Cover not available

In:Instructed Second Language Acquisition Research Methods
Edited by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss and YouJin Kim
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 3] 2022
► pp. 281–304

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 12
Reading

Adopting interdisciplinary paradigms in ISLA reading research

 | Victoria University of Wellington
Published online: 8 December 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.3.12elg
Abstract
What is involved in skilled reading and learning to read in a second language (L2), compared with the first language (L1)? Answers to this question can shape our thinking about what needs to be taught and investigated in instructed second language acquisition of reading by learners already literate in their L1s. Reading comprehension is a complex cognitive task that is notoriously difficult to define and measure (Nation & Waring, 2019), and building on relevant research paradigms and methods from adjacent fields offers a way to address this complexity. In this chapter, I consider interdisciplinary methodological approaches used to study reading that ISLAR researchers can adopt and adapt in investigating learning to read and reading to learn in an additional language. The chapter concludes with a detailed look at selected studies exemplifying the use of such research methods and advice for future L2 reading researchers.
Article outline
  • 1.What is reading and why is it important for ISLA?
  • 2.An overview of ISLA reading research: What we know and what we need to know
    • 2.1Reading as a complex process
    • 2.2Reading development
    • 2.3What is worth teaching?
  • 3.Methodological approaches to data elicitation and interpretation
    • 3.1Experimental laboratory research methods
    • 3.2In-situ research methods
    • 3.3Detailed examples from experts’ research: Considerations for ISLAR
      • 3.3.1Learning to read words: An instructed artificial language study
      • 3.3.2Learning to read sentences: A self-paced reading study
  • 4.Advice for future reading researchers
  • 5.ISLAR research methodological guide
  • 6.Troubleshooting ISLAR research
  • 7.Conclusions
  • 8.Further reading and additional resources
    • 8.1Book-length volumes
    • 8.2Suggested journals, professional organizations, and conferences
  • References
References (80)
References
Alderson, J. C. (1984). Reading in a foreign language: A reading problem or a language problem? In J. C. Alderson & A. H. Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a foreign language (pp. 1–27). Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B. (2011). Understanding advanced second-language reading. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bernhardt, E. B., & Kamil, M. L. (1995). Interpreting relationships between L1 and L2 reading: Consolidating the linguistic threshold and the linguistic interdependence hypotheses. Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 15–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boers, F., Bryfonski, L., Faez, F., & McKay, T. (2021). A call for cautious interpretation of meta-analytic reviews. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(1), 2–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boutorwick, T. J., Macalister, J., & Elgort, I. (2019). Two approaches to extensive reading and their effects on L2 vocabulary development. Reading in a Foreign Language, 31(2), 150–172.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brice, H., Siegelman, N., Van den Bunt, M., Frost, S., Rueckl, J., Pugh, K., & Frost, R. (2022). Individual differences in L2 literacy acquisition: Predicting reading skill from sensitivity to regularities between orthography, phonology, and semantics. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 44(3), 737–758. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cobb, T. (2007). Computing the vocabulary demands of L2 reading. Language Learning & Technology, 11(3), 38–63.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49(2), 222–251. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Day, R., & Park, J. (2005). Developing reading comprehension questions. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17(1), 60–73.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dirix, N., Vander Beken, H., De Bruyne, E., Brysbaert, M., & Duyck, W. (2020). Reading text when studying in a second language: An eye-tracking study. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(3), 371–397. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Stahl, S. A., & Willows, D. M. (2001). Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 71(3), 393–447. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elgort, I. (2020). Building vocabulary knowledge from and for reading – ways to improve lexical quality. In J. Clenton & P. Booth (Eds.), Vocabulary and the four skills (pp. 114–118). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elgort, I., Beliaeva, N., & Boers, F. (2020). Trial-and-error and errorless treatments in contextual word learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(1), 7–32. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elgort, I., Brysbaert, M., Stevens, M., & Van Assche, E. (2018). Contextual word learning during reading in a second language: An eye-movement study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(2), 341–366. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elgort, I., & Warren, P. (2014). L2 vocabulary learning from reading: Explicit and tacit lexical knowledge and the role of learner and item variables, Language Learning, 64(2), 365–414. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(in press). Studying L2 comprehension. In A. Godfroid & Hopp, H. The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and psycholinguistics. Routledge.
Ellis, N. C. (2015). Implicit AND explicit learning: Their dynamic interface and complexity. In Patrick Rebuschat (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 1–24). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frenck-Mestre, C., & Pynte, J. (1997). Syntactic ambiguity resolution while reading in a second and native language. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A, 50(1), 119–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gerrig, R. J., & McKoon, G. (1998). The readiness is all: The functionality of memory-based text processing. Discourse Processes, 26(2–3), 67–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ghavamnia, M., Ketabi, S., & Tavakoli, M. (2013). L2 reading strategies used by Iranian EFL learners: A think-aloud study. Reading Psychology, 34(4), 355–378. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godfroid, A., Ahn, J., Choi, I., Ballard, L., Cui, Y., Johnston, S., Lee, S., Sarkar, A., & Yoon, H.-J. (2018). Incremental vocabulary learning in a natural reading context: An eye-tracking study. Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 21(3), 563–584. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godfroid, A., Boers, F., & Housen, A. (2013). An eye for words: Gauging the role of attention in incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition by means of eye tracking. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(3), 483–517. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goring, S. A., Schmank, C. J., Kane, M. J., & Conway, A. R. (2021). Psychometric models of individual differences in reading comprehension: A reanalysis of Freed, Hamilton, and Long (2017). Journal of Memory and Language, 119, 104221. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6–10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in second language reading research. TESOL Quarterly, 25(3), 375–406. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). Key issues in L2 reading development. In X. Deng & R. Seow (Eds.), 4th CELC Symposium Proceedings (pp. 8–18). National University of Singapore.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2018). Building an effective reading curriculum: Guiding principles. In J. M. Newton, D. R. Ferris, C. M. Goh, W. Grabe, F. L. Stoller, & L. Vandergrift (Eds.), Teaching English to second language learners in academic contexts: Reading, writing, listening, and speaking (pp. 28–47). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Graesser, A. C., Millis, K. K., & Zwaan, R. A. (1997). Discourse comprehension. Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 163–189. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hall, C., Roberts, G. J., Cho, E., McCulley, L. V., Carroll, M., & Vaughn, S. (2017). Reading instruction for English learners in the middle grades: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 29(4), 763–794. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamada, A. (2020). Using meta-analysis and propensity score methods to assess treatment effects toward evidence-based practice in extensive reading. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 617. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamada, M., & Koda, K. (2008). Influence of first language orthographic experience on second language decoding and word learning. Language Learning, 58(1), 1–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, Z., & Anderson, N. J. (2009). Second language reading research and instruction: Crossing the boundaries. University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hardy, J. (2016). The effects of a short-term extensive reading course in Spanish. Journal of Extensive Reading, 4, 47–68.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2(2), 127–160. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hu, M., & Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 23, 403–430.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, H. (2013). E-reading and e-discussion: EFL learners’ perceptions of an e-book reading program. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 26(3), 258–281. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jaeger, T. F. (2008). Categorical data analysis: Away from ANOVAs (transformation or not) and towards logit mixed models. Journal of Memory and Language, 59(4), 434–446. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jeon, E. H. & Yamashita, J. (2022). L2 reading comprehension and its correlates: An updated meta-analysis. In E.H. Jeon & Y. In'nami (eds.), Understanding L2 Proficiency: Theoretical and meta-analytic investigations (pp. 29–86). Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Katz, L., & Frost, R. (1992). Reading in different orthographies: The orthographic depth hypothesis. In R. Frost & L. Katz (Eds.), Orthography, phonology, morphology, and meaning (pp. 67–84). North Holland. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Y. (2017). Why the simple view of reading is not simplistic: Unpacking component skills of reading using a direct and indirect model of reading (DIER). Scientific Studies of Reading, 21(4), 310–333. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kintsch, W. (1998). Comprehension: A paradigm for cognition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klingner, J. K., Artiles, A. J., & Barletta, L. M. (2006). English language learners who struggle with reading. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(2), 108–128. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koda, K. (2005). Insights into second language reading. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kramer, B., & McLean, S. (2019). L2 reading rate and word length: The necessity of character-based measurement. Reading in a Foreign Language, 31(2), 201–225.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuperman, V., Siegelman, N., Schroeder, S., Acartürk, C., Alexeeva, S., Amenta, S., Bertram, R., Bonandrini, R., Brysbaert, M., Chernova, D., Da Fonseca, S. M., Dirix, N., Duyck, W., Fella, A., Frost, R., Gattei, C., Kalaitzi, A., Lõo, K., Marelli, M., … Usal, K. A. (2022). Text reading in English as a second language: Evidence from the multilingual eye-movements corpus. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Advance online publication. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuperman, V., & Van Dyke, J. A. (2011). Effects of individual differences in verbal skills on eye-movement patterns during sentence reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 65(1), 42–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laufer, B. (1989). What percentage of text-lexis is essential for comprehension? In C. Laurén & M. Nordman (Eds.), Special language: From humans thinking to thinking machines (pp. 316–323). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003). Vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Do learners really acquire most vocabulary by reading? Some empirical evidence. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(4), 567–587. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Second language vocabulary acquisition from language input and from form-focused activities. Language Teaching, 42(3), 341–354. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, J.-T., Tong, F., Irby, B. J., Lara-Alecio, R., & Rivera, H. (2021). The effects of four instructional strategies on English learners’ English reading comprehension: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research. Advance online publication. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lin, L.-C., & Yu, W.-Y. (2015). A think-aloud study of strategy use by EFL college readers reading Chinese and English texts. Journal of Research in Reading, 38(3), 286–306. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marsden, E., Thompson, S., & Plonsky, L. (2018). A methodological synthesis of self-paced reading in second language research. Applied Psycholinguistics, 39(5), 861–904. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mézière, D., Yu, L., Reichle, E., von der Malsburg, T., & McArthur, G. (2021). Using eye-movements to predict performance on reading comprehension tests. 34th Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing. Retrieved on 2 June 2022 from [URL]
Mulder, E., van de Ven, M., Segers, E., Krepel, A., de Bree, E. H., de Jong, P. F., & Verhoeven, L. (2021). Word-to-text integration in English as a second language reading comprehension. Reading & Writing, 34(4), 1049–1087. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). The four strands. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing (Vol. 10). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). What does every ESL teacher need to know? Compass Media.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2016). Incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition from and while reading: An eye-tracking study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(1), 97–130. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perfetti, C. A. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 357–383. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perfetti, C., & Stafura, J. (2014). Word knowledge in a theory of reading comprehension, Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 22–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pulido, D. (2007). The effects of topic familiarity and passage sight vocabulary on L2 lexical inferencing and retention through reading. Applied Linguistics, 28(1), 66–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rastle, K., Lally, C., Davis, M. H., & Taylor, J. S. H. (2021). The Dramatic impact of explicit instruction on learning to read in a new writing system. Psychological Science, 32(4), 471–484. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rayner, K. (2009). Eye-movements and attention in reading, scene perception, and visual search. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62(8), 1457–1506. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rebuschat, P., & Williams, J. N. (Eds.). (2012). Statistical learning and language acquisition. Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ricketts, J., Lervåg, A., Dawson, N., Taylor, L. A., & Hulme, C. (2020). Reading and oral vocabulary development in early adolescence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 24(5), 380–396. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sato, M., & Loewen, S. (2019). Towards evidence-based second language pedagogy: Research proposals and pedagogical recommendations. In M. Sato & S. Loewen (Eds.), Evidence-based second language pedagogy: A collection of Instructed Second Language Acquisition studies (pp. 1–24). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Southwell, R., Gregg, J., Bixler, R. and D’Mello, S. K. (2020). What eye-movements reveal about later comprehension of long-connected texts. Cognitive Science, 44(10), e12905. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torgerson, C., Brooks, G., & Hall, J. (2006). A systematic review of the research literature on the use of phonics in the teaching of reading and spelling (Research Report RR711). U.K. Department for Education and Skills. Retrieved on 2 June 2022 from [URL]
van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2002). Foreign language knowledge can influence native language performance in exclusively native contexts. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9(4), 780–789. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Heuven, W. J. B., Schriefers, H., Dijkstra, T., & Hagoort, P. (2008). Language conflict in the bilingual brain. Cerebral Cortex, 18(11), 2706–2716. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van der Schoot, M., Vasbinder, A. L., Horsley, T. M., Reijntjes, A., & van Lieshout, E. C. (2009). Lexical ambiguity resolution in good and poor comprehenders: An eye fixation and self-paced reading study in primary school children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 21–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vander Beken, H., & Brysbaert, M. (2018). Studying texts in a second language: The importance of test type. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(5), 1062–1074. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, B. (1996). Input processing and grammar instruction in second language acquisition. Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L., & Perfetti, C. A. (Eds.). (2017). Learning to read across languages and writing systems. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L., & van Leeuwe, J. (2012). The simple view of second language reading throughout the primary grades. Reading and Writing, 25(8), 1805–1818. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yamashita, J. (2002). Mutual compensation between L1 reading ability and L2 language proficiency in L2 reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 25(1), 81–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Effects of extensive reading on reading attitudes in a foreign language. Reading in a Foreign Language, 25(2), 248–263.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue