L2 reading comprehension and its correlates

Abstract

Abstract The present study updates Jeon and Yamashita’s (2014) meta-analysis by adding a total of 40 independent samples from 30 additional studies published between 2011 and 2017. Using the method of a quantitative meta-analysis of correlation coefficients, the study synthesizes weighted and, when possible, corrected (for attenuation due to measurement error) correlations between passage-level, L2 reading comprehension and each of the following correlates: decoding, orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, morphological knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, L1 reading comprehension, L2 listening comprehension, working memory, metacognition, and oral reading fluency. The results showed that L2 knowledge variables were invariably strong correlates of L2 reading comprehension. Language-general variables such as working memory and metacognition were, on the other hand, only weakly correlated with L2 reading comprehension. Of the two companion proficiency variables, namely, L2 listening comprehension and L1 reading comprehension, the former showed a much stronger correlation with L2 reading comprehension. In sum, these results indicated that L2 reading comprehension is much more strongly associated with L2 knowledge rather than language-general, cognitive or metacognitive variables or the long-assumed general reading abilities indicated by L1 reading comprehension. Lastly, the study introduced oral reading fluency as a promising correlate of L2 reading comprehension.

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