Although much research on English for specific purposes (ESP) has been conducted, little focus has been placed on investigating the mechanisms involved in ESP readers' comprehension process. This case study explored the reading process that characterizes a competent ESP reader's comprehension. A juris doctor student attending a major university in…

There is growing research aimed at understanding the challenges international graduate students (IGSs) face in learning English and applying it to their academic studies in the United States. Most studies, however, focus solely on IGSs and English in the context of U.S. higher education, giving less attention to their experiences prior to entering…

With the growing prevalence of Web 2.0 technologies and use of online resources in their classrooms, language learners have increasing exposure to online texts. In this study we attempted to understand how university level second language (L2) readers construct meaning when reading online. We investigated L2 readers' information-seeking strategies…

This study compares the language learner and test-taking strategies used by Chinese-speaking graduate students when confronted with familiar versus unfamiliar topics in an English multiple-choice format reading comprehension test. Thirty-six participants at a large mid-western university performed three tasks: A content knowledge vocabulary…