Affective Factors in L2 Reading of Content Area Text: A Case Study Approach

• In Event: Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Trends in Second Language Reading Research

Abstract

While many L2 reading researchers have examined cognitive and linguistic factors, few have investigated affective factors, specifically when comparing learners’ L1 and L2 reading. Those who have examined L2 reading attitudes have done so in the context of pleasure reading or extensive reading (e.g., Yamashita, 2015) or have accessed reading attitudes through self-report (e.g., Dhanapala & Hirakawa, 2015). In this study, we use content-area science texts in readers’ L1 and L2 with think-aloud protocols to access learners’ thinking while reading. The purpose of this study is to show the impact of affective factors on reading comprehension by examining qualitative data from think-aloud protocols with triangulated quantitative findings from middle grades ELLs in Qatar.

Authors

• Sunni L Sonnenburg, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Katherine Landau Wright, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Zohreh R. Eslami, Texas A&M University - College Station