Abstract Bernhardt (2003) claims that half of the variance in second language (L2) reading is accounted for by first language literacy (20%) and second language knowledge (30%), and that one of the central goals of current L2 reading research should be to investigate the 50% of variance that remains unexplained. Part of this variance takes consists of passage content or background knowledge, and as the reader develops, proficiency presides over passage content. In an attempt to further examine factors involved in the remaining variance
