In line with the perspectives discussed above about reading, several studies have been carried out investigating the factors which influence English reading of L2 learners. For example, García (1991) carried out a study to find out the factors that influence the English reading performance of the students. The participants of the study were fifty-one Hispanic bi-lingual (Spanish and English speaking) and fifty- three Anglo monolingual (English speaking) children from two schools in the same district. To measure the reading performance of both groups, the study used a reading comprehension test consisted of six expository passages. The findings of the study suggested that the participants who used both the bottom up and the top-down processes scored higher than those who used either of the processes.
In another study, Hyland (1997) examined EFL students’ difficulties in English reading in Hong Kong. The study found that vocabulary knowledge and subject
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knowledge were the most common problems faced by the participants. The study also suggested that in order to improve EFL learners’ reading of English, they must be provided with a continuous and effective support of academic learning. Further, in a study on the effects of topic familiarity, enjoyment and interest in readers’ second language reading, Brantmeier (2003) found the factors, such as passage content, topic familiarity and interest play an important role in a successful reading comprehension along with linguistic knowledge of L2. Therefore, teachers need to ideally incorporate pre-reading activities to activate students’ existing knowledge.
Moreover, Nassaji (2003) investigated the relationship of syntactic and semantic knowledge, word recognition, phonological, and orthographic skills to L2 reading comprehension using a sample of sixty ESL learners. All the participants were Farsi (Persian) L1 speakers. The study used various reading tasks measuring vocabulary, semantic knowledge, word recognition and phonological skills. The findings of the study exhibited a positive, strong relationship between semantic knowledge and comprehension. The study also suggested that the lower level word recognition process was very important even for advanced level L2 readers. Another important finding was that speed of reading had a great impact on participants’ reading comprehension.
Bell (2011) also conducted a study on Thai students’ English reading proficiency using discipline-specific academic texts and general-interest texts. The results of the study confirmed that the participants made significant changes with use of extra textual framing. Background knowledge relevant to a text helped the participants use more difficult strategies: making analogies, recalling events from their background knowledge and experience with their academic texts.
The above mentioned studies offer a considerable insight into reading and how it can be investigated. Some of the studies emphasise the importance of background knowledge in L2 reading proficiency whereas others suggest that unknown vocabulary, difficulty of syntax or text, readers’ proficiency and task demand also affect the L2 reading. It is also obvious from the above discussion that both the lower and higher level skills are equally important in L2 reading performance
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especially at the university level. Hence, both the lower and higher level skills may also be taken into account in order to measure Sindhi and Urdu students English reading performance in the present study.
However, there is a particular weakness in those studies that they do not clearly measure the reading in relation to the types of reading the students usually come across in an academic environment; hence suggesting some areas in which further research is necessary especially in the Pakistani context. Weir et al. (2009) report that reading performance have usually been measured developing reading models based on careful reading only however, speed of reading is as important as comprehension itself in real world reading (Khalifa and Weir, 2009).
Weir et al. (2009) conducted a study of the reading processes involved in an IELTS Reading Test selecting items based on both careful and expeditious reading types selecting a sample of 352 participants. The study was meant to compare the respondents’ processing of IELTS Reading Test items with the mental processes they use in comprehending texts while engaging in different types of reading in real life. For this purpose the participants were given six IELTS Test parts specially identified to measure the participants reading on the basis of the two reading types: expeditious reading, and careful reading, followed by a retrospective protocol questionnaire based on Khalifa & Weir’s (2009) cognitive processing model.
The results of the study suggested that both expeditious and careful reading were important in the way the participants attempted reading questions. The majority of the respondents, across test sections, consistently chose to read the text through quickly and selectively before reading the question. The study also found that the reading types and activities measured by IELTS were consistent with the usual approach to academic reading: quick and selective search reading followed by the intensive careful reading of relevant text parts. Although Weir et al. (2009) study focuses more on cognitive processes in real life reading, it still helps the present study by demonstrating the importance of reading types for measuring university students’ English reading performance. Therefore, the present study will investigate
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students’ English reading performance in a Pakistani university context in line with this research.
Having discussed in some detail how reading has been measured in the second language and the importance of major types of reading in measuring reading performance, it may be essential to know the types of reading such as expeditious and careful reading in some detail for the guidance on for the present study. Therefore, the following section sheds some light on the types of reading discussed in the literature that will underpin the current study.