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Reading in a foreign language at intermediate

and advanced levels with particular reference
to English

Eddie Williams and Chris Moran

Language Teaching / Volume 22 / Issue 04 / October 1989, pp 217 - 228

DOI: 10.1017/S0261444800014713, Published online: 23 December 2008

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abstract_S0261444800014713

How to cite this article:

Eddie Williams and Chris Moran (1989). Reading in a foreign language at
intermediate and advanced levels with particular reference to English.
Language Teaching, 22, pp 217-228 doi:10.1017/S0261444800014713

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State of the art article
Reading in a foreign language at intermediate and
advanced levels with particular reference to
English
Eddie Williams University of Reading and Chris Moran West Sussex Institute of
Higher Education
Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
(Daniel v.8)

(or data-driven) models emphasise the priority of

/. 1 Introduction the text as input, and hence lower-level processes
The years since the last reading survey appeared in such as letter and word recognition. Bottom-up
this journal (Brumfit, 1977) have seen growing models have been criticised on the grounds that they
interest and stimulating advances in the development fail to account for a variety of context effects
of theoretical perspectives on reading in a foreign (Rumelhart, 1977). Top-down models have been
language. The increased attention is reflected by the undermined by research which suggests that word
appearance of specialist publications, including three recognition is automatic in good readers (Mitchell,
noteworthy collections (Mackay, Barkman & Jor- 1982) and that it is poor readers who most make use
dan, 1979; Alderson & Urquhart, 1984a; Carrell, of contextual redundancy to facilitate word recog-
Devine & Eskey, 1988), as well as the journal nition (see the summary of research in Stanovich,
Reading in a Foreign Language (College of St Mark 1980; see also Mitchell, 1982).
and St John, Plymouth). Although no generally
accepted theory of reading in a foreign language has 1.2.2. Rumelhart (1977), drawing on work in
emerged (if by theory we mean the identification of artificial intelligence, proposes a more balanced
all relevant elements and the specification of model in which linguistic knowledge from several
relationships between these elements), a broad sources (orthographic, lexical, syntactic and
consensus is appearing. Over the past two decades semantic) interacts in the LI reading process. In
the development has in the main been evolutionary Stanovich's model (1980), a reader may try to
rather than revolutionary, with innovative elements compensate for deficiencies at one level (e.g. word
being introduced - often via LI pedagogy - from recognition) by relying more on a source at a lower
psychology, discourse analysis, linguistics and or higher level (e.g. contextual knowledge). The
sociology. possibility that readers can exploit such knowledge
would seem to have clear implications for L2
research and pedagogy.
1.2 Psycholinguistic models
1.2.1. Research and pedagogy in both LI and L2 in
the '70s were influenced particularly by the model 1.3 Schemata-theory models
elaborated by Goodman (1967) and Smith (1971) 1.3.1. While the models outlined above are primarily
(for typical examples of such influence, see Da vies & concerned with linguistic knowledge in reading, a
Whitney, 1981, Teacher's Guide, and Clarke & further important development has been the em-
Silberstein, 1979). Goodman's model is a top-down phasis on the reader's knowledge of the world in the
(or concept-driven) model in which the text is reading process. The last 15 years has seen the
' sampled' and predictions are made on the basis of elaboration of schema theory. A schema is an
the reader's prior syntactic and semantic knowledge. abstract structure representing concepts stored in
Reading in this model is a ' psycholinguistic guessing memory (see Rumelhart & Ortony, 1977; Rumel-
game' (Goodman, 1967). By contrast, bottom-up hart, 1980; Anderson & Pearson, 1988). The term
'script' is also used for what appears to be essentially
Eddie Williams works at the Centre for Applied the same concept (e.g. Schank & Abelson, 1977;
Language Studies, University of Reading. He has Wallace, 1988). Recent advances have derived again
published in the areas of reading, achievement testing from the field of artificial intelligence where it has
and bilingual education. been found impossible to programme computers to
Chris Moran is a Senior Lecturer in the TESOL understand natural language without equipping
Unit at West Sussex Institute of Higher Education. them with extensive knowledge of the world
He has taught EFL in France, Germany, Spain and (Schank & Abelson, 1977; Schank, 1982). In addition
Yugoslavia. to schemata relating to text content (objects, events,
actions and situations), schemata for the form or
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State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
structure of texts have also been posited (see Carrell,
accessibility of texts has continued (Berman, 1984;
1983). Williams & Dallas, 1984). This concern has obvious
affinities with text 'readability' (see Klare, 1974, for
1.3.2. Early research on schema theory in relation to a review of the various readability formulae, the
LI reading was carried out by R. C. Anderson and input to which consists of linguistic features of the
his associates. Anderson, Reynolds, Schallert and text). Although readability formulae as such are
Goetz (1977) found that interpretations of an only occasionally invoked in the EFL context (e.g.
ambiguous passage depended on the background Alderson & Urquhart, 19846; Davies, 1984), the
knowledge and experience of the reader. Freebody concept of readability in a general sense is implicit in
and Anderson (1983 d) concluded that background all discussions of comprehension in EFL. As far as
knowledge was more significant than vocabulary linguistic difficulties are concerned (bearing in mind
difficulty in the comprehension of texts. A series of that they are not the only difficulties readers face),
studies, summarized in Wilson and Anderson (1986), research into text difficulty has looked at the
showed that activating schemata before reading contribution of both structure and vocabulary.
improved students' comprehension and recall. On
the other hand, Steffenson and Joag-Dev (1984) 2.1.2. To pose the question of whether vocabulary
drew attention to the potentially negative effects of is a greater problem than structure in an absolute
schemata in an experiment which demonstrated sense, is clearly misguided. The answer will depend
that, when recalling texts, readers from different upon the relationship between texts and individual
cultures (in this case North America and India), readers; thus an ESP student who is familiar with
were prone to systematic error traceable to their the vocabulary of his or her specialisation is more
different backgrounds. likely to encounter structural problems, as is a
speaker of a Latin-based language reading an English
text with a higher proportion of Latinate words. On
1.4 The current synthesis the other hand a student of intermediate level,
The currently prevailing research-based view of reading in an unfamiliar content area, will probably
reading, whether in LI or L2, is that it is an have more difficulty with vocabulary than structure.
interactive process, involving knowledge of the We should therefore be wary of generalising from
world and various types of language knowledge, individual pieces of research which appear to provide
any of which may interact with any other to ah answer.
contribute to text comprehension (the approach is
well represented by Carrell et al. (1988), reviewed 2.1.3. Berman (1984), for example, concludes that
by Hamp-Lyons (1988)). However, in addition to text becomes difficult when its language displays
disagreements over detail of this model, it is one structural properties unknown to the students, or
that, given the extensive ongoing research into which contrast with their native language. On the
reading, should not be regarded as definitive (see other hand there is research evidence from Cooper
Freebody & Anderson, 1983a, for reservations). It (1984) that lexis is a greater source of difficulty in
should also be borne in mind that the validity of reading than structure. Again, Williams and Dallas
applying models and research findings derived from (1984) found that in reading in content areas,
LI reading research to second language reading has vocabulary causes more problems than structure;
been questioned (Eskey, 1988). While recognising their solution, however, is not lexical control of
that reading is a highly integrated process, this reading material, but a variety of procedures to
article will deal in turn with the following areas: encourage learning of the vocabulary demanded by
text, reader, and interaction between reader and the speciality. Cooper (1984) similarly suggests
text, together with some concluding remarks on teaching the learner to handle unknown lexis.
teaching. Nation and Wodinsky (1988) propose in more
traditional vein that the repetition of vocabulary in
graded Readers enhances learning, though this view
2. The text is not incompatible with that which advocates
teaching strategies for handling vocabulary in
2.1 Linguistic properties context. Elley proposes that the solution to language
2.1.1. In the '50s and '60s the pre-eminence of difficulties (both vocabulary and structure) in
behaviourist views led to a preoccupation with reading is actually more reading, with ' only limited
reading as a means of language practice through the controls over structure' (1984: 296), so that learners,
use of simplified texts and graded Readers (capi- in effect, acquire language through reading. (That
talisation will indicate a reference to books, rather language acquisition may be medium independent,
than persons). However, even in the last decade and proceed via the written language as opposed to
when attention has moved to reading skills rather speech, gains support from the work of Steinberg &
than language practice, concern with the linguistic Harper, 1983, with the deaf.) As far as structure
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 State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
specifically is concerned, Berman's conclusion (1984: 2.2.3. The second interpretation of'authentic', of
153) 'that efficient FL readers must rely in part on which Widdowson (1976) has a lucid account,
syntactic devices to get at text meaning' seems proposes that text cannot be 'authentic' but only
incontrovertible. The solution to structural diffi- 'genuine'. Authenticity, by this definition, resides
culties advocated by some recently published not in the text, but in the interaction of reader and
materials is that students should carry out informal text. A reader's response is authentic if this response
structural analysis of parts of the text (e.g. Greenall corresponds to the intentions of the writer as
& Swan, 1986: 4, where 'the reader is given practice expressed through linguistic and rhetorical con-
in seeing how long and complicated sentences can ventions. An example of an inauthentic response
be simplified'). would be to read a literary text for the purpose of
vocabulary building or grammatieal-anjrySK'.
2.1.4. As far as language problems in reading are
concerned then, the trend in recent years has been to 2.2.4. A third interpretation may be regarded as a
ascertain the nature of the difficulties that readers ' reader centred' extension of the second interpret-
encounter, in order to help them cope with these ation. According to this view, authenticity is defined
difficulties, rather than to prepare texts constructed not by the interaction of reader and writer, but
in accordance with a system of structural and lexical solely by reference to the reader's response (Breen,
control. The focus of attention is the accessibility of 1985; Davies, 1984). In this definition any text
texts to readers - readers who posses certain skills in (whether written for language teaching purposes or
first and second language, certain interests, certain not) that the reader finds appropriate to his/her
goals, etc. In brief, the concern has been not the purpose (and this may or may not correspond to the
relationship between the text and a putative stage of writer's intention) is 'authentic' for that reader. The
language development, but rather the relationship text is thus 'authenticated' by the reader. This last
between the reader and the text. definition is pedagogically useful to the exent that it
highlights that the reader's response is more
important than the provenance of the text.
2.2 Authentic text
2.2.1. The phrase 'authentic text' was used in 2.2.5. The value of authentic material in thefirstand
the late '70s and early '80s, and was for many most common sense has been questioned (Widdow-
an indispensible feature of the communicative son, 1978; Breen, 1985). Widdowson argues that all
approach to reading (cf Williams, 1983; Clarke, teaching involves pedagogic contrivance. The selec-
1989). Three interpretations of the phrase have tion of texts which are too difficult for the learner
emerged. The most widespread refers to a text not cannot encourage an ' authentic' response (in the
specially produced for language learners, and this is sense of that intended by the writer), and Widdow-
the sense in which the term is currently used by son therefore argues for the creation of simple
most language teachers and materials writers (e.g. accounts and a process of'gradual approximation'
Abbs, Cook & Underwood, 1980; Walter, 1982 where the learner is presented with a series of texts
inter alia). which become progressively more complex. Such a
view has found little favour with materials writers
2.2.2 The rationale for the classroom use of at intermediate level or above, who have, with a
' authentic' text in this sense is not always provided few exceptions (e.g. Ellis and Ellis, 1983d, b)
by materials writers. Grellet (1981), however, committed themselves to unmodified authentic
argues that authentic texts arc more interesting and texts. Various approaches to solving the problems of
motivating, and that difficulties can be overcome by perceived difficulty for students faced with 'auth-
grading the exercise rather than simplifying the entic' texts have been followed. Some books loosely
text. Furthermore, she suggests that '"simplifying" grade the texts according to linguistic complexity
a text often results in increased difficulty' (p. 7) if (e.g. Greenall & Swan, 1986; Abbs el al., 1980).
there is a reduction in the number of linguistic and Others (e.g. Davies & Whitney, 1981; Maingay,
extralinguistic cues. She also argues that learners are 1983) grade the tasks rather than the texts, often
best taught to cope with 'real world' texts by emphasising selective reading.
having experience of them in the classroom. Such
claims echo the earlier view of Da vies and Widdow- 2.2.6. Despite such efforts by materials writers,
son (1974) that authentic texts give learners an 'authentic response' is a frequent casualty in the
opportunity to experience actual instances of lan- efforts to exploit authentic texts (in the first
guage used for communication. A key question, of interpretation). Among the reasons for this are: (i)
course, is whether simply presenting students with any text taken from its original context and/or co-
' authentic' texts is necessarily the most appropriate text and brought into the EFL classroom tends to
method of helping them achieve levels of proficiency become an ' EFL text'; (ii) the L2 learner reader, if
which they need to comprehend such texts. different from the reader presupposed by the writer,
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State of the art: Reading in a foreign language |
may be incapable or unwilling to respond as the the ordering of what is recalled. Meyer (1975)
writer intended, (iii) pedagogic demands such as concluded from detailed experimentation with
comprehension checking or skills teaching tend to native-speaker readers that expository texts organ-
impose artificial tasks upon readers which inhibit ised from the general to the specific were more
the 'authentic response' (cf Clarke, 1989). Thus the easily comprehended than those ordered in the
claim of Abbs et a\. (1980) that their series Authentic opposite way. Whether such discourse structures are
English for Reading has texts that are not only culture-bound is a much-vexed question. Kaplan
'authentic in source' but also 'authentic in use' is (1966) andjohnstone Koch (1983) suggest that they
debatable. Auden's poem Night Mail, for example, are, though their arguments are undermined by
is subjected to such comprehension questions as doubts as to whether the texts they select for
'Does the train disturb the sheepdogs?' which can discussion are truly representative of the cultures in
hardly be claimed to render the poem ' authentic in question. Carrell (1984(>) suggests that narrative text
use'. This example illustrates the problem inherent structures are more universal and less culture-specific
in the attempt to create authentic response through than expository structures. For the present it seems
the intervention of exercises. Putting aside the that enlightenment on this issue will have to await
mismatch between the claims of authors and the more detailed socio-anthropological investigation.
actual exercise items, the obvious point to raise here
is whether an ' authentic response' is of importance 2.4.2. At the level of inter-sentential text de-
to the learner qua learner. Acknowledging learners velopment, it has been proposed (e.g. by Widdow-
as learners calls into question the logic of expecting son, 1984; see also Urquhart, 1976; Gray, 1977) that
them to respond as if they were members of the text be viewed as a sequence of responses by the
target language group. author to a series of anticipated questions from the
prospective reader. The reader then participates in
this covert interaction, and the extent to which the
2.3 Text content reader 'follows' the writer will in part depend on
There are few recent published surveys of learner how far he or she corresponds to the interlocutor
interests in reading in a foreign language. Clark presupposed by the writer. The application of this
(1979) found that more than 60% of the pupils in model of discourse analysis has given rise to the
the first three years of foreign language learning in concept of ' interactive reading' though few text-
Scottish secondary schools wanted to read both books have attempted to apply it to EFL reading.
fiction (stories), and fact (articles containing in- Salimbene (1986) is an example, and demonstrates
formation, e.g. menus, signs, instructions, maps), the dangers of relying too heavily on a single model
while 6% did not want to be able to read in the in constructing classroom material. (Note that the
foreign language. With respect to EFL, investi- term 'interactive' here refers to the interaction of
gations have been carried out by Dimitrievic and reader and writer, and as such is employed in a
Gunton (1975) and Jordan (1975). The relative rather different sense from that of Carrell et al.
scarcity of recently published research in this area (1988), where the main reference is to interaction
in EFL is surprising, if we make the reasonable between different levels of reader knowledge.)
assumption that readers read primarily for content;
furthermore the importance of readers' interest in
what they are reading is empirically established 3. Reader
(Olshavsky, 1977; Fransson, 1984; see 3.4. below). 3.1 Introduction
In pedagogical terms, the most obvious attempt to
cope with learner preference in content is the self- One of the effects of a more learner-centred
access reading scheme, whether this be intensive pedagogy in EFL reading has been to focus less upon
reading of shorter texts (e.g. Jolly, 1982) or extensive text, and more upon the reader. Although this
reading of longer texts and stories (see Bamford, concern has been evident in the research literature,
1984). the evidence from published material suggests that it
has proved difficult to incorporate all aspects of
research findings into material for EFL learner
2.4 Text organisation readers.
2.4.1. The organisation of text has received attention
in studies of both LI and L2 readers. Urquhart 3.2 Language competence of reader
(1984) found that narrative text organised in 3.2.1. The commonsense notion that linguistically
chronological sequence, and descriptive text organ- difficult texts demand a higher degree of linguistic
ised in a unidirectional sequence, was more readily competence from the reader is supported by
recalled than text not so sequenced. This coincides Alderson who talks of a' threshold level' of linguistic
with Carrell's (1984a) finding that the way in which competence (1984: 19), which will vary according
a narrative is structured will affect the quantity and to the demands of the text, but below which the
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 State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
reader cannot engage meaningfully with the texc. background, Anderson et al. (1977) found that
Such views are in line with Cummins' work knowledge and interests of US readers significantly
(Cummins & Swain, 1986) in bilingual education. influenced their perception of what the text was
Cummins hypothesises that a threshold level of about. In the context of ESP (working with
language competence is a prerequisite for significant engineers and businessmen), Alderson and Urquhart
academic development, which would obviously (1983) show that readers with appropriate back-
involve reading, and further that this level would be ground knowledge of the subject have superior
different from that required for non-academic comprehension, a finding supported by Mohammed
interpersonal communication presumably of a and Swales (1984), among others.
largely spoken nature. Clarke (1988) likewise speaks
of a language ceiling, which if it is too low, will 3.3.3. One notable response to the findings of
restrict a reader's ability to interact with text, schema theory in recent EFL reading material is the
although Hudson (1988) suggests that the effect of now ubiquitous pre-reading activity. Some authors
low language proficiency may be partly offset by (e.g. Barr, Clegg & Wallace, 1981; Tomlinson &
the reader's ability to activate appropriate back- Ellis, 1988), suggest elaborate activities involving
ground knowledge. group work, discussion or writing. Others suggest
discussion of statements, text titles, or relevant
3.2.2. The question of whether advanced learners personal experiences (e.g. Taylor, Ahern, Shepherd
have language difficulties different in kind from & Rossner, 1986; Benitez, Castrillo, Cerezai &
those of less advanced learners, as opposed to simply Suarez, 1988; Greenall & Swan, 1986). Claims for
quantitatively different, has also received attention, the efficacy of such prereading activation of ap-
though the research evidence that exists is not propriate schemata are widespread (e.g. Carrell,
decisive. Cziko (1978) found that advanced learners 1980; Wilson & Anderson, 1986). A second, and
of French were able to exploit the semantic and potentially complementary response to schema
discourse constraints of texts to a much greater theory findings is to provide learners with texts that
degree than elementary or intermediate students, consistently develop a given topic area (cf Williams,
who were able to exploit only syntactic constraints. 1983; Eskey & Grabe, 1988), so that they achieve a
McLeod and McLaughlin (1986) on the other hand, 'critical mass' (Grabe, 1986) of information in that
found that advanced learners of English, despite area. Examples of teaching materials which group
their superior linguistic knowledge, were not texts by topic in this way are Bell, Boardman and
superior to elementary learners in their ability to Buckby (1985) and Davies and Whitney (1985).
exploit either semantic or syntactic cues. However, it is doubtful whether a single textbook
can provide sufficient quantity of theme-based text
to achieve the 'critical mass'.
3.3 Background knowledge
3.3.1. Research into L2 reading has drawn both on
schema theory and on LI reading research to stress 3.4 Affective factors
the importance of the reader's prior knowledge. 3.4.1. Relatively little published work has appeared
Carrell, in particular, has investigated the role of in EFL reading on this area, although inferences
background knowledge in L2 reading. She dis- may be made from the work on background
tinguishes between content schemata which refer knowledge referred to above. As far as reader's
to knowledge of a particular topic, and formal interest is concerned, Olshavsky (1977) concludes
schemata which are concerned with knowledge of from her research that readers with higher interest
different rhetorical organisations, such as simple engage more actively with the text, though the level
stories (Carrell, 1983). Earlier Rumelhart (1975) and of reader interest is not maintained independently of
Mandler (1982) had similarly claimed that a 'story the text, and may decrease while reading is in
schema' which represents the conventions for progress, if the text does not meet expectations.
structuring simple stories, such as folk tales, is stored Fransson (1984) finds that interest in the text results
in memory. in more effective ' deep level' processing, though he
observes that interest is not necessarily predictable
3.3.2. Investigations into background knowledge from the academic specialities of the readers. At
have considered two areas. First, knowledge of a primary levels, EUey reports (1984: 296) that using
specific culture or sub-culture, in terms of its way of 'locally produced stories with high interest levels'
life and institutions, and second, in terms of helped EFL pupils to learn to read English more
knowledge of a specific subject or discipline. Studies quickly; however, no indication is given of how the
of the effect of cultural background knowledge interest levels were established.
reveal, not surprisingly, a 'cultural interference'
effect (Steffensen & Joag Dev, 1984). Even in the 3.4.2. Judgements concerning the interest level of
case of native-speaker readers from the same cultural texts in coursebooks are inevitably subjective, but it

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State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
is arguable whether the near universal commitment
to authenticity has always led to the selection of 4.2 Reading style
texts of undoubted interest to the majority of 4.2.1. The term 'reading style' is now reasonably
students. Some coursebooks (e.g. Barr a al., 1981; well established as a descriptive label for the reader's
Greenall & Swan, 1986) provide many texts on behavioural response to text. The reading style is
arguably interesting themes, while Ladousse (1987: motivated by the reader's purpose, and mediated by
ix) disarmingly says' forgive me' to those who find the accessibility of the text to the reader. Pugh's
her texts uninteresting. In others, however, choice early work with native-speaker students identified
of texts seems determined by the skills focused five styles (Pugh, 1978: 53) taken up by White
upon. Davies and Whitney (1984) state explicitly (1981). Those most commonly identified in current
that their texts relate specifically to the study skills work in EFL reading are skimming, scanning,
to be practised; their text on Australia, for instance, intensive reading and extensive reading (see, for
has no task referring to the content, other than a example, Nuttall, 1982; Grellet, 1981; Williams,
note in the teacher's book suggesting a pre-reading 1984). They are low-level constructs which do not
discussion. Likewise Maingay (1983: 5) has texts appear to have a strong psycholinguistic base, and
' selected to exemplify a particular kind of writing, are established on the basis of observable behaviour
and to provide a suitable basis for the presentation (notably speed of reading, degree of re-reading,
and practice of a particular set of reading skills'. ' skipping' of text); furthermore, a text will not
Whether this principle justifies an entire unit largely necessarily be read in one style, but readers will
devoted labels on food packets is open to doubt. move along a continuum in response to shifting
Walter (1982) has two texts (one on soft contact purpose and the degree of difficulty that different
lenses and another on 'The trials of an O in a world parts of the text present (see, for example Pugh's
of Xs') of debatable interest, although the Teacher's investigation of native speakers, 1978: 53). Because
Book remarks that texts which the teacher finds less of individual differences in purpose, background
interesting may appeal to some of the learners. knowledge, reading proficiency, etc., native
While the last three books cited have undoubted speakers may display different styles when reading
strengths in other areas, it seems that not all authors the same text (Harri-Augstein & Thomas: 1984).
consistently observe the view of R. Williams that
'in the absence of interesting texts, very little is 4.2.2. The preoccupation of the '60s with speed
possible' (1986: 42). The attempt to compensate for reading (e.g. Fry, 1963) seems to have abated,
uninteresting text through interesting tasks, while though Maingay, reflecting a widely held belief that
desirable, is not always achievable. Pre-reading readers read more slowly in a foreign language than
activities (see 3.3.3 above) may also, of course, hope
they need to, urges teachers to set a time limit for
to generate interest. Less common in EFL is the
reading the texts 'in order to discourage a laborious
attempt to engage the readers' interest through
word-by-word approach' (1983: 6). However, she
requiring them to make decisions at given points in
admits her suggestion ' may well cause frustration at
a narrative, which lead to alternative continuations
first'. The current view, that the efficient reader
(an example is Rinvolucri & Berer, 1981). Gener-
should read in LI or L2 at a speed appropriate to
ating interest through problem-solving based on
information gap techniques is exemplified in Geddes capacity and purpose, is sensible but highly sub-
and Sturtridge (1982). jective.

4.2.3. It has been widely held (e.g. Fry, 1963: 12)

that such observable responses as subvocalisation,
4. Interaction of reader and text regressive eye movement, very frequent or very
long eye fixations are inevitably obstacles to com-
4.1 Terminology prehension, a view encouraged by statements such
Debate over both the process and the product of as 'Comprehension gets lost in the bottleneck of
reading has been far from decisive, and characterised short-term memory the moment we worry about
by inconsistent use of terminology, particularly as getting individual words right' (Smith, 1978: 39).
regards the terms 'style', 'subskiU', 'strategy', However, there is now increasing acceptance that
'process'. Pugh deplores the 'imprecise and con- such responses are symptoms of poor compre-
fusing uses of the term {sci. skill) in the study of hension, rather than a cause (Alderson & Urquhart,
reading' (1978: 52). It is paradoxical that those 19846: xx). Faaborg-Anderson and Edfelt, cited in
whose business is largely to do with words should Gibson and Levin (1975) support this with their
operate with such inconsistent metalanguage. In finding that subvocalisation increased when subjects
order to integrate the work of specialists (without, read in a non-native language' especially if they were
one hopes, doing violence to their views), the unaccustomed to reading foreign prose' (p. 346).
following account includes some definition of these Further, it seems that although subjects can be
terms. trained to reduce subvocalisation in LI reading, this

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 State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
is 'at the cost of lowered comprehension of difficult the terms are synonymous, while they are used
text' (Gibson & Levin, 1975: 344). Given this interchangeably in Davies and Whitney (1981),
research evidence on subvocalisation and difficult Taylor et al. (1986), and Maingay (1983). Heyworth
text, it may be that that other manifestations of a (1982) complicates the picture further by referring
slow intensive style, (e.g. 'poor' eye movements), to skimming and scanning as strategies, while for
may be not only a symptom of difficulty in Clarke and Silberstein (1979) they are skills. In
comprehension, but also a means of overcoming principle, one may distinguish the terms by defining
that difficulty. In other words, even good readers a skill as an acquired ability, which has been
may manifest ' poor' reader behaviour when they automatised and operates largely subconsciously,
need to. whereas a strategy is a conscious procedure carried
out in order to solve a problem (cf Olshavsky,
4.2.4. Despite the considerable uncertainty sur- 1977). Thus a fluent reader may possess the skill of
rounding the development and even the desirability rapid, automatic word recognition, but may resort
of rapid reading styles, much EFL material urges to strategies such as phonological encoding when
students to skim and scan even in the early stages of faced with an unfamiliar word. Such a distinction is
learning English. Many books advocate skimming tenable in principle (and one that we will attempt
titles, illustrations, etc., to identify the 'general idea' to adhere to); however, detailed discussion of it is
(e.g. Maingay, 1983; Heyworth, 1982). Similarly outside the scope of this article.
scanning for specific information, often making use
of layout, is a frequent feature of materials (e.g. 4.3.3. Many different lists of reading skills of native-
Barr, Clegg & Wallace, 1981; Davies & Whitney, speaker readers have been drawn up, some based on
1981). The efficacy of such procedures, or indeed the empirical work, others on armchair speculation.
prerequisite degree of language and reading com- The majority of the empirically-based lists have
petence needed, do not appear to have been come from the USA. The oft-cited taxonomy of
investigated in depth. An exception to the tendency Barrett (1968) lists five reading skills: (i) literal
of encouraging rapid reading is Walter (1982), who comprehension, (ii) reorganisation of the ideas in
emphasises slow, reflective reading to enable the the text, (iii) inferential ability, (iv) evaluation, (v)
reader to ' re-create' the text in his or her own mind appreciation. Apart from the last two, which hardly
(Teacher's Book, p. 1). seem to be intrinsic to the process, Barrett's list is
compatible with one of the best known studies in
the field, by Davis (1968, reported in Lunzer, Waite
4.3 The reading process: skills and strategies & Dolan, 1979). Davis identified four skills: (i)
4.3.1. That a text and a reader are prerequisites to identifying word meanings, (ii) drawing inferences,
the reading process is one of the few statements that (iii) identifying writer's technique and recognising
may be made without fear of contradiction. Other the mood of the passage, (iv) finding answers to
issues are characterised by disagreement, or ad- questions. Again the status of the fourth skill as
missions of ignorance. Principal among these are (i) intrinsic to the reading process is doubtful, and in
whether reading is a single holistic process, or subsequent reanalyses of the Davis data (Thorndike,
whether it consists of a number of component skills; 1971; Spearritt, 1972) it does not feature.
(ii) assuming the skills theory, what are the relevant
skills? (iii) If relevant skills are identified, what is the 4.3.4. Although the notion of discrete reading skills
relationship between them ? (iv) Is there a distinction has always been attractive to educationalists, there
between reading skills and reading strategies? (v) has been considerable doubt as to their psychological
From the teaching perspective, can training in skills validity. Rosenshine (1980: 552) concludes his
and strategies be effectively carried out ? Despite the review by saying ' At this point, there is simply no
fact that issues (i) to (iv) remain unresolved, material clear evidence to support the naming of discrete
abounds which attempts to promote reading skills skills in reading comprehension'. Likewise Lunzer
and strategies. et al. (1979), after detailed analysis of the results of
comprehension tests administered to 257 English
4.3.2. With respect to the terms' skill' and' strategy', primary schoolchildren, concluded that 'one must
both research literature and teaching material display reject the hypothesis that the several tasks used in
considerable terminological inconsistency. 'Infer- tests of reading comprehension call on distinct
ring', for example, is a skill for Davis (1968) and subskills which can be differentially assessed and
also Spearritt (1972), but a strategy for Olshavsky taught' (p. 59). Although no two lists of reading
(1977). In EFL reading material the tendency is for skills are identical, casual inspection suggests that the
the term ' skill' to be used to the exclusion of skills might be grouped roughly into 'language
'strategy' and even of 'style' (e.g. Tomlinson & related' skills, and ' reason related' skills. However,
Ellis, 1988; Walter, 1982; Barr et al., 1981). Nuttall's Lunzer et al. (1979) failed to find statistical evidence
(1985: 199) mention of skills and strategies suggests from their results for even such a two-level
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State of the art: Reading in a foreign language •
hypothesis, and conclude (p. 62) 'the results would Davies and Whitney (1981, Teacher's Guide) seeing
seem to be entirely consistent with a hypothesis of this as an opportunity for students to puzzle out
unitary aptitude of comprehension'. This aptitude meaning for themselves. Glossaries only appear
they define as' the pupil's ability and willingness to occasionally (Ellis & Ellis, 1983 a, b; Walter, 1982;
reflect on what he is reading' (p. 64). Lunzer et al. Bell et al. 1985), as does systematic presentation of
(1979) further claim that the only valid reading skill dictionary skills (e.g. Davies & Whitney, 1984). The
in the Davis data is the second (drawing inferences), emphasis on guessing word meaning is supported
which they view as central and as corresponding to by research into cognitive strategies which claim
their own view of comprehension. that a willingness to guess is characteristic of good
learners and readers (Rubin, 1975; Hosenfeld, 1984).
4.3.5. Reservations, however, may be expressed on However, recent research suggests that skilled
this conclusion that reading is a unified skill. First, readers in LI (Schatz & Baldwin, 1986) and L2
the link between the results of a comprehension test (Bensoussan & Laufer, 1984) find it impossible to
and the process of reading are very indirect. As guess more than a small proportion of words, while
Lunzer et al. themselves (1979: 67) point out, some specialists have argued that inaccurate guessing
comprehension describes the achievement or prod- can have negative effects on the comprehension of
uct of reading, rather than the process — and skills poor readers (Haynes, 1984; Laufer & Sim, 1985).
relate to process. Furthermore, even the product, Some textbooks (e.g. Barr et al. 1981; Tomlinson &
comprehension, may not be adequately captured by Ellis, 1987) stress the importance of ignoring certain
the test items. Additionally, Lunzer et al. (1979) unknown words, a procedure supported by research
were dealing with native speakers, and it may be suggesting that fluent readers typically ignore rather
that in the case of non-native speakers a distinction than guess unknown lexis - again, there is clearly a
between low-level language related skills and limit to which words and how many words may be
higher-level reasoning skills is valid (cf Clarke, ignored.
1988; Eskey & Grabe, 1988).
4.3.8. Inferring is another skill which receives
4.3.6. The inconsistency of the evidence for distinct attention in many current books. The term generally
reading skills has not prevented them from figuring refers to the reader coming to conclusions that are
prominently in EFL reading materials. Nuttall's not explicitly stated in the text, but for which the
view is representative:' That it is possible to promote text provides evidence. The attention which pub-
reading skills and strategies...is still largely a matter lished material gives to inferring varies. Thus,
of faith, but the number of materials produced show although it is mentioned in the introduction to Abbs
that it is a faith widely held' (1985:199). Brown and et al. (1980), there are seemingly few instances of
Hirst (1983), while sympathetic to the view of inference activities; on the other hand, it is a fairly
reading as a unified process rather than as a set of regular feature of Walter (1986) and Greenall and
discrete skills, point out that the latter view is highly Swan (1986). However, the materials generally fail
productive, in that it provides many ideas for to provide exemplification of inference, or to give
exercises - an argument that has clearly commended advice to teachers as to what to do if learners cannot
itself to the materials writers mentioned by Nuttall. ' see' an inference. The assumption seems to be that
Rather than try to develop skills indirectly through readers learn to make inferences through practice.
exercises, some specialists propose addressing the
skills more directly. Thus Carrell, Pharis and Liberto 4.3.9. Tasks requiring the identifying of reference
(1989) have suggested that students in academic ESL are again very common in materials (e.g. Ellis &
programmes should receive explicit strategy training EUis: 1983a, b\ Barr et al., 1981), usually practised
in order to improve their skills. Based on work with through a question such as' What does this refer to ?'
LI students, Harri-Augstein and Thomas, in a rather This approach became very popular from the mid-
freer approach, advocate conversations with reading '70's, boosted by work in discourse (e.g. Halliday &
tutors whereby students will be 'free to harness Hasan, 1976). Sentence connector exercises also
their own mythologies of the process of reading feature in many of the textbooks, although the
into expanding personal models and metalanguages' exercises seem more concerned with imparting
(1984; 276). linguistic knowledge rather than skill training.

4.3.7. While materials writers may disagree on the

emphasis to be devoted to any particular skill, there 4.4 The product of reading
seems to be substantial agreement on the importance 4.4.1. The product of the reading process, in terms
of such skills as guessing the meaning of unknown of the reader's comprehension, has been a source of
words, identifying anaphoric reference, identifying some disagreement. Neville and Pugh (1982: 9)
the main idea, and inference. 'Guessing unknown make the reasonable point that 'the output of
words' from content features frequently, with reading is... difficult to capture, since what is
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 State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
achieved from (real life) reading with compre- tract the leamer from his reading of the passage',
hension is often a modification of the conceptual while Widdowson's preference for True/False
system'. At the more superficial level of the reader's questions seems to have been widely followed (e.g.
immediate 'meaning making', the question is Taylor et al.: 1986). The purpose of various types
whether a text has, ideally, 'one meaning', or and formats of comprehension questions are dis-
whether a text is to be regarded as a set of cues from cussed by Nuttall (1982) and Williams (1984).
which different readers will draw different mean-
ings. Alderson (1984: xix) challenges the assumption
that' texts have predictable meanings, which can be 5. Conclusion: reading
extracted if only the reader is sufficiently skilful'; he comprehension and teaching
quotes Widdowson (1979) where it is suggested that 5.1. Although the nature of texts and activities in
text has potential for meaning 'which will vary EFL reading has changed considerably in the past
from reader to reader, depending upon a multitude decade, a distinction which has endured is that
of factors' (Alderson, 1984: xix). That different between intensive and extensive reading. Though
readers will, because of different experiences of the the distinction is not always clear-cut, the terms
world, create different meanings from the same text have proved convenient for referring, not so miich
is beyond dispute. This raises the question of whether to the actual reading, as to texts and tasks-
all meanings are to be regarded as equally valid, (as intensive reading being characterised by shorter
opposed to equally justifiable). E. Williams (1983; texts and a high proportion of task items, while in
1986) suggests that the 'true' meaning is that the case of extensive reading texts are longer with a
intended by the writer, and claims that the need to lower proportion of task items.
preserve communication between writer and reader
requires such an 'ideal', even if the reader's 5.2. Extensive reading is typically (though not
comprehension never ' matches' in every detail the necessarily) associated with graded Readers (see
writer's intention. Likewise Widdowson, while Bamford, 1984, for a survey). A range of suggestions
pointing out that a reader may disagree with a for the principled exploitation of Readers is provided
writer, asserts by Hedge (1985), and Greenwood (1988). While
'To say [hat a text is an occasion for interpretation does not most specialists favour balanced intensive-plus-
mean it is an excuse for any interpretation that takes the extensive programmes (e.g. Nuttall, 1982; Eskey,
reader's fancy...The reader is, of course, under no absolute 1973), the implication of some recent research is that
obligation to conform to convention and cooperate. But if he extensive reading should receive more attention,
doesn't, the very conditions of communication cease to prevail.' not only because of general acceptance of the
(1986: v-vi) (italics in original).
dictum that one becomes a good reader through
Urquhart (1987) on the other hand, maintains reading, but also because extensive reading is claimed
that since differing individual experiences render to be an effective means of improving writing
complete agreement on the meaning of a text (Hafiz & Tudor, 1989), enlarging vocabulary
impossible, to set up the writer's intended meaning (Wodinsky & Nation, 1988), or generally improving
as the reader's objective is misguided. The debate language (Robb & Susser, forthcoming). Moreover,
has practical implications in that many current using graded Readers in self-access mode has the
techniques of assessing or investigating problems in potential to provide comprehensible input (cf
reading comprehension are based on the notion of Krashen & Terrell: 1983), to allow for stress-free
'correct meaning'. deep processing (cf Fransson: 1984), and to allow
for personal interests (cf. R. Williams: 1986). In the
4.4.2. Despite the recent emphasis on the reader's case of intensive reading, the evidence from
personal interpretation, and the attention to tasks published material of the last decade is that activities
designed to develop reading skills, comprehension to develop skills and strategies have encroached
questions still feature prominently in most published upon, but by no means taken over from, language
materials. Whether they are meant to check or comprehension based activities.
comprehension, facilitate comprehension or simply
ensure that the learner reads the text, is rarely made 5.3. A notable feature, however, is that the
explicit. Exceptions to this general reticence are theoretical positions embodied in the texts and tasks
Barr el al. (1981) and Ellis and Ellis (1983), who state of intensive reading have tended to come from
explicitly that the purpose is to check compre- outside the classroom - from psychology (behav-
hension, while Greenall and Swan (1986) distinguish iourism, cognitivism), from linguistics (structural-
'checking comprehension' from 'understanding ism), or from applied linguistics (functionalism,
complex sentences'. There has been a general move discourse analysis). Reading pedagogy in EFL has
away from the multiple choice format (see Walter, not in general been grounded in the observation of
1982, for an explicit rejection), possibly due to classroom practice. The role of the teacher, apart
Widdowson's (1978: 98) argument that they 'dis- from that of managing the activities provided in the
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State of the art: Reading in a foreign language
material, has received little attention. An exception to English as a foreign language. Language Teaching 6c
to this is Richards (1989) who gives an observational Linguistics: Abstracts, 10, 2.
BRUMFIT, C. J. (ed.) (1983). Language teaching projects for the
account (unfortunately highly condensed) of an third world. ELT Documents, 116.
effective EFL teacher conducting an advanced CARRELL, P. L. (1983). Some issues in studying the role of
reading class. Richards reiterates with approval the schemata, or background knowledge, in second language
saying 'there is nothing so practical as a good comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, I, 2.
theory'. Equally, there is nothing as dangerous as a CARRELL, P. L. {1984 a). Evidence of formal schemata in second
language comprehension. Language Learning, 34, 2.
bad theory. Past experience, as well as rapidly CARRELL, P. L. (1984ft). The effects of rhetorical organisation on
evolving (and hence unstable) theoretical positions, ESL readers. TESOL Quarterly, 18, 3.
suggest that EFL reading should move with caution CARRELL, P. L. (1988). Interactive text processing: implications
in the application of models. What seems to be for ESL/second language classrooms. In Carrell, Devine 6c
needed in the pedagogy of foreign language reading Eskey (1988).
CARRELL. P. L., DEVINE, J. & ESKEY. D. E. (eds.) (1988).
at the moment is not further theorising focusing Interactive approaches to second language reading. Cambridge:
exclusively on the reading process, nor more Cambridge University Press.
elaborate application of such theory, but reflexion CARRELL, P. L., PHARIS, B. G. SC LIBERTO, J. C. (1989).
upon, and evaluation of, the practices of teachers Metacognitive strategy training for ESL reading. Paper presented
and learners in a variety of settings. at Twenty-third TESOL Convention, San Antonio.
CHAPMAN, L. J. & CZERNIEWSKA, P. (eds.) (1978). Reading:from
process to practice. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
CLARK, J. (1979). The syllabus: what should the learner learn?
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