked priming effects. This result suggests that character position information is quite imprecisely coded by Chinese readers when reading in their native language. The present question was, If Chinese readers have evolved a reading system not requiring precise position information, would Chinese-English bilinguals show more extreme transposed letter priming effects when processing English words than both English monolinguals and other types of bilinguals whose L2 is English? In Experiment 1, Chinese-English bilinguals, but not English monolinguals, showed a clear backward priming effect in a lexical decision task. In Experiment 2, the parallel backward priming effect was absent for both Spanish-English and Arabic-English bilinguals. Apparently, the orthographic coding system that Chinese-English bilinguals use when reading in their L2 leans heavily on the flexible/imprecise position coding process that they develop for reading in their L1.

Effects of reading strategy instruction in English as a second language on students’ academic reading comprehension

The ability to read in a second language (L2) for academic purposes is essential for higher education students. Dutch colleges increasingly use materials in English or teach in English. This can be challenging for L2 readers, especially students entering higher education from vocational studies, who may have less experience with L2 academic reading. Teaching L2 reading programmes containing explicit instruction of reading strategies may benefit higher education students in L2 academic reading, particularly since reading strategies learned in the first language (L1) may not transfer to the L2. In this 7-week L2 reading strategy intervention, 801 first-year polytechnic students learned to use seven reading strategies that were effective according to a meta-analysis of L2 reading strategy studies. Data regarding students reading skills were collected over one academic year, from three treatment waves, using a regression discontinuity design. Three tests of equal difficulty were given to participants. In each wave students completed reading tests several weeks before the intervention, at the beginning and directly after the intervention. Results show that in all three waves the improvement in reading comprehension scores between the second and third measurement (due to the experimental course) significantly exceeded the increase between the first two measurement occasions. Although the intervention was shown to be effective, the effects were to some extent mediated by the previous education level. This study supports the explicit instruction of strategies in L2 reading for students in higher education and welcomes more research into L2 reading strategy interventions for students from vocational backgrounds.

Patterns and predictors of reading comprehension growth in first and second language readers

BackgroundThe present study examined patterns and predictors of reading comprehension growth in first language (L1) and second language (L2) readers in the upper grades of primary school. Previous research suggests that L1 and L2 readers differ in their growth trajectories and that differences in language proficiency play a role in this. However, how predictors at different levels of processing influence growth has not been investigated. In particular, the role of unification skills such as syntactic integration and the ability to form a situation model of a text is under‐investigated.MethodIn a longitudinal study, 63 L1 Dutch and 109 L2 Dutch readers were followed from fourth to sixth grade (mean ages 10 to 13 years). L2 children had a variety of language backgrounds. In Grades 4–6, reading comprehension was assessed. In Grade 4, participants were also assessed on cognitive ability (nonverbal reasoning and working memory), decoding, vocabulary, and unification skills (syntax and situation model building ability). Patterns and predictors of growth were investigated by means of mixed‐effects modelling.ResultsReading comprehension growth was predicted by vocabulary and decoding, such that participants with lower decoding or vocabulary scores made more reading comprehension gains. L1 and L2 readers with high vocabulary scores did not differ in their reading comprehension growth. L2 readers with low vocabulary made less reading comprehension gains than L1 readers with low vocabulary. Unification skills predicted initial reading comprehension but not growth.ConclusionsFindings suggest that linguistic skills above the word level predict initial reading comprehension but not growth. Children with lower initial literacy skills caught up on reading comprehension, but this was less true for L2 children. L2 children with high vocabulary, however, did not differ from their L1 peers.

Exploring ESL learners' reading test taking strategies

This study examined the test taking strategies of weak ESL students of an English language proficiency course. Test taking strategies are known as the methods that test takers use as an alternative aimed at attaining correct answers on a specified form of language assessment. The study adopted a qualitative study. The participants in this study were forty-four learners from the Bachelor of Arts Program. The learners were asked to think aloud while reading an assigned text to answer the questions. Four learners’ thinking aloud recordings were transcribed and analysed. Focus group interviews were carried out for triangulation purposes. Data collected were analysed manually. The ESL learners implemented many test taking strategies as they coped with the reading comprehension test. The findings of the study show how ESL students used cognitive, metacognitive, compensating, and social strategies. Participants expressed that understanding and reading the passage allowed them to draw conclusions better in answering the multiple choice questions. The findings revealed that they used a compensation strategy whereby they tried guessing the answers on a number of occasions. The findings of the study implicate teachers’ roles in L2 reading and also to guide the ESL learners in the process of answering reading passage and answer the comprehension questions.