The Effect of Reading Strategies and L1 Reading Attitudes on L2 Reading Comprehension: Investigating the Intermediary Role of L2 Reading Attitudes

Abstract

The present study investigated whether and how the selected cognitive and affective predictors namely, reading strategies, L1 reading attitudes, and L2 reading attitudes contributed to L2 reading comprehension. 145 Iranian male 10th grade senior high school students of three public schools participated in the study by completing questionnaires and taking a reading comprehension test. Pearson’s r was applied to estimate the degree of correlation among cognitive, affective and linguistic constructs. All Pearson observed values were then subjected to t-test for Pearson r to test the hypotheses concerning the significance of the population correlation in each instance of estimated correlation. Then, structural equation modelling was employed to verify the hypothesised model of relationships among the variables. The study revealed L1 reading attitude, reading strategies, and L2 reading attitude were all positively and significantly correlated with L2 reading comprehension. It further showed that L1 reading attitude and reading strategies both had positive correlations with L2 reading attitude, and that L2 reading attitude mediated the effect of both L1 reading attitude and reading strategies on L2 reading comprehension. Significant pedagogical implications drawn from the results of the study are discussed.