Reading in L2
Reading in a certain language (L1) may imply the use of different reading strategies Grabe (2009), which might have implications when learning to read in L2
L2 with alphabetical ortographies
Letter to sound correspondences (extent)
Less: English, French
Implications for learners
Readers need to develop sight recognition of very frequently ocurring words and parts of words
Spanish learners studying English, for instance, need to adjust their word-processing strategies when reading in English.
Recognize by sight
Frequently ocurring words
Parts of words
More: Italian, Spanish
L2 with non-alphabetical ortographies
Characters contain a great deal of information to be interpreted by readers
Reading in L1 could imply having already-acquired reading skills which may have an impact on reading in L2
Language processing skills for dealing with L1
Higher-order reading abilities to deal with information
Getting main ideas
Evaluating information
Familiarity with reading genres
General Aspects
Lexis
Cunningham (2005). Proficient L1 reader knows at least 5000 words orally
Developing lexis is key, otherwise
Constant monitoring of text understanding, which adds cognitive load, impeding text understanding
Perfetti (1991) says that low proficiency in L2 implies building up meaning from words up to small scale units or popositions, which hinders larger scale understanding and critical interpretation
L2 Reading Challenges
Genre
Unfamiliar genres
Familiar genres which organize information in different way, though
Unfamiliar cultural references
Preferences of genres (Wallace, 1988; McKay, 1993)
L1: poetry, novels, etc. (more personal or private reading)
L2: work, study, etc. (more public roles in society)
Attitudes
Towards printed word
In certain cultures, printed word may be unquestionable
Skills and Strategies
Identifying letters
Matching sounds to ortography
Using knowledge about the typical structure and language of particular genres
Realizing that fairy stories being with "Once upon a time..."
Job ads may contain the word "needed"
Academic articles follow an SPSE (Situation-Problem-Solution-Evaluation) organization
Dealing with unknown words
Using information about
Syntax
Morphology
Topic itself
Developing sight recognition of frequently ocurring words
Setting appropriate goals for comprehension
Skimming
Scanning
Evaluating/appreciating the information given in the text
Enjoying a story
Deciding which texts are more appropriate for a certain purpose
Using norphological or syntactic clues to interpret the meaning of sentences and form propositions
'a' and 'the' precede nouns
's', 'es', and 'ies' signal regular plural endings
'ing' signal present continuous, present participle or gerund
Using knowledge of the world to predict or infer information
Psycholonguistic models (Reading Processes)
Bottom-up
Match written symbols (letters or logographs) with sounds
Identifying words
Using syntactic information to construct meaning
Top-down Reading
Using expectations about the likely content, organization, and language of the text in order to
Predict
Infer
Confirm individual words
Build up an understanding of the text
Using knowledge about how particular kinds of texts are structured
Using knowledge of the world
Using knowledge of language use which is typical of particular kinds of text
New literacy approach (Street, 1993)
Reading socially through technology
Reading as a shared activity
Collaborative manner
Example: students taking online courses and commenting on texts they have read
Student-directed fashion
Grabe (2009) indicates certain (collaborative) factors which favor motivation to read
Choice
Success in learning through reading
Social collaboration for reading tasks
Support and scaffolding for reading strategies
Interesting texts
Extensive reading
Evaluation and feedback that support learning
Emphasize the relationship between readers and writers
Consider how, why, and where reading is done
Consider how social context may influence
Reading processes
Comprehension of written texts