The study reported in this article examined the first language and second language reading and writing abilities of adult ESL learners to determine the relationships across languages (L1 and L2) and across modalities (reading and writing) in the acquisition of L2 literacy skills. Specifically, we investigated relationships (a) between literacy skills in a first language and literacy development in a second language (i.e., between reading in L1 and L2, and between writing in L1 and L2), and (b) between reading and writing in L1 and L2 (i.e., between reading and writing in L1, and between reading and writing in L2). The subjects, Japanese and Chinese ESL students in academic settings, were asked to write an essay and to complete a cloze passage in both their first and second languages. The results indicate that literacy skills can transfer across languages, but that the pattern of this transfer varies for the two language groups. It also appears that reading ability transfers more easily from L1 to L2 than does writing ability, and that the relationship between reading and writing skills varies for the two language groups. These data suggest that L2 literacy development is a complex phenomenon for already literate adult second language learners involving variables such as L2 language proficiency, L1 and L2 educational experience, and cultural literacy practices that may be related to different patterns of L2 literacy acquisition.
This article is an attempt to utilize psycholinguistic research to develop a framework for the teaching of reading to second language (L2) learners. The first section highlights current psycholinguistic reading theory and develops goals for L2 reading teachers based on this theory. The proficient reader is viewed as an active, information‐processing individual who uses a minimum number of clues to extract the author's message from the page. It becomes the responsibility of teachers to train students to determine their own goals and strategies for a particular reading, to give students practice and encouragement in using a minimum number of syntactic and semantic clues to obtain the maximum amount of information, and to encourage students to take risks, to guess, and to ignore their impulses to be always correct. In an attempt to translate theory into practice, the second section of the article explores the implications of a psycholinguistic perspective for the learning environment, teacher behavior, and the preparation and use of L2 reading materials. The optimum learning environment is viewed as one in which students and teachers work together: teacher intervention is minimized as students are encouraged to use their developing skills to solve reading problems on their own. Materials development is viewed as being composed of the development of reading skills exercises (scanning, skimming, reading for thorough comprehension, and critical reading) and the development of language skills exercises (vocabulary, structure, and discourse). The third section of the article discusses lesson planning within a psycholinguistic framework and presents a sample lesson plan in English as a second language which emphasizes a skills approach to reading. Lessons are planned for maximum flexibility, allowing the teacher to take advantage of students' interests and needs.
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