Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Socorro Herrera / The primary purpose of this study was to explore ways in which teachers can increase their second language (L2) learners’ reading comprehension through constructing situation models. The author incorporated theoretical frameworks, including the situation model theory (Kintsch, 1998/2007), the event index model (Zwaan & Radvansky, 1998), and the linguistic threshold hypothesis (Clark, 1980; Aldersen, 1984; Carrell, 1991). As an educational intervention, a set of adjunct questions were asked during reading to elicit readers’ explanations of causality and intentionality to promote coherent comprehension. A total of 117 L2 readers’ ability to make appropriate inferences based on situation models was assessed through both quantitative (experimental-control design) and qualitative (think-aloud) methods. This experimental study examined the effect of explaining to target situation models, while also looking at the relationship between the readers’ inferential ability and their L2 proficiency. In addition to the main effects of the intervention and L2 proficiency, the interaction between the intervention and L2 proficiency were discussed as results of the quantitative analysis. Also discussed was the nature of the L2 readers’ responses to adjunct questions, which were designed to measure the quality of their explanations based on the underlying situations in the text that they were reading. This study extended existing research on situation model-level comprehension to L2 literacy, which has not previously been well studied. This made the study theoretically interesting as well as highly applicable to L2 reading instruction. The main findings of this study were: (1) there was a strong effect of question types (inferential vs. non-inferential questions) with greater accuracy overall for non-inferential questions, (2) there was a suggestive trend of question type interacting with L2 proficiency, such that higher proficiency participants showed little difference between question types, (3) there was no statistically significant main effect of the adjunct question manipulation on accuracy, and (4) there was a trend suggesting an interaction between experimental condition and L2 proficiency, with higher proficiency participants showing a somewhat larger effect of the adjunct question manipulation. Additionally, both quantitative and qualitative data trended in the direction consistent with the linguistic threshold hypothesis.

We are living in a world in which bi/multilingualism has become commonplace within everyday life for a great number of people. Research has shown that bilingualism produces various cognitive consequences. These effects are generally seen as positive and contributing to an enhanced level of cognitive processing. Bilingualism functions selectively to produce outcome performances depending on the areas that are the subject of investigation. Furthermore, the patterns of results may vary if second-language reading occurs in a dyslexic context. Thus, many children may struggle with this situation, suggesting the need for the provision of a special education agenda in schools. The intention of this dissertation is to address the abovementioned topics. In study I, the effect of bilingualism on lexical vs. non-lexical reading tasks is examined. This study finds that the pattern of the effect might vary based on the type of reading task (e.g., semantic or phonological origins for information processing). In studies II and III, the combined effect of bilingualism and reading difficulties on executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control and flexibility) and on longterm memory (episodic and semantic) is examined. These studies find that, in line with primary expectations, bilingualism in typically developed reading is associated with enhanced overall cognitive performance in either executive functioning or episodic and semantic memory. Interestingly, the combination of second-language reading and reading difficulties is associated with lower performance (longer processing time) for executive functioning and long-term memory (specifically episodic memory). It is suggested that this pattern of performance is produced by a general delayed processing profile in the context of bilingualism and reading difficulties. The findings are discussed in light of the notion of inefficient and difficult learning of new input in terms of dyslexic problems. Study IV explores special education teachers’ assumptions with respect to the type of special education services in Swedish schools with a high proportion of (bilingual) pupils with reading difficulties. The findings of this study underscore the importance of the provision of special bi-literacy education for bilingual dyslexic children in schools and the current shortcomings regarding time and knowledge resources in this regard.

In recent years interest in L2 reading research has focused largely on word frequency, sentence level, word recognition, and several researchers have begun to use eye tracking to better study reading behaviors. Parshina et al. (under review) have found that high proficiency heritage speakers of Russian read faster in terms of gaze duration and total time and had fewer regressions than low proficiency heritage speakers. The current study focuses on the establishment of benchmarks for L2 Russian readers in terms of first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total time when reading a complete passage, and compares these variables among different proficiency levels. Thirty-two students participated in the study with proficiency levels ranging from Novice to Superior. Subjects completed eye tracking and reading comprehension passages with the use on an eye tracker to asses reading abilities. Results show that all participants read L1 significantly faster than L2 in terms of first fixation duration. Additionally, all proficiency levels read Intermediate passages faster than Advanced passages. These results help establish the first benchmarks for eye tracking in Russian as an L2.

The explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies has been proposed as a means to better prepare secondary school-aged students for today's information-dense, fast-paced, fast-changing global society, and to improve the academic performance of struggling adolescent readers. This proposition of a direct and positive impact of reading comprehension strategies on reading achievement for all students has not been investigated with English language learners (ELLs) who, by definition, do not possess the same level of English language skills as their native-English speaking peers. This mixed-method study investigated linguistic, cognitive, as well as affective factors that impact adolescent ELLs' performance on a standardized state reading achievement test. The quantitative portion examined the relative contributions of second language proficiency and reading comprehension strategies to a prediction model of reading achievement in 110 ninth and tenth grade ELLs. The qualitative portion of the study involved individual interviews and was aimed at deepening the understanding of ELLs' use of strategies during the standardized reading test, while also investigating affective factors that may impact their performance on this measure of academic achievement. Quantitative findings include two statistically significant prediction models of reading achievement with reading comprehension strategies and English language proficiency as predictor variables. However, only language proficiency made a significant unique contribution to the prediction variable. Qualitative findings suggest that the participants had relatively little metacognitive awareness of their comprehension during the standardized test, had overestimated their use of reading strategies as reported on a 30-item strategy survey instrument, had concentrated on sentence-level comprehension due to unknown vocabulary, and may have been hindered by testing anxiety in being able to wholly concentrate on the task. Recommendations made for the instruction of comprehension strategies consist of the raising of metacognitive awareness through the explicit modeling of the thought processes involved in reading comprehension, including determining the meaning of unknown words.

The process of reading in a second language is an under-studied area of research on second language processing. Researchers have found similarities and differences between first- and second-language reading (Koda, 2007; Artieda, 2017; Walter, 2007), and many believe that readers’ successful reading behaviors in their L1 reflect their reading patterns in the L2 (Yamashita, 2007; Cummings, 1991; Sparks & Ganschow, 1995). Others claim that a certain threshold level of L2 language proficiency is necessary before L1 reading ability transfers to L2 reading (Clark, 1978; Cummings, 1991). Eye tracking technology has enabled researchers to investigate early and late reading measures, the former associated with word recognition, and the latter with text integration (Rayner, 1998). However, research has not yet found much evidence for the effect of different proficiency levels in second-language reading behavior. This study builds from the aforementioned reading hypotheses and investigates whether multiple reading proficiency levels impacted reading behaviors of 37 Portuguese learners with native English backgrounds, with the use of eye-tracking technology. Participants read the same amount of passages in Portuguese (their L2), and in English (their L1), each of which ranged from Intermediate to Superior levels, and was followed by comprehension questions. Results indicate that, as expected, participants read faster in their first language and slower in their second language. Unexpectedly, proficiency level did not reveal significant effects on readers’ reading behaviors on their first or second languages.

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Second language (L2) decoding – the sub-lexical process of mapping the graphemes of an alphabetic writing system onto the phonemes they represent – is argued to underpin various aspects of L2 learning, particularly vocabulary acquisition. Recently, second language acquisition research has shown increased interest in decoding, consistently finding evidence for L1-to-L2 transfer effects on learners’ processing mechanisms and outcomes. Correspondingly, studies conducted in Modern Foreign Language (MFL) classrooms in English secondary schools – an under-researched context – have found that beginner learners of French tend to (a) pronounce L2 words according to English decoding conventions and (b) make poor progress in this aspect of L2 learning. Recent official guidance for MFL teachers has addressed this problem by advocating an explicit focus on decoding, but there is a lack of convincing evidence (both in the MFL context and more widely) that explicit L2 decoding instruction can be effective. The current study therefore trialled two programmes of French decoding instruction for beginner MFL learners, delivered in ten- to fifteen-minute segments over around thirty lessons. Three intact secondary school classes followed a phonics-based approach; three classes from another school followed a programme in which learners were encouraged to derive the pronunciations of French graphemes from ‘source words’ in a memorized poem; and six classes in two other schools received no explicit decoding instruction. Participants (N=186) completed pre- and post-tests of French decoding; a sub-sample (N=15) also completed task-based self-report interviews. The two intervention groups made significantly more progress than the comparison group in terms of the number of graphemes pronounced ‘acceptably’, although the magnitude of the difference between the groups was small. Compared to the comparison group, the two intervention groups also appeared to show different and more extensive patterns of change in their realizations of individual graphemes, even where their pronunciations were still not ‘acceptable’. Finally, self-report data generally revealed little change in participants’ strategic reasoning, either in the intervention or comparison group. Together, these findings suggest that explicit instruction can improve beginner learners’ proficiency in decoding L2 French, but that their progress may follow a longer and more complex trajectory than simply moving directly from ‘incorrect’ to ‘correct’ forms. Further research is required to assess the effects (if any) of a given improvement in decoding proficiency on other language-learning outcomes; and to design and evaluate alternative programmes of instruction.

The purpose of this research study was to explore the possibilities of using children's and adolescent literature with lower-level students of Spanish. The study investigated second-semester students' perceptions of their experiences reading children's and adolescent literature in Spanish and the relevance of reading this literature on their acquisition of Spanish and their understanding and appreciation of Latino culture. Seventy-eight students enrolled in three second-semester Spanish courses in a large Southwestern university read two children's books in Spanish as part of the course curriculum; sixty-eight of these students agreed to participate in the research study. Quantitative data concerning students' periodic self-ratings of their communicative abilities in Spanish were collected via questionnaires. Qualitative data concerning students' perceptions of their experiences reading the children's books were collected through journal entries, surveys, focus-group interviews, and compositions. Students indicated that their communicative skills in Spanish increased throughout the course of the semester. Students in Classes #1 and #2 believed that their reading abilities in Spanish increased from novice-mid to novice-high. Students in Class #3, however, concluded that their reading abilities in Spanish increased from novice-mid to the intermediate-low. Students affirmed that reading the children's books helped them see Spanish vocabulary and grammar in context and reinforced the vocabulary items and grammatical features of Spanish they previously learned in the course textbook. Many students indicated that reading and discussing the children's books contributed to the development of their reading ability as well as other communicative abilities in Spanish. Students' opinions varied concerning the extent to which curricular engagements supported or impeded their comprehension of the children's books. Additionally, students asserted that the children's books contributed to their understanding and appreciation of Latino culture and that the books supported the development of their intercultural competence. A number of research and pedagogical implications of the study are included along with avenues for further research.

English-language learners (ELLs) demonstrate lower levels of English reading proficiency than do native English-speaking students. Oral reading fluency (ORF), the number of words read correctly in 1 min, is one indicator of reading proficiency. Within second language (L2) reading research, there have been few studies of L2 ORF development. The purposes of this study were to: (a) model the trajectory (i.e., initial status and growth) of English ORF in Grades 2 and 3 for Spanish-speaking ELLs in bilingual education programs, and (b) determine the effect of a 4-year structured intervention in English language and reading on L2 ORF development. Data were archived from Project ELLA, a longitudinal, randomized study documenting ELLs' acquisition of English language and reading from kindergarten through third grade. Data included 1,470 observations of English ORF from 283 ELLs at 17 schools. Schools were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=8) or control (n=9) condition. In intervention schools, a one-way dual language program and a comprehensive ESL intervention were implemented. The intervention emphasized L2 oral language development in kindergarten and first grades, basic L2 reading skills in second grade, and content-area reading skills in third grade. In the control schools, the district's typical transitional bilingual education program and ESL curricula were implemented. L2 ORF was measured using DIBELS ORF on six occasions. Piecewise multilevel growth models were used for data analysis. In Grades 2 and 3, ELLs followed a two-stage linear growth trajectory in English ORF, with a large decrease in level between grades. Slope parameters were positive in both grades but decreased slightly in third grade. Participating in Project ELLA added 1.52 wcpm per month to students? ORF scores in Grade 2. Both intervention and control groups improved at the same rate in Grade 3; however, intervention students maintained the higher level of ORF that was attained during second grade. Therefore, the ELLA intervention accelerated L2 ORF growth in second grade, such that intervention students read with greater fluency compared to control students throughout second and third grades.