Can topic familiarity override language proficiency in reading comprehension?

Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of topical knowledge and language proficiency on the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL students. The Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used at the beginning of the study to divide the students into two groups of low and high proficiency. Both the high and low proficiency students later read two texts of almost the same level of difficulty but different in terms of their familiarity to the students. The obtained results indicated that topic familiarity cannot override language proficiency in reading comprehension; that is, low-proficiency students could not catch up with highproficiency students even in familiar topics.