Standards of coherence in second language reading: Sentence connectivity and reading proficiency

Standards of coherence are one of the major factors that influence reading comprehension. This study investigated the standards of coherence that second language (L2) learners employ when reading. In a pair of experiments, Japanese learners of English read two-sentence texts with varying causal and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReading in a foreign language Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 86 - 112
Main Author Nahatame, Shingo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Honolulu University of Hawaii, National Foreign Language Resource Center 01.04.2017
Reading in a Foreign Language
Subjects
College Students
Connected Discourse
English (Second Language)
English as a second language learning
English proficiency
Foreign Countries
Japanese
Japanese language
Judgment
Language Proficiency
Language Tests
Memory
Native Language
Network Analysis
Prior Learning
Rating Scales
Readability
Reading Ability
Reading Comprehension
Reading Processes
Reading Skills
Reading Tests
Second Language Learning
Second language reading
Semantics
Sentences
Short Term Memory
Statistical Analysis
Student Attitudes
Text Structure
Vocabulary Skills
Word Processing
Japan
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN1539-0578
1539-0578

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Summary:Standards of coherence are one of the major factors that influence reading comprehension. This study investigated the standards of coherence that second language (L2) learners employ when reading. In a pair of experiments, Japanese learners of English read two-sentence texts with varying causal and semantic relatedness between sentences and then judged the coherence of the texts on a 5-point scale. Analysis of the judgment ratings indicated that both causal and semantic relatedness affected readers’ perceived text coherence. The texts high in causal or semantic relatedness were judged as more coherent. Furthermore, when making judgments, lower proficiency readers were likely to place greater emphasis on semantic relatedness, whereas higher proficiency readers were likely to place greater emphasis on causal relatedness. These results suggest that L2 readers generally base standards of coherence on causal and semantic relatedness between sentences; however, readers of varying L2 skill levels may adopt different standards of coherence.
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ISSN:1539-0578
1539-0578