Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-fwgfc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T02:26:06.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Contemporary Perspectives on L2 Upper-Register Text Processing

from Part III - Skill Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2019

John W. Schwieter
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
Alessandro Benati
Affiliation:
American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Get access

Summary

Second-language (L2) reading research is replete with intellectual tensions: reading is the second-language skill with the greatest durability and usability and yet it is the most under-researched of the second language areas. While rooms could be filled with volumes and articles on how oral language develops and how that knowledge can be brought into instruction, on input and output hypotheses about the active use of the oral portion of second-language acquisition, or on the importance of pragmatic functions of language and how learners acquire them, the same cannot be said of knowledge about how learners interact with written text. A further paradoxical element is introduced by the notion of linguistic environment. While the environment of oral language appears to be most salient, the environment of written language is both more substantial and more linguistically complex. Oral language forms are much more simple than written forms, and they are far more lexically constrained than written language. An additional tension is introduced by the actual function of written material in the modern world. Adults use literacy in the workplace, be it a classroom, laboratory, or retail store. Reading complicated written material, seeking, as Guthrie and Greaney (1991) note, “knowledge gain … personal empowerment … participation in society … or occupational effectiveness” (pp. 73–75) is of paramount importance to functioning in the modern world, whether from a piece of paper or from a screen.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmadian, M., & Pashangzadeh, A. (2013). A study of the effect of using narratives on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2(3), 153162.Google Scholar
Alderson, J. C., & Urquhart, A. H. (eds.) (1984). Reading in a foreign language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Alessi, S., & Dwyer, A. (2008). Vocabulary assistance before and during reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(2), 246263.Google Scholar
Alptekin, C., & Erçetin, G. (2010). The role of L1 and L2 working memory in literal and inferential comprehension in L2 reading. Journal of Research in Reading, 33(2), 206219.Google Scholar
Arnold, N. (2009). Online extensive reading for advanced foreign language learners: An evaluation study. Foreign Language Annals, 42(2), 340366.Google Scholar
Beglar, D., & Hunt, A. (2014). Pleasure reading and reading rate gains. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(1), 2948.Google Scholar
Beglar, D., Hunt, A., & Kite, Y. (2012). The effect of pleasure reading on Japanese university EFL learners’ reading rates. Language Learning, 62(3), 665703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, J. (2008a). Reading interpretations: Indian and Bangladeshi postgraduate students’ use of extratextual framing and metacognition. The Reading Matrix, 8(1), 4363.Google Scholar
Bell, J. (2008b). Reading between texts: Thai postgraduate students’ intertextual framing and metacognition use in reading. The Reading Matrix, 8(2), 3954.Google Scholar
Bell, J. (2011). Reading matters: Framing and metacognition with Thai postgraduate students. The Reading Matrix, 11(2), 102115.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B. (1991). Reading development in a second language: Theoretical, research, and classroom perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B. (2000). Second language reading as a case study of reading scholarship in the twentieth century. In Kamil, M., Mosenthal, P., Pearson, D., & Barr, R. (eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 793811). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B. (2005). Progress and procrastination in second language reading. In McGroarty, M. E. (ed.), Annual review of applied linguistics (Vol. 25.1, pp. 133150). West Nyack, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B. (2011). Understanding advanced second-language reading. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B., & Kamil, M. L. (1995). Interpreting relationships between L1 and L2 reading: Consolidating the linguistic threshold and the linguistic interdependence hypotheses. Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 1534.Google Scholar
Bordonaro, K. (2011). Recreational reading of international students in academic libraries. The Reading Matrix, 11(3), 269278.Google Scholar
Brantmeier, C., Callender, A., & McDaniel, M. (2011). The effects of embedded and elaborative interrogation questions on L2 reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 23(2), 187207.Google Scholar
Brantmeier, C., Callender, A., & McDaniel, M. (2013). The role of gender, embedded questions, and domain specific readings with learners of Spanish. Hispania, 96(3), 562578.Google Scholar
Brantmeier, C., Callender, A., Yu, X., & McDaniel, M. (2012). Textual enhancements and comprehension with adult readers of English in China. Reading in a Foreign Language, 24(2), 158185.Google Scholar
Brantmeier, C., Hammadou Sullivan, J., & Strube, M. (2014). Toward independent L2 readers: Effects of text adjuncts, subject knowledge, L1 reading, and L2 proficiency. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(2), 3453.Google Scholar
Brantmeier, C., Strube, M., & Yu, X. (2014). Scoring recalls for L2 readers of English in China: Pausal or idea units. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(1), 114130.Google Scholar
Charubusp, S., & Chinwonno, A. (2014). Developing academic and content area literacy: The Thai EFL context. The Reading Matrix, 14(2), 119134.Google Scholar
Cheng, A. (2008). Analyzing genre exemplars in preparation for writing: The case of an L2 graduate student in the ESP genre-based instructional framework of academic literacy. Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 5071.Google Scholar
Clifford, R., & Cox, T. L. (2013). Empirical validation of reading proficiency guidelines. Foreign Language Annals, 46(1), 4561.Google Scholar
Collentine, K. (2016). The effect of reading on second language learners’ production in tasks. Hispania, 99(1), 5165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daskalovska, N. (2014). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading an authentic text. The Reading Matrix, 14(2), 201216.Google Scholar
de Saint Léger, D. (2012). Structure strategy instruction in adult L2 reading: A way toward increased autonomy? The French Review, 86(2), 333356.Google Scholar
Elgort, I., & Warren, P. (2014). L2 vocabulary learning from reading: Explicit and tacit lexical knowledge and the role of learner and item variables. Language Learning, 64(2), 365414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ender, A. (2016). Implicit and explicit cognitive processes in incidental vocabulary acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 37(4), 536560.Google Scholar
Erten, I. H., & Razi, S. (2009). The effects of cultural familiarity on reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(1), 6077.Google Scholar
Fernandez de Morgado, N. (2009). Extensive reading: Students’ performance and perception. The Reading Matrix, 9(1), 3143.Google Scholar
Fredriks, L. (2012). The benefits and challenges of culturally responsive EFL critical literature circles. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(6), 494504.Google Scholar
Garrett-Rucks, P., Howles, L., & Lake, W. M. (2015). Enhancing L2 reading comprehension with hypermedia texts: Student perceptions. CALICO Journal, 32(1), 2651.Google Scholar
Ghiabi, S. (2014). Investigation of the effect of using a novel as an extensive reading on students’ attitudes and reading ability. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 3(4), 5564.Google Scholar
Guthrie, J. T., & Greaney, V. (1991). Literacy acts. In Barr, R., Kamil, M. L., Mosenthal, P. B., & Pearson, P. D. (eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 6896). New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Horiba, Y. (2013). Task-induced strategic processing in L2 text comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 25(2), 98125.Google Scholar
Interagency Language Roundtable. (n.d.). Interagency Language Roundtable Language Skill Level Descriptions—Reading. Retrieved from http://www.govtilr.org/Skills/ILRscale4.htm.Google Scholar
Karimi, M. N. (2015). EFL learners’ multiple documents literacy: Effects of a strategy-directed intervention program. The Modern Language Journal, 99(1), 4056.Google Scholar
Kasemsap, B., & Lee, H. Y.-H. (2015). L2 reading in Thailand: Vocational college students’ application of reading strategies to their reading of English texts. The Reading Matrix, 15(2), 101117.Google Scholar
Kitajima, R. (2016). Does the advanced proficiency evaluated in oral-like written text support syntactic parsing in a written academic text among L2 Japanese learners? Foreign Language Annals, 49(3), 575595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, S.-K. (2009). Topic congruence and topic interest: How do they affect second language reading comprehension? Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(2), 159178.Google Scholar
Littlemore, J., Trautman Chen, P., Koester, A., & Barnden, J. (2011). Difficulties in metaphor comprehension faced by international students whose first language is not English. Applied Linguistics, 32(4), 408429.Google Scholar
Lück, K. (2008). Web-based foreign language reading: Affective and productive outcomes. CALICO Journal, 25(2), 305325.Google Scholar
Meades, J. (2016). Favourite without portfolio. [Review of the books Hitler at Home, by D. Stratigakos, and Speer: Hitler’s Architect, by M. Kitchen]. The London Review of Books. Retrieved from https://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n03/jonathan-meades/favourite-without-portfolio.Google Scholar
Mikulec, E. (2015). Reading in two languages: A comparative miscue analysis. The Reading Matrix, 15(1), 143157.Google Scholar
Min, H.-T. (2008). EFL vocabulary acquisition and retention: Reading plus vocabulary enhancement activities and narrow reading. Language Learning, 58(1), 73115.Google Scholar
Mozafari, A., & Barjesteh, H. (2016). Enhancing literary competence through critically oriented reading strategies. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 5(7), 168177.Google Scholar
National Governors Association for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Supplemental information for Appendix A of the common core state standards for English language arts and literacy: New research on text complexity. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/assets/E0813_Appendix_A_New_Research_on_Text_Complexity.pdf.Google Scholar
Nelson, J., Perfetti, C., Liben, D., & Liben, M. (2012). Measures of text difficulty: Testing their predictive value for grade levels and student performance. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.Google Scholar
Papadima-Sophocleous, S. (2015). Integrating computer assisted language learning into out-of-class extended learning: The impact of iPod Touch-supported repeated reading on the oral reading fluency of English for specific academic purposes students. The Reading Matrix, 15(1), 188205.Google Scholar
Pearson, P. D., Barr, R., Kamil, M., & Mosenthal, P. (eds.) (1984). Handbook of reading research (Vol. 1). New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2016). Incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition from and while reading: An eye-tracking study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38, 97130.Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: Do “things fall apart”? Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 3155.Google Scholar
Pereyra, N. (2015). Extensive reading in enhancing lexical chunks acquisition. The Reading Matrix, 15(2), 218234.Google Scholar
Peters, E., Hulstijn, J. H., Sercu, L., & Lutjeharms, M. (2009). Learning L2 German vocabulary through reading: The effect of three enhancement techniques compared. Language Learning, 59(1), 113151.Google Scholar
Prichard, C. (2008). Evaluating L2 readers’ vocabulary strategies and dictionary use. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(2), 216231.Google Scholar
Rai, M. K., Loschky, L. C., Harris, R. J., Peck, N. R., & Cook, L. G. (2011). Effects of stress and working memory capacity on foreign language readers’ inferential processing during comprehension. Language Learning, 61(1), 187218.Google Scholar
Reynolds, B. L. (2014). A mixed-methods approach to investigating first- and second-language incidental vocabulary acquisition through the reading of fiction. Reading Research Quarterly, 50(1), 111127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riess Karnal, A., & Vanmacher Pereira, V. (2015). Reading strategies in a L2: A study on machine translation. The Reading Matrix, 15(2), 6979.Google Scholar
Rott, S., & Gavin, B. (2015). Comprehending and learning from Internet sources: A conceptual replication study of Goldman, Braasch, Wiley, Greasser, and Brodowinska (2012). CALICO Journal, 32(2), 323354.Google Scholar
Schmitt, N., Jiang, X., & Grabe, W. (2011). The percentage of words known in a text and reading comprehension. The Modern Language Journal, 95(i), 2643.Google Scholar
Shardakova, M. (2016). American learners’ comprehension of Russian textual humor. The Modern Language Journal, 100(2), 466483.Google Scholar
Tabata-Sandom, M. (2013). The reader–text–writer interaction: L2 Japanese learners’ response toward graded readers. Reading in a Foreign Language, 25(2), 264282.Google Scholar
Thoms, J. J. (2014). An ecological view of whole-class discussions in a second language literature classroom: Teacher reformulations as affordances for learning. The Modern Language Journal, 98(3), 724741.Google Scholar
Uden, J., Schmitt, D., & Schmitt, N. (2014). Jumping from the highest graded readers to ungraded novels: Four case studies. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(1), 128.Google Scholar
Urlaub, P. (2011). Developing literary reading skills through creative writing in German as a second language. Die Unterrichtspraxis, 44(2), 98105.Google Scholar
Urlaub, P. (2013). Questioning the text: Advancing literary reading in the second language through web-based strategy training. Foreign Language Annals, 46(3), 508521.Google Scholar
Uysal, H. H. (2012). Cross-cultural pragmatics of reading: The case of American and Turkish students reacting to a Turkish text. The Reading Matrix, 12(1), 1229.Google Scholar
Wood, P. (2011). Computer assisted reading in German as a foreign language, developing and testing an NLP-based application. CALICO Journal, 28(3), 662676.Google Scholar
Wurr, A. J., Theurer, J. L., & Kim, K. J. (2008/2009). Retrospective miscue analysis with proficient adult ESL readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(4), 324333.Google Scholar
Yilmaz, A. (2015). Short stories via computers in EFL classrooms: An empirical study for reading and writing skills. The Reading Matrix, 15(1), 4153.Google Scholar
Zhao, R., & Hirvela, A. (2015). Undergraduate ESL students’ engagement in academic reading and writing in learning to write a synthesis paper. Reading in a Foreign Language, 27(2), 219241.Google Scholar
Zyzik, E., & Polio, C. (2008). Incidental focus on form in university Spanish literature courses. The Modern Language Journal, 92 (1), 5370.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×