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The contribution of phonological and orthographic processing skills to adult ESL reading: Evidence from native speakers of Farsi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 1999

Hossein Nassaji  and
Esther Geva
Hossein Nassaji*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Esther Geva
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Esther Geva, Human Development and Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canada
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Abstract

The present study investigated the role of phonological and orthographic processing skills in adult second language reading. The subjects were 60 ESL graduate students; all were native speakers of Farsi. Three types of ESL reading measures were used as criterion variables: reading comprehension, silent reading rate, and the ability to recognize individual words. Data were analyzed using correlational and hierarchical multiple regression. Efficiency in phonological and orthographic processing contributed significantly to individual differences on the reading measures. In particular, efficiency in orthographic processing contributed to the reading measures independently of syntactic and semantic measures. The study suggests that it is useful to consider individual differences in ESL reading with respect to individual differences in lower level processes – particularly the efficiency with which readers process phonological and orthographic information.

Type
Research Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 1999 , pp. 241 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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