Syntactic and Lexical/Semantic Skill in Foreign Language Reading: Importance and Interaction

Barnett, Marva A.

doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1986.tb05286.x

Cited by 69 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Pike's (1979) correlational matrix of scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language subtests showed high correlations between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, and between grammatical skill and reading comprehension. Similarly, Barnett's (1986) data indicated that reading comprehension increases along with vocabulary knowledge and grammatical skill. Likewise, Koda (1989) discovered a significant relationship between the vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension scores of college-level subjects enrolled in first-year Japanese.…”

Section: Theoretical and Empirical Supportmentioning

confidence: 93%

Connections between First- and Second-Language Reading

Brisbois

1995

Journal of Reading Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study builds upon previous research examining the relationship between first-language (L1) reading, second-language (L2) knowledge, and L2 reading. The unique contributions of L1 reading, L2 vocabulary, and L2 grammatical skill to L2 reading scores are investigated along with whether or not the contributions differ by course level. Subjects included 131 students (88 beginners and 43 upper level) enrolled in French at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Data were analyzed using multiple regression. Two programs were run for each subject group because L1 reading was measured using two different tests-recall protocols and the comprehension portion of the Nelson Denny Test. All of the independent variables contributed significantly for beginners, but did so for the upper level subjects only when L1 protocols were used as the reading measure. Typically, L1 reading contributed substantially, particularly for the upper level group, supporting Cummins's (1981) Hypothesis. This study demonstrates the importance of L1 reading and L2 knowledge to L2 reading comprehension.The purpose of this study was to build upon previous research examining the relationship between first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) reading comprehension. In recent years, increased discussion has centered around this connection. According to Hultsijn (1991), insights into the relationship are important for two main reasons. First, an enhanced grasp of the connections between LI and L2 reading will further theoretical understanding of both the LI and L2 reading processes. Both LI and L2 reading research would benefit if links could be established between LI and L2 reading theories. Second, instructors could apply new insights in the aid of L2 learners with reading problems. Should L2 readers be instructed to 565 566 Journal of Reading Behavioruse LI reading strategies? Should they study more L2 vocabulary and grammar? More research into the relationship between LI and L2 reading is needed before these questions can be answered (Hultsijn, 1991).The issue of LI and L2 reading connections came to the fore when Alderson (1984) posed the widely quoted question asking whether L2 reading is a language problem or a reading problem. Bernhardt and Kamil (1995) comment, "the question implies that its answer lay in an examination of second language linguistic/ grammatical knowledge apart from an examination of first language reading skill" (pp. 1-2). The present study contends that the contributions of LI reading, L2 vocabulary knowledge, and L2 grammatical ability to L2 reading comprehension need to be examined in order to gain increased understanding of the L2 reading process.Cummins 's (1981) Interdependence Hypothesis maintains that experience with either the LI or the L2 can promote development of the capacities underlying both languages. According to Cummins (1981), literacy skills can transfer, given sufficient motivation and exposure to the L2.An abundance of research on language transfer supports Cummins's (1981Cummins's ( , 1991 Interdependen...

show abstract

Section: Theoretical and Empirical Supportmentioning

confidence: 93%

Connections between First- and Second-Language Reading

Brisbois

1995

Journal of Reading Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…También sería interesante observar la interacción entre la complejidad morfosintáctica y la variedad y dificultad del vocabulario, según su frecuencia absoluta en la lengua y, si fuera posible, también según su disponibilidad (cfr. López Morales, 1999, entre otros), de forma similar al estudio de Barnett (1986), pero definiendo la dificultad del vocabulario según otros parámetros, a nuestro entender más significativos y precisos 10 . Quedará entonces por determinar si estas diferencias de elaboración morfosintáctica se correlacionan con los niveles psicológicos de dificultad, esto es, si lecturas morfosintácticamente más complejas resultan más difíciles y hasta qué punto para los lectores no nativos de textos ELE.…”

Section: Conclusionesunclassified

“…Los resultados de Oh (2001) también muestran que la simplificación del texto ayuda a comprenderlo mejor, puesto que los estudiantes que leyeron el texto simplificado lo comprendieron mejor que los que leyeron el elaborado y que los que leyeron el texto original. Barnett (1986) encontró que la simplificación morfosintáctica afectaba al éxito de la comprensión tanto como la simplificación de vocabulario, y que ninguna de estas simplificaciones ayudaban a la comprensión si los aprendices no tenían un nivel aceptable en la otra habilidad. El estudio de Lee (1998), centrado únicamente en el subjuntivo, también señaló que la mayor dificultad morfológica afecta asimismo al éxito de la comprensión del texto.…”

Section: Introducción: Complejidad Morfosintáctica Y Dificultad De Launclassified

Complejidad gramatical y niveles de dificultad en lecturas de ELE adaptadas y originales

Checa-García

2013

RLA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMENLas lecturas de español ELE son clasificadas por las editoriales en varios niveles de dificultad. Sin embargo, poco o ningún criterio se ofrece para su clasificación. Si algún criterio se menciona, éste se refiere a la diversidad de vocabulario, pero no a la complejidad morfosintáctica. Este estudio trata de responder a dos cuestiones fundamentales: a) ¿Hay una relación entre ciertos índices de complejidad morfosintáctica y niveles de dificultad de las lecturas? y b) ¿Difieren los índices de complejidad morfosintáctica de los textos creados originalmente como lecturas ELE y de los que provienen de adaptaciones? En una muestra de 61 fragmentos pertenecientes a 3 niveles diferentes de dificultad (básico, intermedio y avanzado) se analizan los índices primarios de madurez sintáctica y la diversidad verbal. Los resultados muestran que las diferencias entre niveles de dificultad son sólo significativas para los textos originales (aquellos que se crearon originalmente como lecturas ELE vs. textos que son adaptaciones). Además, los niveles intermedio y avanzado se diferencian mucho menos entre sí que con respecto al nivel básico.Palabras clave: Complejidad sintáctica, lecturas ELE, dificultad de lectura, lectura en L2, adquisición de lenguas extranjeras, español como lengua extranjera. ABSTRACTSpanish L2 readings are classified by editors into different difficulty levels. However, very few criteria if any are mentioned for the classification. When some criterion is mentioned, it is a measure of vocabulary diversity, with no reference to morphosyntactic complexity. The present study seeks to answer two main questions: a) is there a relation between certain indexes of morphosyntactic complexity and the readings levels of difficulty?, and b) are texts created as L2 readings and texts adapted from originally L1 readings different

show abstract

“…In fact, while L2 vocabulary knowledge is intuitively and obviously taken to be relevant to successful L2 reading comprehension, the function of syntax is taken to be less so. This unclear role of syntax in L2 reading comprehension can be observed in some studies which demonstrate conflicting findings about the importance of syntactic knowledge (e.g., Barnett, 1986;Brisbois, 1995;Shiotsu & Weir, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…While most reading research in a foreign language has investigated vocabulary knowledge, also the ability to process structures has an important facilitative effect on reading comprehension (Barnett, 1986;Berman, 1984).…”

Section: L2 Reading and Syntaxmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between syntactic knowledge and reading comprehension in EFL learners

Morvay

2012

SSLLT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Via a variety of measurements, 64 Hungarian native speakers in the 12th grade learning English as a foreign language in Slovakia were tested in a cross-sectional correlational study in order to determine the relationship between the ability to process complex syntax and foreign language reading comprehension. The test instruments involved a standardized reading comprehension test in English, and a test of syntactic knowledge in both Hungarian and English, in addition to a background questionnaire in Hungarian. Power correlations and regression analyses rendered results that showed syntactic knowledge to be a statistically significant estimator for foreign language reading comprehension. The study provides evidence that the ability to process complex syntactic structures in a foreign language does contribute to one's efficient reading comprehension in that language.Keywords: syntactic knowledge, nonnative reading comprehension Despite the existence of numerous studies on nonnative or foreign language (hereafter L2) reading comprehension, 1 the precise factors involved in L2 reading have not been researched to the extent one would expect. This might be due to the fact that much of L2 reading research has been a replication of native language 1 While participants in the study are EFL learners, the term L2, as opposed to foreign language, is used to refer to their nonnative language reading comprehension in order to follow common practice in the reading literature.

show abstract

Syntactic and Lexical/Semantic Skill in Foreign Language Reading: Importance and Interaction

Cited by 69 publications

References 6 publications

Connections between First- and Second-Language Reading

Connections between First- and Second-Language Reading

Complejidad gramatical y niveles de dificultad en lecturas de ELE adaptadas y originales

The relationship between syntactic knowledge and reading comprehension in EFL learners

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About