So, What's Behind Adult English Second Language Reading?

Relations among L1 Reading, L2 Knowledge, and L2 Reading: Revisiting the Threshold Hypothesis

“…The contention is that the role of L2 knowledge should be significant in L2 reading and be bigger than that of L1 reading in L2 reading comprehension to support the threshold hypothesis. Otherwise, the data may support the linguistic interdependent hypothesis which posits that L2 reading is like L1 reading at the fundamental core because knowledge of L1 reading can be transferred to L2 reading across L2 proficiency levels (Alderson, 1984;August, 2006;Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995;Carrell, 1991;Jiang, 2011). Of note is that the first method of data analysis and interpretation provides only the potential existence of a threshold level, with no indication of a hypothetical threshold level in L2 reading, let alone an actual level of a language threshold.…”

“…Researchers contended that when the contribution of L2 knowledge to L2 reading is bigger than the contribution of L1 to L2 reading, the threshold hypothesis is supported in comparison with the linguistic interdependence hypothesis where the role of L1 reading in L2 reading comprehension is bigger than the role of L2 knowledge in L2 reading (August, 2006;Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995). However, care must be taken before making a hasty conclusion because the idea of the significant and dominant contribution of L2 knowledge to L2 reading comprehension is necessary, but not sufficient to support the threshold hypothesis.…”

“…The transferability of L1 reading to L2 reading has been discussed with the center of the short-circuit hypothesis or the threshold hypothesis (Alderson, 1984;Clarke, 1980). Regardless of the crucial importance of the threshold hypothesis in L2 reading, empirical studies to test the hypothesis have been regrettably limited and the findings, to date, have been surprisingly conflicted each other (Ardasheva et al, 2011;August, 2006;Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995;Bossers, 1991;Carrell, 1991;Jiang, 2011;Lee & Schallert, 1997;Park & Chae, 2000;Pichette et al, 2003;Taillefer, 1996). The conflicting findings might be in part attributable to L2 readers' native language that was intricately interwoven with other confounding variables including proficiency level, reading task, and learning context, and in part attributable to the lack of research methods used to test the hypothesis.…”

“…In a study investigating the relations of L1 reading to L2 reading and L2 grammar to L2 reading among 55 native Spanish-speaking ESL students in college, August (2006) found the significant correlations between variables with the coefficients ranged between .309 and .341. In a simple regression, the contribution of L1 reading to L2 reading was slightly bigger than the contribution of L2 grammar to L2 reading, supporting the linguistic interdependence hypothesis rather than the threshold hypothesis.…”

Differential Effects of French and Spanish Immersion Education on English Literacy Skills

“…Cummins (1998) suggested that although the surface aspects of the two languages being learned are different, such as pronunciation and grammatical structure, there is a common underlying cognitive process in reading that makes it possible to transfer literacy skills from one language to another. Transfer is defined as the process by which previous knowledge and experiences influence new learning (August, 2006). Several researchers have found that phonological awareness skills do transfer from one language to another, as in Spanish to English (Cisero & Royer, 1995;Durgunoglu, Nagy, & Hancin-Bhatt, 1993;Riccio et al 2001), English to French (Comeau et al, 1999), and Chinese to English (Gottardo, Yan, Siegel, & Wade-Woolley, 2001).…”