Revisiting the role of linguistic complexity in ESL reading comprehension

This study investigated the two linguistic components positioned at the two ends of the continuum that influence ESL reading comprehension: lexical and syntactic features. Specifically, the present study aims to determine these two linguistic features of the texts most comprehensible to pupils. Sixty (60) pupils from three grade levels (2, 4, and 6) were asked to read four texts with varying text difficulty level from which the most comprehensible text per grade level was identified after a comprehension test. The findings revealed that the pupils reading comprehension progress as they advance in grade level. Moreover, the findings revealed that the lexical feature of the reading texts advances with grade level which indicates that lexical features is a viable factor in determining the readability of the text; that is, the more advanced the lexical features are, the more difficult it can be processed for comprehension. Unlike lexical features, the syntactic features of the selected reading texts exhibit an erratic pattern indicating that such features may not be a crucial factor in text readability and in reading comprehension as a whole.

[1]  Eli Hinkel,et al.  Current Perspectives on Teaching the Four Skills , 2006 .

[2]  Charlene Polio,et al.  SECOND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN WRITING: MEASURES OF FLUENCY, ACCURACY, AND COMPLEXITY. Kate Wolfe-Quintero, Shunji Inagaki, and Hae-Young Kim. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1998. Pp. viii + 187. $20.00 paper. , 2001, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[3]  H. Widdowson,et al.  Teaching Language as Communication , 1979 .

[4]  T. McNamara,et al.  Assessed Levels of Second Language Speaking Proficiency: How Distinct? , 2007 .

[5]  Janet Donin,et al.  Discourse Processing of First and Second Language Biology Texts: Effects of Language Proficiency and Domain‐Specific Knowledge , 1997 .

[6]  J. Alderson.  Assessing Reading: Acknowledgements , 2000 .

[7]  Sam Duker,et al.  Listening and Reading , 1965, The Elementary School Journal.

[8]  Henry Widdowson.  Teaching language as communication , 1978 .

[9]  Stephen P. Norris,et al.  Center for the Study of Reading , 1991 .

[10]  R. Ellis.  The Differential Effects of Three Types of Task Planning on the Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in L2 Oral Production , 2009 .

[11]  B. Buunk,et al.  Sex differences in foreign language text comprehension : The role of interests and prior knowledge , 1996 .

[12]  David D. Qian,et al.  Investigating the Relationship Between Vocabulary Knowledge and Academic Reading Performance: An Assessment Perspective , 2002 .

[13]  R. K. Agnihotri,et al.  Evaluating the Readability of School Textbooks: An Indian Study. , 1992 .

[14]  K. W. Hunt.  Syntactic maturity in schoolchildren and adults. , 1970, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[15]  Keith S. Folse.  The Effect of Type of Written Exercise on L2 Vocabulary Retention , 2006 .

[16]  Sue Barry,et al.  Evidence for Mental Models: How Do Prior Knowledge, Syntactic Complexity, and Reading Topic Affect Inference Generation in a Recall Task for Nonnative Readers of Spanish? , 1998 .

[17]  Sarita L Eisenberg,et al.  The index of narrative microstructure: a clinical tool for analyzing school-age children's narrative performances. , 2006, American journal of speech-language pathology.

[18]  Peter Skehan,et al.  Modelling Second Language Performance: Integrating Complexity, Accuracy, Fluency, and Lexis , 2009 .

[19]  Larry Vandergrift,et al.  Second Language Listening: Listening Ability or Language Proficiency? , 2006 .

[20]  Thom Hudson,et al.  Teaching Second Language Reading , 2007 .

[21]  Bonnie B. Armbruster,et al.  Center for the Study of Reading , 1987 .

[22]  Thomas G. Devine.  Listening and Reading. , 1976 .

[23]  W. Grabe,et al.  The Percentage of Words Known in a Text and Reading Comprehension. , 2011 .

[24]  D. McNamara,et al.  A Linguistic Analysis of Simplified and Authentic Texts , 2007 .

[25]  The Effects of Syntactic Maturity on Comprehension of Graded Reading Passages. , 1980 .

[26]  Siok H. Lee,et al.  From Receptive to Productive: Improving ESL Learners' Use of Vocabulary in a Postreading Composition Task. , 2006 .

[27]  James Coady.  Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition: L2 vocabulary acquisition: A synthesis of the research , 1996 .

[28]  Ludo Verhoeven,et al.  Background Knowledge, Linguistic Complexity, and Second-Language Reading Comprehension , 1998 .

[29]  P. David Pearson,et al.  The effects of syntactic and lexical complexity on the comprehension of elementary science texts , 2011 .

[30]  Richard C. Anderson,et al.  Conceptual and empirical bases of readability formulas , 1986 .

[31]  Marion Crowhurst,et al.  AUDIENCE AND MODE OF DISCOURSE EFFECTS ON SYNTACTIC COMPLEXITY IN WRITING AT TWO GRADE LEVELS , 1979 .

[32]  D. Pulido,et al.  The Effects of Topic Familiarity and Passage Sight Vocabulary on L2 Lexical Inferencing and Retention through Reading , 2007 .