The Relationship of Reading Attitudes Between L1 And L2: An Investigation of Adult EFL Learners in Japan

要旨

This study investigated the transfer of reading attitudes from L1 to L2, drawing on the linguistic threshold hypothesis. Participants were Japanese university‐level EFL students. Their L1 and L2 reading attitudes were estimated using a Likert scale, and their L2 proficiency was measured using a test. The study found that the students' L1 and L2 reading attitudes were different. Multiple regression analyses identified significant contributions of L1 reading attitudes in explaining L2 attitudes. The contribution of L2 proficiency was also significant in many cases but very small. Moreover, no evidence was found that the contribution of L1 reading attitude increases at higher levels of L2 proficiency. The study thus demonstrated that reading attitudes transfer from L1 to L2, but as distinct from transfer of reading abilities and strategies, the influence of L2 proficiency is much weaker and the notion of a linguistic threshold does not apply to the transfer of reading attitudes from L1 to L2.

主題