Foreign language reading anxiety (FLRA) remains a significant challenge for learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL), affecting their reading comprehension and overall language proficiency. Zhou (2017) provided a foundational analysis of FLRA, identifying key contributors such as comprehension difficulties, pronunciation-related stress, and cognitive overload associated with logographic scripts. However, Zhou’s study leaves several critical aspects unexplored, including the dynamic nature of FLRA over time, variations in FLRA between heritage and non-heritage learners, and the potential of technology-assisted interventions in mitigating reading anxiety. We expand on Zhou’s 2017 findings by integrating recent empirical research on metacognitive strategies, AI-driven learning tools, and differentiated instructional approaches. Additionally, this paper highlights future research directions, including the necessity of longitudinal studies to track FLRA progression, the effectiveness of blended learning approaches, and the role of learner variability in shaping reading anxiety experiences. By addressing these gaps, this response offers a more comprehensive framework for understanding and alleviating FLRA, with implications for CFL curriculum design and instructional practice.

A growing number of studies have focused on uncovering linguistic and cognitive skills predictive of reading comprehension. Vocabulary knowledge (VK) and morphological awareness (MA) are two important linguistic variables for reading comprehension. In contrast, working memory (WM) is an essential cognitive variable for reading comprehension. The current study mainly aims to examine the role of VK, MA, and WM in English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension. A total of 396 learners in a foreign language context took a TOEIC reading test, a battery of three MA tests, two VK tests, and two WM tests. We found that (a) the Pearson correlation coefficients obtained for the variables of VK, MA, WM, and EFL reading comprehension were all positive and significant; and (b) the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that VK was a stronger predictor than MA of EFL reading performance. Relevant implications are discussed based on the results.

This study reports how extensive reading (ER) teachers implemented ER and used reading materials at institutions in formal educational systems in Japan, Mongolia, Thailand, and Vietnam. 259 participants completed an online questionnaire. The results revealed that ER was mainly required and done online in Japan and Mongolia while it was optional but recommended and mainly paper-based in Thailand and Vietnam. The majority of the participants assessed their students’ reading and did post-reading activities. The top three sources of funding came from the participant’s school, the students, and the use of free materials. About 40% of the responses indicated the use of graded reading materials and 60% were the use of non-ER materials such as picture books, native novels, textbooks or academic works, despite the vast majority of their students being intermediate level or lower. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed to highlight proposals for future studies.

Research shows that meaning-focused reading offers opportunities for incidental grammar acquisition. However, the number of such studies remains limited and none have examined the role of both in-text encounters with grammar structures and reading comprehension in this learning. The present study filled these gaps. Employing a between-group, pretest-posttest-delayed-posttest experiment, this study examined to what extent four groups of English-as-a-Foreign-Language adult learners (n = 132) in Vietnam learnt two specific grammar structures through meaning-focused reading in which they encountered these structures four, six, eight, or ten times. A control group (n = 30) was also added to this experiment to gauge test-taking effects. Grammar gain was measured by a self-report grammar-knowledge scale, while content comprehension by a topic-matching task. All treatment groups were found to make sizeable grammar gains, especially after six encounters with the structures. Reading comprehension could also predict the learning gains. These findings offer various useful pedagogical implications.

This study explored the lexical coverage of corpus-based vocabulary lists (general, academic, and content-specific) across several million tokens gathered from digital science resources (DSR) for middle school (6–8 grade) students in the United States. The goal was to estimate the extent to which a combination of well-known word lists, mostly designed for the needs of L2 learners, might help students reach text coverage that could result in reasonable comprehension of science texts. The findings of this study show that: (a) the top 570 word families in the newer Academic Vocabulary List (AVL) provide 75% more lexical coverage in the corpus than the 570 word families in the older Academic Word List (AWL), (b) a series of lists designed for second language learners, such as General Service List (GSL), Academic Word List (AWL), and the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Science List (about 2,900 word families) offer 88.33% coverage, and (c) the GSL and the Middle School Vocabulary List (MSVL) for Science (fewer than 2,500 word families) provide 87.77% coverage.

This edited volume is part of the rapidly expanding Routledge Research in Language Education series, and like other volumes in the series presents recent research related to key issues and theories in language education; in this case the documentation of a project exploring a content and language integrated, assessment driven approach to language teaching based on Koda's (2016) notion of reading to learn.Ten authors have contributed to the work, including experienced scholars in the field of second language reading including Grabe, Koda, Stoller, and Yamashita, as well as some lesser-known researchers in the field.The book describes their project in its entirety and consists of three main sections, starting with three chapters on the theoretical foundations of the approach, followed by seven chapters that detail the implementation of the approach in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in Japan and Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) classrooms in the US and the outcomes.The book is concluded with a final chapter on the potential for the approach to be adopted in other foreign language classrooms.

This paper starts a discussion of the process of extensive reading (ER) program implementation in schools from a functional perspective.It discusses some considerations that may have hindered the spread of ER into the public school systems of many countries.It makes an argument for a top-down approach being required for widespread implementation as well as the need for materials other than graded readers, which while being the gold standard for ER, cannot realistically be purchased by and managed in a large school system.The impact on student choice of what to read is also discussed.The paper ends with suggestions for a way forward.

This study examines the difficulty shown by Spanish-speaking university students in decoding pre-modified noun phrases (NPs) in English. NPs carry a heavy lexical and conceptual load and foreign language (L2) readers may be challenged by first language (L1) crosslinguistic influence triggered by cognate NPs. Therefore, this study also attempts to determine whether the presence of cognates activates L1 syntactic patterns. A cross-sectional design was implemented using a sample of 160 undergraduates. Data was collected from intact groups at four levels of instruction. Results suggest that cognate words may hinder comprehension of longer pre-modified NPs because of L1 language transfer. They also indicate that these NPs are amenable to the instruction delivered through a comprehension-based approach. Learners with limited English proficiency benefit especially from such instruction.

The present study investigated the applicability of word reading, word segmentation, and text reading as diagnostic tools to assess comprehension, detect struggling readers, and inform instruction for low-level Chinese as second language (L2) learners (n = 70). The results showed that the three instruments measured different dimensions of word recognition and predicted text comprehension. Text reading was the most robust indicator of comprehension and the most sensitive screener for weak readers. The diagnostic instruments provided interpretable feedback, located problems at specific areas, and evaluated instructional material difficulty level. The findings offer empirical support for the use of text reading for diagnostic purposes in Chinese low-level L2 reading instruction and suggest the importance of helping students develop word recognition skills.