Book contents
- High-Level Language Proficiency in Second Language and Multilingual Contexts
- High-Level Language Proficiency in Second Language and Multilingual Contexts
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Age Effects on Language Acquisition, Retention and Loss
- 2 The Last Barriers in High-Level L2 Speech
- 3 Discourse and Interaction in Highly Proficient L2 Users
- 4 Formulaic Language in Advanced Long-Residency L2 Speakers
- 5 Developing Lexical Complexity in Oral Production
- 6 Reading Comprehension in Advanced L2 Readers
- 7 Polyglotism
- 8 What’s the Target?
- Index
- References
6 - Reading Comprehension in Advanced L2 Readers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 June 2018
Book contents
- High-Level Language Proficiency in Second Language and Multilingual Contexts
- High-Level Language Proficiency in Second Language and Multilingual Contexts
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Age Effects on Language Acquisition, Retention and Loss
- 2 The Last Barriers in High-Level L2 Speech
- 3 Discourse and Interaction in Highly Proficient L2 Users
- 4 Formulaic Language in Advanced Long-Residency L2 Speakers
- 5 Developing Lexical Complexity in Oral Production
- 6 Reading Comprehension in Advanced L2 Readers
- 7 Polyglotism
- 8 What’s the Target?
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter explores L2 reading in English among Swedish university students in comparison with British matched students. Results show that students of both backgrounds are equally able to learn from textbooks in English in naturalistic learning situations in spite of the fact that L2 readers are slower. When reading time is limited, L2 readers, in fact, span the whole range of reading comprehension bands covered by the L1 readers, but their distribution as a group is different, with the majority of the Swedish readers under a certain score, and the majority of the British students over this score. A proportion of L2 readers match the performances of L1 peers on non-situated but contextualized tests of reading comprehension. However, only a share of those who perform at L1 levels on these tests reach L1 performance levels on tasks such as tests of vocabulary knowledge and (aural or reading) single-word identification reaction times or accuracy rates. L2 readers who achieve levels of comprehension as high as their L1 peers do not seem to read, problem-solve, or process sentences more slowly. By contrast, such L2 readers have consistently smaller vocabularies than their L1 peers.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
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