Exploring the roles of L1 reading, L2 proficiency, strategy use and anxiety in L2 Reading comprehension.

Background: Second language (L2) reading is a complex process in which two languages constantly interact. L1 reading and L2 proficiency are two well‐acknowledged factors contributing to L2 reading comprehension. Other factors, such as strategy use and anxiety, might also predict L2 reading comprehension, but their roles have not been examined in the presence of L1 reading and L2 proficiency. Method: Participants were 147 high school Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners (mean age = 17.8, SD = 0.48). They were assessed on their L2 reading comprehension, L1 reading comprehension, L2 proficiency (L2 vocabulary and L2 syntactic knowledge), strategy use and reading anxiety. Results: Hierarchical regression model analyses showed that L1 reading significantly contributed to L2 reading comprehension in the presence of L2 proficiency. Strategy use and anxiety were significant predictors of L2 reading comprehension in the presence of L1 reading and L2 proficiency. Together, they accounted for 53% of the variance in L2 reading comprehension. L2 proficiency moderated the relations between L1 and L2 reading comprehension and strategy use and L2 reading comprehension but not the relation between anxiety and L2 reading comprehension. Conclusions: Besides the well‐acknowledged L1 reading and L2 proficiency, strategy use and anxiety were also significant predictors of L2 reading comprehension, stressing the importance of these cognitive and affective factors in L2 reading. By revealing the moderating role of L2 proficiency, these findings deepen our understanding of the nature of the relations between L1 and L2 reading comprehension, strategy use and L2 reading comprehension. Highlights: What is already known about this topic: L2 proficiency (e.g., L2 vocabulary and L2 syntactic knowledge) is a strong predictor of L2 reading comprehension.L1 reading is related to L2 reading comprehension, and the strength of this relation seems to be larger in closer language pairs than in more distant language pairs. What this paper adds: L1 reading contributes significantly to L2 reading comprehension, even in the presence of L2 proficiency among Chinese EFL learners.Strategy use and anxiety also significantly predict L2 reading comprehension after controlling for L1 reading and L2 proficiency.L2 proficiency moderates the relation between L1 and L2 reading comprehension, and strategy use and L2 reading comprehension. Implications for theory, policy or practice: In addition to L1 reading and L2 proficiency, we cannot ignore strategy use and anxiety in building L2 reading comprehension models.We need to consider the moderating effect of L2 proficiency in the relation between L1 and L2 reading comprehension, strategy use and L2 reading comprehension to better understand the nature of these relations.Besides focusing on learners' L2 proficiency, teachers may teach students how to effectively use reading strategies, cope with their anxiety and encourage them to employ their L1 reading skills to facilitate L2 reading comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]