Volume 35, No. 1

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    Reading to Learn in a Foreign Language: An Integrated Approach to Foreign Language and Assessement by Keiko Koda and Junko Yamashita (Eds.)
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Atkins, Andrew
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    A Modified Extensive Reading and Repeated Reading Intervention with Adult ESL Students
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Malakowsky, Daniel
    Twenty adult ESL students at a community college participated in a semester reading intervention. Participants received a modified extensive reading treatment, and some participants received an additional repeated reading direct instruction reading intervention. The author examined the impact of the reading interventions on ESL students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension. Within the two reading groups, students were selected randomly and placed into either the modified extensive reading group or the repeated reading intervention and modified extensive reading group. ESL students in the modified extensive reading group read graded readers; ESL students in the repeated reading and modified extensive reading group read graded readers and 12 non-fiction Read Naturally passages. Results of the quasi-experimental quantitative study indicated no significant difference between the intervention and comparison groups regarding reading fluency and reading comprehension; however, within group results were statistically significant regarding student reading rate and accuracy.
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    The Counts of Dracula and Monte Cristo: Homonym Frequencies in Graded Readers
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Parent, Kevin ; McLean, Stuart ; Kramer, Brandon ; Kim, Young Ae
    Graded readers are a great asset to learners acquiring the vocabulary of another language. Homonyms, on the other hand, are a recognized source of trouble for students with that same goal. Publishers of graded readers control the presentation of old and new words, but does this control extend to homonyms? Are only the word forms controlled for—in which case, the unrelated meanings of match (a pairing and a stick for starting fire) would together constitute two uses of the word? Or would these tally as separate words which, semantically and etymologically, they are? A comparison of a 4.2 million-word corpus of graded readers with previous research on the distributions of homonymic meanings in general English reveals that the meanings presented to learners are frequently quite different to those in general-purpose texts.
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    A Preliminary Assessment of Facilitating Anxiety in Second Language Reading
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Mikami, Hitoshi
    Facilitating anxiety in second language (L2) learning research has not been thoroughly discussed for both methodological and conceptual reasons. This trend is also evident in the field of L2 reading, where reading anxiety has been viewed as a negative force. This study takes the initial step to explore the nature of facilitating anxiety in L2 reading. The behavior of facilitating anxiety measured by a domain-general measure is examined in relation to various L2-reading-specific variables, and the necessity of a new skill-specific measure for facilitating anxiety is discussed. Based on the results of partial correlation and stepwise regression analyses, this study proposes that incorporating a new skill-specific measure for facilitating anxiety could assist future research in gaining a better understanding of the role of anxiety in L2 reading and reading practice.
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    Strategies-based Chinese as a Second Language Reading Instruction: Effects and Learners’ Perceptions
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Lin, Jia ; Gao, Gengsong ; Huang, Ting
    Strategic reading is an important consideration in the L2 reading classroom. This study investigated the effects of a Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) strategies-based reading instruction program, in which participants were explicitly taught ten top-down reading strategies. Thirty-four students enrolled in an advanced-level Chinese class participated in this study and were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. This study first examined the influence of the strategies-based instruction on participants’ reading comprehension. It then studied participants’ perceptions of using reading strategies and of the strategy training program. A series of non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests showed that the experimental group made significantly greater improvement in overall reading comprehension and in answering global-reference questions. The survey results revealed that although participants generally confirmed the positive effects of reading strategies, they did not have a strong interest in learning reading strategies, or in applying them in L1 or L2 reading contexts.
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    Call for Co-Editors, Reading in a Foreign Language
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Reading in a Foreign Language
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    From the Editors
    (University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2023-04-26) Reading in a Foreign Language