Theories of second language reading

Abstract

A number of established theories of language learning offer options for justifying the learning process in relation to reading in a second language. This paper highlights two lenses that contribute to the understanding of second language reading, namely cognitive or psycholinguistic perspectives of reading, and sociocultural perspectives of reading that provide detail concerning the nature of learning second language reading from a wider viewpoint. The cognitive process of reading focuses on bottom-up, top-down and interactive reading models and on schemata theory. The sociocultural process of reading is founded on social constructivist theory.