The Role of First Language Literacy and Second Language Proficiency in Second Language Reading Comprehension

This study examined the interrelationships of first language (L1) literacy, second language (L2) proficiency, and L2 reading comprehension with 246 Chinese college students learning English. L1 literacy and L2 proficiency were measured with college admission exams in Chinese and English. L2 reading comprehension was measured with the reading comprehension section of a TOEFL and a researcher-developed passage comprehension test. L1 literacy was found to be moderately correlated with L2 language proficiency, as was L2 language proficiency with L2 reading comprehension. Regression analyses demonstrated that L2 language proficiency accounted for 27%-39% of variance in L2 reading comprehension, while L1 literacy accounted for less than 6% of the variance. These findings confirmed the assumption that L2 language proficiency contributes up to 30% of the variance in L2 reading performance, but failed to provide evidence that L1 literacy contributes up to about 20% of the variance in L2 reading.