Reading and Language Learning

Reading and language learning are interdependent. While reading necessitates linguistic knowledge, reading ability enhances linguistic knowledge expansion. This volume explores the reciprocal relationship between reading and language learning. Questions addressed include: how second-language reading is constrained by linguistic demands both within and across languages; how bilingualism contributes to literacy development; to what extent reading ability facilitates incidental vocabulary acquisition; how language processing competence supports the incorporation of background knowledge during comprehension; how linguistic resources affect solving comprehension problems; and how first- and second-language knowledge jointly shape second-language reading sub-skills. By treating second-language reading as a multi-faceted and multi-lingual construct, the studies in the volume examine a variety of reading sub-skills, ranging from word identification to discourse comprehension, and in so doing, shed substantial light on the unique nature of reading development in a second language.