For elementary learners of Japanese, one of the main difficulties in reading is to distinguish words written in kana. This paper reports on a survey of elementary level learners with two different levels of proficiency to investigate the effectiveness of Japanese graded readers with parts of speech color-coded to distinguish nouns, verbs,…

Benefits for L2 reading through offering learners extensive reading with listening have been found in empirical studies, but those findings may be under-utilized in academic English preparation settings, due to prioritized test practice in response to high-stakes testing for university matriculation. Self-paced extensive reading with listening…

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of instruction of self-regulatory strategies on the L2 reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners on the one hand and improve the students' self-regulated learning on the other hand. In this research, the experimental group (N=35) received instruction on self-regulatory strategies whereas the…

In this study the cognitive correlates of reading comprehension in English as a foreign language were studied. The Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of cognitive abilities was used as the theoretical grounding for the study. We examined the relationship between fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, verbal analogical reasoning, and speed of…

This study presents empirical evidence for the hypothesis that reading purpose may impact upon the cognitive processes that L2 readers use in comprehending a text. 25 advanced learners of English were put into two purpose groups--testing condition (TC) and learning condition (LC). The participants in the TC read two expository passages and…

This mix-method research attempts at extending our knowledge about the impact of L1 glossing (Persian) for abstract words on reading comprehension in English. It also examines learners' attitudes towards abstract glossed words while engaged in reading. Sixty students in Iranian language institutes were recruited to participate in the quantitative…

The effects of repeated oral reading and timed reading on L2 oral reading fluency were examined among Japanese university students (N = 50) over 12 weeks. Three quasi-experimental groups were used in the study. Group 1 practiced two types of reading: Repeated oral reading with chunking practice and timed reading. Group 2 did timed reading only.…

There is a lack of research which examines the effects of online pop-up dictionaries in the context of less commonly taught languages including Japanese as a second and foreign language (JSL and JFL), despite the growing popularity of such tools. This qualitatively-oriented study is an attempt to fill this void. The study investigates differences…

Little research has been conducted to investigate the effect of analogy on third language (L3, hereafter) reading comprehension though some experts believe that it has facilitating and debilitating effects on L1 and L2 respectively. This article explores the effect of analogies on reading comprehension of expository texts by students of English as…

Concept maps reflect the linkage of concepts or facts within a text. This study was set out to investigate whether concept mapping as a learning strategy would have any scaffolding effect on the reading comprehension and recall of propositions by L2 learners. Out of 60 high school students, 30 in the experimental group were exposed to concept…

This study discusses the construct of oral reading fluency and examines its relationship to reading comprehension among adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners of four first language (L1) backgrounds. One hundred and forty-nine adult learners of English with Arabic, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese language backgrounds participated in this…

This study aims to understand how EFL learners in different reading proficiency levels comprehend L2 texts, using five-component skills involving measures of (1) vocabulary knowledge, (2) drawing inferences and predictions, (3) knowledge of text structure and discourse organization, (4) identifying the main idea and summarizing skills, and (5)…

Two groups of 12-year-old ethnic minority (EM) users of alphasyllabary (66 Tibetan and 45 Yi) were compared with 42 Han Chinese students in comprehending Chinese narrative and expository texts, each with inferential questions requiring short open-ended written answers. Three constructs (verbal working memory, orthographic and sentential…

Top-down models of reading emphasize methods and techniques that promote active reading which involves utilizing contextual clues to guess vocabulary meaning. This study aims at analyzing the correlation between EFL students' general reading proficiency and guessing patterns, and identifying the types of contextual clues actually used by EFL…

Provision of multiple-choice (MC) glosses, which combines the advantages of glosses and inferring, has recently gained its share of supporters as a potential technique for enhancing L2 texts and increasing word gain for L2 learners. Upon taking an actual TOEFL, the participants underwent a vocabulary pretest to ensure that the target words were…