English language learners (ELLs) develop their reading by engaging in diverse literacy activities in the learning contexts of multiliteracies. I investigated ELLs' experiences and their use of strategies when they read computer-based texts at home and in school. In addition, I identified a variety of influential factors that affected the ELLs' use of reading strategies when they read computer-based texts in both research contexts. This research was conducted at homes and at three public elementary schools. Participants were two fourth-grade and two fifth-grade ELLs, four parents, and five classroom teachers. The study included observations, interviews, verbal reports, documents, field notes, and reflective journals. My data analysis processes consisted of five steps and resulted in an understanding of the ELLs' use of strategies and literacy experiences when they read computer-based texts in home and school contexts. I collected data from April 2010 through December 2010. The findings indicated that the ELLs used 15 strategies when they read diverse computer-based texts. All the ELLs created their multi-dimensional zone of proximal development (ZPD) and dialogued with others, themselves, and texts in both non-linear and dynamic ways. The ELLs' specific patterns of using the strategies contained both similarities and differences in each context. In addition, (1) ELLs' electronic literacy knowledge and experiences, (2) parents' and teachers' guidance and interest for computer-based text readings, (3) ELLs' purposes for reading computer-based texts, (4) the language of computer-based texts, and (5) technology equipment in the contexts all influenced the ELLs' use of reading strategies at homes and schools. There are two implications for parents and teachers. First, even though limitations exist, parents and teachers need to play more active roles in supporting their children's efficient and productive use of strategies and computer technology for their computer-based text reading. Second, to enhance the ELLs' literacy development in the learning contexts of multiliteracies, a home-school connection is necessary.

In this study, reading motivations of university students enrolled in the preparatory school of a private university in Ankara were investigated. Firstly, the factors that constitute the reading motivation in Turkish and English were explored using a questionnaire which was adapted from the related literature. Then, the relationship between L1 reading motivation and L2 reading motivation was investigated. Next, the relationship between L1 and L2 reading motivation and L2 reading achievement was analyzed separately. In addition to the nature of reading motivation, students&rsquo / text selections and reading habits (how often, how long and how many pages they read) were included in the analysis. Finally, preparatory school instructors&rsquo / and students&rsquo / perceptions of reading motivation and the factors influencing it were scrutinized. In order to address the issues stated above, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. A total of 273 questionnaires were collected from the students in two instruction levels. In addition, fifteen teachers and eight students were interviewed. The findings indicated that there is a slight relationship between L1 reading motivation and l2 reading motivation. Secondly, L1 reading motivation and behaviors made no significant contribution to L2 reading achievement. However, L2 reading motivation and behaviors were found to be significant contributors of L2 reading achievement. Among these, while the factor anxiety was found to be a significant factor in pre-intermediate level and the factor comfort was the significant factor in the upper-intermediate level. Among the text selections, students prefer to read, transactional texts had a positive correlation with L2 reading achievement. Finally, time students spend reading in English was found to be a significant contributor. Apart from the questionnaire data, the teacher interviews revealed that several other factors affect students&rsquo / reading motivation and their reading comprehension such as the classroom-specific motivational variables and the family and educational backgrounds of the students.

Students entering academic programmes are frequently overwhelmed by the demand for extensive reading and comprehension of information derived from multiple and contrasting sources. This entails both careful and expeditious reading. The latter has been generally neglected in research and has not been the focus of many tests. Both types of reading were investigated in this study through a validation process of the summative English reading test for academic purposes taken at the end of the Foundation Programme in Oman. In particular, context validity was established through focusing on the interaction between the linguistic demands and task setting parameters and also the cognitive processes through which the students engaged with the test tasks. To establish the context validity of the test, this study adopted Khalifa and Weir’s (2009) model which not only embraced the complex and multi-componential nature of reading but also provided a workable validation framework. A multi-strategy approach was adopted. A natural experiment utilising Verbal Protocol Analysis captured the cognitive processes through which students engaged in reading. Automated analysis software and opinions of expert judges were used to compare test passages with text extracts drawn from first year academic courses. Correlation tests and factor analysis revealed these cognitive processes and established the robustness of the Khalifa and Weir (2009) model, which was thus validated in a second language context. Passages in the foundation tests were found to be generally representative of academic texts although certain features such as abstractness were under-represented.

L'objet de cette thèse est de cerner les mécanismes de la lecture en langue 2 (L2, c'est-à-dire une langue étrangère apprise à un niveau avancé en dehors du pays où la langue se pratique) et seconde (LS, apprise dans un pays où elle est utilisée) pour proposer une intervention pédagogique spécifique qui soutienne l'effort de compréhension des lecteurs. Cette recherche interdisciplinaire relève des domaines de la Psychologie et des Sciences du langage (plus particulièrement de la didactique des langues). Elle s'ouvre aussi sur les nouvelles technologies, propices au développement de la compréhension écrite. Dans la partie théorique, nous résumons les connaissances actuelles dans le domaine de la compréhension de textes et de l'ingénierie des L2 et LS. Dans la partie expérimentale, un outil pédagogique a été créé et testé à travers trois études (menées en anglais L2, puis en français LS). Cet outil de type méthodologique consiste à guider la lecture de plusieurs documents qui portent sur un même thème. Les méthodes pédagogiques et expérimentales ont été améliorées au fil de ces trois études. L'utilisation de l'outil pédagogique a eu des répercussions bénéfiques sur la compréhension. En conclusion, un modèle pédagogique sur la compréhension écrite en langue 2 / seconde fait ressortir l'intérêt de certains principes didactiques tels que l'approche globale des textes, la lecture en plusieurs phases, et un soutien de l'attention portée aux sources et aux idées-clés des textes. Enfin, nous présentons le cahier des charges d'une version informatisée de notre outil pédagogique pour un développement approfondi et individualisé de la compréhension écrite / The purpose of this study is to understand the processes involved in the comprehension of texts in a second language, and to propose an intervention that enhances readers' comprehension strategies. This work draws on theories of Psychology and Language Science (language didactics in particular), but it also includes some interest for language learning in virtual environments, that can be relevant to promote text comprehension. Three experiments were conducted to analyse the impact of a pedagogical tool created to support reading comprehension at a methodological level. More exactly, the tool aimed to guide the reader when facing several texts that treat the same topic. Its effectiveness was tested in English and French as a second language. As anticipated, the use of the tool led to to positive outcomes on the comprehension of the texts as evidenced in essay writing and question answering tasks. To conclude that research, a pedagogical model about second language reading is proposed. The model highlights the relevance of some didactical principles like global approach, reading by stages, but also supporting attention to texts' sources and main ideas. Moreover, a computerized version of the tool, which would place readers in an individualized learning context, is described. Its implementation is considered as a follow up of the present research.

The low literacy levels of the majority of first-year students at tertiary institutions in South Africa have been a major cause of concern. Various attempts have been made to assist students to develop their academic literacy levels – especially academic reading. However, most of these attempts are solely cognitive-oriented, even though there has been increasing acknowledgement of the relationship between socio-affective factors and students’ academic reading abilities. The purpose of this research was to explore a socio-affective approach to improving the reading abilities of first-year students at the University of Pretoria (UP). The following questions guided the research: (1) Is there a significant relationship between socio-affective factors and students’ academic reading abilities? (2) Which socio-affective factors best predict tertiary students’ academic reading abilities? (3) How can knowledge of socio-affective factors be used to design a more effective reading intervention? (4) How effective is a reading intervention programme that incorporates socio-affective factors? A mixed methods design was used for the study which was conducted in four phases. The first phase consisted of an exploratory study in the form of a questionnaire survey that elicited information on first-year UP students’ reading background, socio-affective reading levels and the use of reading strategies in relation to their reading proficiency levels, as determined by the Test for Academic Literacy Levels (TALL). ANOVA tests were used for the analysis of TALL results while a Cumulative Logit (regression) analysis was conducted to determine the socio-affective factors that best predict these students’ reading ability. ANOVA tests showed a robust relationship between students’ social and affective reading background on one hand, and their reading proficiency levels on the other. The regression analysis showed that self-efficacy was the best predictor of students’ reading ability, followed by intrinsic motivation. Based on the empirical results, and an adapted model of Guthrie and Wigfield (2000), an intervention programme that served as enrichment to the existing Academic Reading module, and aimed at improving the reading abilities of students by focussing on socio-affective issues in particular, was designed (as phase 2) and implemented (as phase 3) of the study. Two control groups and two intervention groups of At Risk and Low Risk students were used for the study. Questionnaires on affective reading levels and strategy use were administered before and after the intervention. In phase four, quantitative analysis using t-tests (independent and paired t-tests) with effect sizes were performed on the pre- and post-intervention questionnaire responses. Results showed significant improvements in affective levels for reading in the intervention groups compared to the control groups. In addition, qualitative data were collected via interviews on the socio-affective teaching techniques used for the intervention, and analysed qualitatively using content analysis. The results of the qualitative study were used to support the quantitative findings in terms of the measure in which the teaching approach contributed to the improvement in students’ socio-affective levels in reading, which according to research, correlates with students’ reading ability. Based on the findings, recommendations are made at the classroom and institutional levels. The significance of the study in terms of enriching theory and designing innovative support to improve students’ reading ability serve as a conclusion to the thesis. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Unit for Academic Literacy / Unrestricted

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At every educational level reading is a powerful tool for academic success because it provides students with access to information. Comprehension is crucial to reading. Many students at Lobatse College of Education, Botswana, have problems comprehending L2 reading materials and thus struggle academically because English is the medium of instruction. To some extent, methods of teaching L2 reading contribute to students’ reading failure. It is said that how we teach is as important as what we teach. Thus, how L2 reading is taught is important for improving students’ understanding of texts and their L2 academic performance. This study focuses on teaching reading as a process which involves an application of reading strategies in order to facilitate comprehension of texts. The overall aim of the research is concerned with the improvement of methods of teaching L2 reading comprehension in Botswana Colleges of Education. The specific objective was to implement reading strategy instruction programme (RSI) to see what effect it would have on (i) on L2 students’ use of strategies during reading (ii) on L2 students’ reading comprehension, and (iii) on L2 students’ English academic performance. Using a quasi-experimental pre-posttest design, an explicit RSI programme was implemented over six-week period in a Botswana College of Education. Two intact cohorts of second-year teacher trainees were randomly assigned to a control and intervention groups. A reading strategy questionnaire and a reading comprehension test were used to examine the relationship between strategy use and level of comprehension. A discrepancy emerged between the self-reports responses of the participants and their actual performance in reading text. Although they claimed to be strategic readers the results suggested that they were not in fact reading strategically.The Cohen’s d analysis yielded a large effect size. This corroborates the significant differences that emerged between the two cohorts in their posttest comprehension results. The intervention group showed significant gains in strategy use and reading comprehension after the six-week intervention period. This suggests that even a short period of intervention can be beneficial to L2 students. However, these effects did not manifest themselves in the students’ English academic performance. This suggests that students need more exposure and more opportunities to practice applying strategies to texts that they read before the effect spill over into academic performance in general. The findings from this study have important implications for the teaching reading in Botswana in both L1 and L2 context. This research also point to further avenues for reading research in Botswana, and cautions against a reliance on questionnaire data alone in reading research; the triangulation of data is important to gain an accurate and deeper understanding of reading practices and reading performance. / Linguistics / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

At every educational level reading is a powerful tool for academic success because it provides students with access to information. Comprehension is crucial to reading. Many students at Lobatse College of Education, Botswana, have problems comprehending L2 reading materials and thus struggle academically because English is the medium of instruction. To some extent, methods of teaching L2 reading contribute to students’ reading failure. It is said that how we teach is as important as what we teach. Thus, how L2 reading is taught is important for improving students’ understanding of texts and their L2 academic performance. This study focuses on teaching reading as a process which involves an application of reading strategies in order to facilitate comprehension of texts. The overall aim of the research is concerned with the improvement of methods of teaching L2 reading comprehension in Botswana Colleges of Education. The specific objective was to implement reading strategy instruction programme (RSI) to see what effect it would have on (i) on L2 students’ use of strategies during reading (ii) on L2 students’ reading comprehension, and (iii) on L2 students’ English academic performance. Using a quasi-experimental pre-posttest design, an explicit RSI programme was implemented over six-week period in a Botswana College of Education. Two intact cohorts of second-year teacher trainees were randomly assigned to a control and intervention groups. A reading strategy questionnaire and a reading comprehension test were used to examine the relationship between strategy use and level of comprehension. A discrepancy emerged between the self-reports responses of the participants and their actual performance in reading text. Although they claimed to be strategic readers the results suggested that they were not in fact reading strategically.The Cohen’s d analysis yielded a large effect size. This corroborates the significant differences that emerged between the two cohorts in their posttest comprehension results. The intervention group showed significant gains in strategy use and reading comprehension after the six-week intervention period. This suggests that even a short period of intervention can be beneficial to L2 students. However, these effects did not manifest themselves in the students’ English academic performance. This suggests that students need more exposure and more opportunities to practice applying strategies to texts that they read before the effect spill over into academic performance in general. The findings from this study have important implications for the teaching reading in Botswana in both L1 and L2 context. This research also point to further avenues for reading research in Botswana, and cautions against a reliance on questionnaire data alone in reading research; the triangulation of data is important to gain an accurate and deeper understanding of reading practices and reading performance. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

This case study investigates how teachers’ and school librarians’ attitudes towards L2 reading in years 1-4, as well as their perceived book access and teacher-library collaboration, influence the use and reading of English children’s literature in two Swedish primary schools. This study is motivated by the importance the English language has in Sweden for higher education, the previous research proving powerful language benefits of extensive L2 reading, as well as the recent proposition to strengthen the school library’s role in Sweden. The data collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews suggests that the participants’ attitudes affect book access, teacher-library collaboration and finally the pupils’ reading of English children’s literature at school. The results show that a confident and positive attitude towards early L2 reading appears to result in more reading, whereas more hesitant attitudes result in less reading. Despite the positive attitudes towards L2 reading in general, most teachers still displayed ambivalent attitudes toward dedicating ample class time to the reading of English children’s literature in the earliest years, often perceiving such reading as too difficult for their pupils. This ambivalence negatively affects the teacher-library collaboration, the inadequate access to physical books catering for the youngest pupils, as well as these learners’ early exposure to English reading. The results indicate that the interpretative nature of the English syllabus has teachers perceive the urgency of reading English children’s literature differently, consequently resulting in different reading practices. In a macro perspective, an unwelcome consequence for Swedish pupils may be an unequal reading preparation for the increasing English demands ahead.

This study investigates the reading habits of three Thai students between their early twenties to early thirties. Although the focus of interest is on their English reading, their reading habits in Thai and English, both fiction and non-fiction, are studied. None of the three subjects regularly reads fiction in Thai or English, and non-fiction books are read almost exclusively for the purpose of study. The research confirms the hypothesis that present reading habits are determined by positive or negative reading experiences in the past. Subjects who enjoyed positive experiences reading fiction or non-fiction in their early years have become regular readers of fiction or non-fiction; the subject who had negative early reading experiences is not a regular reader of any kind of books in either Thai or English. The study does suggest, however, that despite the strong effect of early reading experiences, positive reading experiences in the present can help adults become engaged readers. / English Studies / M.A. (TESOL)