Volume 28, No. 1
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item From the Editors(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) RFL StaffItem Response to the critique of the Sakurai (2015) article, “The influence of translation on reading amount, proficiency, and speed in extensive reading”(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Sakurai, NobukoItem (Re)Defining translation in EFL classrooms: Comments on Sakurai (2015)(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Quiñones-Guerra, Victor R.Item Response to Sakurai: The influence of translation on reading amount, proficiency and speed in extensive reading(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Stephens, MeredithItem Response to the critique of the Huffman (2014) article, “Reading rate gains during a one-semester extensive reading course”(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Huffman, JeffreyItem The importance of supporting inferences with evidence: Learning lessons from Huffman (2014) in the hope of providing stronger evidence for extensive reading(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) McLean, StuartItem Measuring second language vocabulary knowledge using a temporal method(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Tanabe, MasayukiThe present study addressed the role of speed as a factor in tests of second language (L2) vocabulary knowledge, presupposing that speed of performance is important in actual language use. Research questions were: (a) Do learners with a larger vocabulary size answer faster on an L2 vocabulary breadth test than smaller vocabulary sized learners?; (b) Are there systematic increases in response time (RT) as word frequency decreases in an L2 vocabulary breadth test?; and (c) Do RTs of correct responses on an L2 vocabulary breadth test predict accurate and quick L2 reading? Participants were 24 Japanese university students. Results indicated that (a) vocabulary size facilitated lexical accessibility, (b) high frequency words were accessed more quickly but this was only observable after reaching a certain threshold of vocabulary size, and (c) vocabulary score (accuracy) alone was not associated with accurate and quick reading but vocabulary RT (accuracy + speed) was.Item Scaffolding in L2 reading: How repetition and an auditory model help readers(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Taguchi, Etsuo; Gorsuch, Greta J.; Lems, Kristin; Rosszell, RoryReading fluency research and practice have recently undergone some changes. While past studies and interventions focused on reading speed as their main goal, now more emphasis is being placed on exploring the role prosody plays in reading, and how listening to an audio model of a text while reading may act as a form of scaffolding, or aid, to reading comprehension. This article explores how two elements unique to repeated reading (RR) practices likely provide scaffolding for L2 learners’ reading comprehension: repetitions in reading a text, and having learners read along with an audio model of the text. Scaffolding is an oft-used term in L2 education, but specific examples of it are seldom given. This article addresses scaffolding and suggests future research that can impact reading fluency intervention practices.Item Cohesion features in ESL reading: Comparing beginning, intermediate and advanced textbooks(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) Plakans, Lia; Bilk ZeynepThis study of English as a second language (ESL) reading textbooks investigates cohesion in reading passages from 27 textbooks. The guiding research questions were whether and how cohesion differs across textbooks written for beginning, intermediate, and advanced second language readers. Using a computational tool called Coh-Metrix, textual features were compared across the three levels using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The results indicated that some features of cohesion yielded significant variation, but with small effect sizes. The majority of cohesion features considered were not different across the textbook levels. Larger effect sizes were found with factors like length, readability and lexical or syntactic complexity.Item What can readers read after graded readers?(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2016-04) McQuillan, JeffNation (2014) concluded that most of the vocabulary one needs to read challenging texts in English can be acquired incidentally through voluminous reading. This study examines possible texts that second language (L2) readers can use to move from controlled-vocabulary materials such as graded readers, which go up through approximately the 4,000-word-family level, to more challenging texts such as newspapers, classic novels, and academic texts, at the 9,000-word-family level. An analysis of a set of popular fiction series books found that such books can provide a sufficient amount of input, with 98% vocabulary coverage, so as to serve as one possible “bridge” to more challenging texts.