L2 READING

Up until now I have looked a reading in an L1. As this thesis is about reading in the EFL classrooms of Norwegian upper secondary schools, it is important to look at L2 reading too.

Are there any differences between reading in a first- and a second-language? Alderson &

Urquhart put it as follows: “we do not, and indeed find it difficult to, draw a clear distinction between first and foreign language reading- in fact, it is not clear to what extent reading in a foreign language is different from reading in a first language” (Alderson & Urquhart as cited in Hellekjær, 2005, p. 61).

It seems obvious that the technical skills required are the same no matter which language we read in. However, the question remains: Can we automatically assume that a student who is a good first language reader is also a good second language reader? In other words: Do reading abilities transfer across languages, and are there additional challenges to reading in a second language? Alderson asks this question in a different way (Alderson, 2005, p. 23). He questions whether second language reading is a reading problem, or a language problem. He answers it by saying that both language knowledge and reading knowledge are important, but that research shows that knowledge of the second language is a more important factor than first language reading abilities (Alderson, 2005, p. 23). Alderson also says that the notion that poor second-language reading is due to inadequate first language reading receives little support from the research literature. Instead, the research results increasingly confirm the existence of a linguistic threshold (Alderson, 2005, p. 24). This linguistic threshold is defined by Grabe in this way: “[…] students must have a sufficient amount of L2 Knowledge (i.e. vocabulary, grammar and discourse) to make effective use of skills and strategies that are part of their L1 reading comprehension abilities” (Grabe & Stoller, 2002, p. 50). Readers cannot expect any L1 reading ability to transfer to the second language if they have not reached this threshold. This linguistic threshold is not absolute, but varies with task: The more demanding the task, the higher the linguistic threshold (Alderson, 2005, p.

38-39). Hellekjær even claims that for reading ability to transfer from the L1 into the L2 the students have to have efficient L1 processing skills and strategies to transfer. According to him this is something we should not take for granted (Hellekjær, 2005, p. 63).

Although there may be little difference between reading in the L1 and the L2, there are additional constraints that face readers of a second-language. But what are these constraints?

The fact is that there is a multitude of them; however as the focus of this thesis is Norwegian readers of English I am going to focus on the constraints most relevant to this group. This

means that constraints like cultural differences and different sign systems will not be discussed further.

The most important constraint is vocabulary knowledge. In fact, Grabe claims that the lack of “a massive receptive vocabulary that is rapidly, accurately, and automatically processed […] may be the greatest single impediment to fluent reading by ESL students” (Grabe as cited in Hellekjær, 2005, p. 62). Grabe states that first language readers have a vocabulary of approximately 40 000 words, and that when they read a text 98-99% of the words are known to them. He estimates that in order to be a fluent L2 reader you would have to know 95 % of the words on the page (Grabe, 1999, p. 31). It seems obvious that it would take an L2 reader years to reach this level. Bossers shows that while both knowledge of the second language and first language reading ability were related to reading ability in the second language, the former, and especially vocabulary knowledge, was more closely related at lower levels of linguistic proficiency (Bossers as cited in Alderson, 2005, p. 38).

A second constraint may be how students have been taught to handle difficult texts and unfamiliar words. As discussed above much of the reading that takes place in the classrooms is careful reading. Has the teaching that takes place in the EFL classroom prepared students for the independent reading of such texts? Hellekjær thinks that this is not automatically the case. He says that not only may the degree of contextual support have been high, with the teacher explaining and/or interpreting the texts in L2 or L1. If the texts are textbook texts there may also be accompanying word lists that explain or translate difficult words. In addition the reader has the opportunity to discuss difficult points with fellow students as well as with the teacher (Hellekjær, 2005, p. 62). Could it be that students do not develop

adequate strategies for handling difficult texts on their own because of this massive support system that surrounds them in the classroom? This is why it is important for teachers to teach their students reading strategies. If the students learn good reading strategies they will be much better equipped for dealing with the difficult authentic textbooks they are likely to encounter in higher education.

A third constraint might be the level of language awareness. L2 learners might not have developed the same awareness as L1 learners and this might require them to focus their attention on how the language works while reading instead of relying on intuitive knowledge (Grabe, 1999, p. 32-33). This might slow down the reading process and hinder the

comprehension.

Grabe also mentions speed of reading as a separate constraint to L2 reading. I am not sure whether or not this should be mentioned as a separate constraint or rather as a consequence of the three constraints mentioned above. A lack of vocabulary knowledge, poor word recognition skills or strategies and limited language awareness all reduce the speed of reading, and as I interpret Grabe this is the reason why the other constraints mentioned here are constraints to L2 reading (Grabe ,1999, p. 33). Schmitt claims that not only do we have to recognize a word, but we have to recognize it quickly to maintain a speed of reading that facilitates fluent reading (Schmitt, 2005, p. 50). He operates with a threshold reading speed under which comprehension is quite difficult, because a slower speed of reading will lead the reader to focus on each word individually and thus make it difficult to grasp the meaning of the connected discourse. Schmitt estimates that this threshold speed is approximately 200 words per minute. Above this speed the flow and logical progression of ideas can be

appreciated (Schmitt, 2005, p. 51).

Going through research on L2 reading I have found that what sets it apart from L1 reading is not the technical skills needed to be able to read nor the reading strategies employed. What sets L2 reading apart is rather a number of constraints that occur due to limited language proficiency. These constraints are numerous, however as mentioned above, I have chosen to present only the constraints most relevant in the Norwegian EFL classroom. These

constraints are limited vocabulary knowledge, how students are taught to handle difficult texts, level of language awareness and speed of reading. These constraints may seem overwhelming, but the good news is that with proper language instruction students can be trained to overcome these constraints and that is why it is so important for teachers and teachers in training to be aware of them.