Profiles of Underprepared Second-Language Readers.

underprepared second-language readers Lia D. Kamhi-Stein ■■increasing numbers of underprepared students from non-English-speaking home backgrounds are entering U.S. colleges and universities. For example, in the fall of 1 993, of the nearly 24,000 first-year students entering California State University (CSU), between 5,000 and 6,000 reported that English was their second language (L2). Of these, only 1,000 evidenced college-level English proficiency. Comparable numbers of L2 students are enrolling in other urban university systems. The City University of New York (CUNY) statistics for the fall of 1992 indicate that 44.3% of the entering students were L2 speakers. In addition, CUNY statistics for 1990 show that 15% of the