Developing reading materials tailored to the specific needs and proficiency levels of students is important yet challenging for educators and teachers. Current data-driven indices assisting this task primarily focus on lexical and syntactic text features, often overlooking text cohesion, a key discourse feature impacting reading comprehension. To…

This study investigated the effects of processing three types of texts, namely expository texts, narrative texts, and a combination of both known as twin texts, on incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention in L2 learners. College freshmen (N = 109), who were lower to upper intermediate learners of English, were assigned into a control group…

This classroom-based study was conducted in Kuwait to investigate the impact of text structure strategy (TSS) instruction on the ways in which 54 English as a foreign language (EFL) college students approached expository and medical texts. Data collection involved two surveys, fieldnotes, class observations, and group interviews. A system of codes…

This quasi-experimental investigation describes the influence of text signals on second language expository science text comprehension. In two course sections, mixed proficiency Korean English language learners (n = 88) read one of two print-based English expository text passage versions. Participants in one section (n = 44) were given a version…

The purpose of this study was to investigate two levels of reading comprehension, namely literal and inferential, of two text types of narration and exposition in Iranian EFL learners. The elicitation instruments were four expository texts and four narrative ones. One hundred eighty upper-intermediate EFL learners were assigned the reading…

Cognitive organizers (COs) are text aids which represent objects, concepts, and their relations by the use of symbols and spatial arrangements without adding to semantic content. The present study examines language learners' text comprehension through outlines, a popular CO, compared with text-only condition, and further investigates the effect of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between text structure and two levels of reading comprehension, namely literal and inferential, in Iranian EFL learners. Studies have generally found that learners perform differently after they have read different text structures (Amiri et al. in "Proc Soc Behav Sci"…

This study explored the relationship between two dimensions of vocabulary knowledge, that is, breadth of vocabulary (the number of words known) and depth of vocabulary (the richness of word knowledge), and their effects on different aspects of English reading in Chinese high school students learning English as a second language. Two hundred and…

Reading is an indispensable skill for learners who desire success throughout their academic lives, and vocabulary knowledge is a sine qua non companion of reading comprehension. Despite being inextricably related entities, very little has been written about the necessary vocabulary coverage to understand an expository text and its equivalent in…

A qualitative think-aloud study, informed by social literacies and holistic bilingual perspectives, was conducted to examine how six emergent bilingual, Mexican American, fourth graders approached, interacted with, and comprehended narrative and expository texts in Spanish and English. The children had strong Spanish reading test scores, but…

This article provides a deeper understanding of how young bilinguals constructed meaning with expository texts in an inquiry-based setting over an academic year. An examination of classroom transcripts and analysis revealed how "Viewing" became the most frequently used literacy practice and a cultural tool in the construction of meaning…

Efforts to improve educational outcomes for English learners often focus on "academic language," but unfortunately the field lacks a clear, agreed-upon definition of the concept. This article reports on a design research study that focused on students' engagement in one academic practice over several months: reading and discussing…

This research project examined the foreign language reading process of students of French faced with expository French-language texts. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of analogies in reading passages on the reading comprehension of novice and advanced French learners. (VWL)

An approach to teaching and testing advanced French reading comprehension of expository social science texts is presented within a "communicative-cognitive" framework. Learners receive instructions that encourage them to perceive and use the writer's overall rhetorical scheme as a conceptual-functional framework for integrating the components.…

Discussion of ways in which second-language learners' processing of and interaction with narrative and expository texts affects their performance on cloze tests suggests that researchers and teachers interpreting these tests should not assume that such tests only assess language ability. (CB)