The impact of reading comprehension strategy instruction and text difficulty on learning performance when academic reading in L1 or L2

Abstract

Worldwide, higher education is under pressure to adopt English (L2) as the Medium of Instruction (EMI). In higher education, reading of academic texts is considered as an essential gateway to scientific knowledge. The use of reading strategies in the L2 literature has been recognized as an important way to facilitate reading comprehension. The present study builds on assumptions about the benefits of providing EMI learners with reading comprehension strategy instruction (RCSI) when coping with academic texts to encounter L2 reading challenges. The research involved first year university students (n=181), enrolled in the program educational sciences, building on a multi factorial quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. In two consecutive studies, students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, building on two research variables: L1 versus L2 and with or without RCSI (activation prior knowledge, define unknown concepts, develop graphical organizer). In each study, students read a study text about “educational studies” content in view of a performance test. The text in both studies differed significantly in text difficulty. Research hypotheses built on cognitive load theory, working memory theory and reading comprehension strategy instructional theories. Pretesting focused on assessment of prior knowledge, background questions (e.g. gender) and scales to determine foreign language experiences, L1 and L2 vocabulary proficiency and self-perceived language proficiency level. The posttest measured experienced cognitive load, self-perceived use of reading strategies and learning performance. Study time was tracked in all conditions. ANCOVA were applied to test differences in learning performance, considering prior knowledge, time-on-task, experienced cognitive load, and L1/L2 language proficiency. Though RCSI had a promising impact on learning performance when studying the less difficult text, the effect of RCSI was not significant for the more difficult text, also after controlling for prior knowledge, time-on-task, experienced cognitive load and language proficiency. Instead of RCSI, the main effect of language was a significant factor explaining learning performance. Therefore, in future research, the difficulty of academic texts should be taken into account. Research should also focus on a qualitative analysis of the actual use of the reading strategies, to explain differences in reading behavior when coping with L1 and L2 text