Examining the comprehension strategies of Chinese and English readers: A study of bilingual and monolingual first, second and third grade elementary school students.

摘要

The universality of reading comprehension strategies across languages is a view generally accepted. What has not been clearly established, however, is the degree to which specific comprehension strategies are used by skilled L1 and L2 readers in the early grades. To investigate this issue, similarities and differences in the reading strategies of 27 grade 1-3 Chinese monolingual, English monolingual, and Chinese-English bilingual children were examined. All participants read at or above grade level in their respective language(s). Data were collected from 89 reading passages via transcription of oral reading, passage recall, comprehension questions, and a questioning protocol administered in the post reading.;Eight categories of strategies emerged from the data. Similarities in strategy use were identified across language groups and reading stages (i.e., before, during, and after reading). These similarities provide evidence that skilled young readers are effective in both evaluating and regulating text to facilitate meaning. In addition to this shared behavior, specific differences also emerged across language groups (i.e., Chinese vs. English, monolingual vs. bilingual). Of particular interest was readers' editing of text, a strategy that allowed readers to simplify the complexity of text, transform the text to a more colloquial register, or clarify text meaning.;The study also highlights several difficulties associated with the treatment of strategies in L1 and L2 literature, such as the classification of comprehension strategies and the skill-strategy distinction. In light of these findings, pedagogical, methodological and theoretical implications for L1 and L2 reading are discussed.