Comparing L1 and L2 reading Ahmad Sofwan sofwan1589@yahoo.com Comparing L1 and L2 reading

Comparing L1 and L2 reading Linguistic and processing differences Individual and experiential differences Socio-cultural and institutional differences

Linguistic and processing differences between L1 & L2 readers Differing amounts of lexical, grammatical, and discource knowledge at initial stages of L1 and L2 reading.

L1 students learn to read after 4-5 yrs of learning L1 have learned L1 grammatical structure vocabulary knowledge of 5000-7000 words L2 students learn to read sentences & passages almost at the same time of learning oral language Have different grammatical & vocabulary knowledge Lack grammatical & discourse knowledge May not be fully familiar with genre expectations of certain text types

Greater metalinguistic and metacognitive awareness of L2 settings L2 students develop a greater metalinguistic awareness a resource for reading More L2 stds discuss, reflect on, linguistic resources (vocab,morphology, grammar, &discource knowledge) to assist them in comprehension L2 students begin to read after the have been learning literacy skills and content knowledge in their L1. L2 stds are more aware how they have learned to read, what reading strategies can work for them, and how language knowledge can support their literacy development. Differing amounts of exposure to L2 reading Varying linguistic differences across any two languages Varying L2 proficiencies as a foundation for L2 reading. Varying language transfer influences Interacting influence of working with two languages

3. Differing amounts of exposure to L2 reading Development of fluency and automaticity in word and syntactic processing is an essential foundation for reading L2 readers are not exposed to enough L2 reading materials to build fluent processing & to build a large recognition vocabulary L1 readers spend years building up the amount of exposure to reading materials needed to develop fluency and automaticity.

4. Varying linguistic differences across any two languages Orthographic differences – shallow (orthographically regular - Indonesian) or deep (phonologically regular - English) Heavy processing demands associated with morphemic (complexity) influence the text reading speed Demands placed on working memory in applyng grapheme-phoneme correspondences to reading is lower for a regular ortography than an irregular orthography like English

5. Varying L2 proficiencies as a foundation for L2 reading (Language Threshold Hypothesis) Students must have a sufficient amount of L2 knowledge (vocabulary, grammar & discourse) to make effective use of skills and strategies that are part of L1 reading comprehension abilities. If the reader is devoting most of his cognitive resources to figuring out the language of L2 text, there are few cognitive resources left over for the fluent comprehension process to support L1 reader A variable amount of linguistic knowledge, combined with fluency of processing, is needed to read a specific text, on a specific topic, for a specific task.

6. Varying language transfer influences L1 readers use their L1 knowledge and experiences to help them carry out L2 tasks. They use L1 phonological knowledge, topical knowledge, general background knowledge, problem solving strategies, & inferencing skills. Transfer may support reading tasks; it can interfere with successful task completion.

7. Interacting influence of working with two languages Interplay between two languages in L2 reading abilities influences word recognition, reading rate, the organization of the lexicon, the speed of the syntactic processing, strategies for comprehension, experiences in task performance, expectation of success and failure, motivation for reading and other poitns of interaction.

Individual and experiential differences for L1 and L2 readers 8. Differing levels of L1 reading abilities. L2 readers are influenced by their levels of L1 reading abilities. Students who are weak in L1 literacy abilities cannot be expected to transfer many supporting resources to L2 reading contexts. The types of abilities students use in their L1 reading represent the upper limit of what can be expected for linguistic transfer, strategic practices, problem solving experiences, task completion skills, and metacognitive awareness of reading processes Differing motivations for reading in L2 Differing kinds of texts in L2 contexts Differing language resources for L2 readers

9. Differing motivations for reading in L2 L2 readers have different individual motivation for reading, differing self-esteem, interest, involvement with reading and emotional responses to reading Students have different underlying attitudes toward L2 reading, linked to perspectives on past educational experiences in both L1 and L2 contexts and to socio-political differences between L1 and L2 societies

10. Differing kinds of texts in L2 contexts L2 readers have different experiences with various text genres They develop different approaches to various texts They are less likely to be exposed to the full range of text genres commonly read by L1 students 11. Differing language resources for L2 readers L2 readers use bilingual dictionaries, glosses, translation, and cultural background resources in L2 context, but not in L1 context. These resources should be used efficiently to assist L2 readers to gain full comprehension of the texts

Socio-cultural & institutional differences influencing L2 reading development 12. Differing socio-cultural backgrounds of L2 readers. What is meant to be literate, how this literacy is valued, used, and displayed will vary from culture to culture. In some culture, literacy is uncommon, written communication involves scribes and letter writers. Other culture use literacy extensively, but emphasize certain uses over others. In US, UK, Australia, everyone should be literate, so literacy environment is intence and pervasive

13. Differing ways of organizing discourse & texts. There are differing cultural and social preferences given to particular ways of organizing texts and discourse (conventions in writing) Certain socio-cultural preferences for making an argument or taking a position tend to be conventionalised in writing so that the stuctures and organizational plans for writing tend to reflect an expected way to write an argument. Purposes of writing, beliefs about the preferred way to make an argument and the ways in which information is used in writing all influence how texts may be organised and how linguistic resources are employed

14. Differing expectations of L2 educational institutions L2 students are shaped in their assumptions and their performances by their previous L1 institutional experiences (e.g. national exams) which could be in sharp contrast with the L2 institutional settings. Other differences include funding for teacher training, level of teacher experience, etc. Group socialization to the usefulness of institutional structures and the potential oppressiveness of these institutional structures may also have some effect.