Transferring L1 reading attitudes to EFL reading habits

Year 2020, , 30 - 41, 29.03.2020

Mehmet Emin Uslu

https://doi.org/10.17263/jlls.712635

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to find out the possibility of transfer of affective domains of reading specifically reading habits and attitudes from L1 to EFL and the role of learners’ proficiency level on these reading habits and attitudes. The study was designed as a descriptive research. The participants were 273 university-level students who enrolled in English classes in a state university in Turkey. 136 of them were at beginner level (A1) and 137 of them were at elementary (A2) level according to the proficiency level based on CEFR. Attitudes Towards Reading Habits Scale, English Reading Habits Scale and reading parts of English Comprehension Level Test were used to collect data. The results of the study have revealed that there is not any significant and meaningful relation between beginner (A1) level learners’ L1 reading attitudes and EFL reading habits (r=.016 and p>.01). However, the relation between elementary (A2) level learners’ L1 reading attitudes and EFL reading habits is positive and significant (r=.208 and p<.01). L1 reading attitudes can predict the 10% of the EFL reading habits in a positive and significant manner (R= .306, R²= .10, F = 2,233, p<.05). In terms of learners’ reading proficiency level, the results of the study have showed that for elementary (A2) level learners, the relation between EFL reading habits and their reading proficiency is positive and significant (r=395 and p<.01). Their reading proficiency level can predict the 15% of the EFL reading habits in a positive and significant manner (R= .395, R²= .15, F = 24.921, p<.01).

Keywords

reading habits; reading attitudes; reading proficiency; transfer of reading skills from L1 to EFL

References

• Ardasheva, Y. (2016). A structural equation modeling investigating of relationship among school-aged ELs’ individual difference characteristics and academic and second language outcomes. Learning and Individual Differences, 47, 194-2006. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.02.010
• Artieda, G. & Munoz, C. (2013). The role of age and literacy in adult foreign language learning. In A. Bendt (Ed.) Fremdsprachen in der perspective leb-enslagen. Bern: Peter Lang
• Artieda, G. (2017). The role of L1 literacy and reading habits on the L2 achievement of adult learners of English as a foreign language. System, 66, 168-176. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.03.020
• Bernhardt, E.B. & Kamil, M.L. (1995). Interpreting relationships between L1 and L2 reading: consolidating the Linguistic Threshold and the Linguistic Interdependence Hypotheses.16(1), 15-34. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/16.1.15
• Brisbois, J.I. (1995). Connections between first and second language reading. Journal of Reading Behavior, 27, 565-584. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10862969509547899
• Camiciottoli, B.C. (2001). Extensive reading in English: habits and attitudes of a group of Italian University EFL students. Journal of Research in Reading, 24/2, 135-153. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9817.00137
• Christensen, L., Johnson, B. & Turner, L. (2011). Research methods, design and analysis. Boston: Pearson
• Clarke, M. (1980). The short circuit hypothesis of ESL reading—or when language competence interferes with reading performance. The Modern Language Teaching, 64(2), 203-209. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1980.tb05186.x
• Day, R. & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2002). Teaching and researching: Reading. London, England: Longman
• Good, M., Woodford, K. & Walter, E. (2008). Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Third Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Gömleksiz. M.N. (2005). Kitap okuma alışkanlığına ilişkin bir tutum ölçeğinin geçerlik ve güvenilirliği. Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 24(2), pp. 185-195. Retrieved from: http://web.firat.edu.tr/sosyalbil/dergi/arsiv/cilt14/sayi2/185-196.pdf
• Laufer, B. (2013). Lexical thresholds for reading comprehension: what they are and how they can be used for teaching purposes. TESOL QUARTERLY, 47 (4), 867-872. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1980.tb05186.x
• Lee, J.W & Schallert. D.L. (1997). The relative contribution of L2 language proficiency and L1 reading ability to L2 reading performance: A test of the Threshold Hypothesis in an EFL context. TESOL QUATERLY, 31/4, 713-739. DOI: 10.2307/3587757 Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3587757?origin=crossref&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Mcmillan, J.H. & Schumacher, S. (2006). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
• Shen, L. (2006). Computer Technology and College Students’ Reading Habits. Chia-nan annual bulletin, 32, 559-572. Retrieved from https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5404b6
• Sparks, L., Patton, J., Ganschow, L. & Humbach, N. (2012). Do L1 reading achievement and L1 print exposure contribute to the prediction of L2 proficiency? Language Learning, 62(2), 473-505. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00694.x
• Yamashita, J. (2004). Reading attitudes in L1 and L2, and their Influence on L2 Extensive Reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 16 (1-19). Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ689107
• Yamashita, J. (2007). The Relationship of reading attitudes between L1 and L2: An investigation of adult EFL learners in Japan. TESOL QUARTERLY, 41(1), pp. 81-105. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00041.x