Teaching Second Language Reading (review)

In Teaching Second Language Reading, Thom Hudson sets out to teach teachers in training about 'how people read and learn to read in a second or foreign language' (p. 4). To meet this goal, Hudson effectively draws together a wide array of first language (L1), second language (L2), and foreign language (FL) reading research studies that are likely to be of interest to language teachers, as these research findings have the potential to inform educational practice.

Chapter 1 introduces reading as a complex process with a multitude of variables that affect both the process and the product of reading and vary in importance depending upon the reading context. Hudson presents several reading passages used in previous research, such as the one from Bransford and Johnson (1972) entitled Washing Clothes, that demonstrate the importance of either schematic knowledge or grammatical parsing in reading comprehension. These practical introductions to top-down and bottom-up approaches to reading set up the discussions of L1 reading models, including interactive models and new literacy approaches that are presented in chapter 2.

In chapter 3, Hudson summarizes the many intricate and complex findings surrounding the relationships between first language reading ability, second language proficiency, and second language reading performance. Then in chapters 4 and 5, he effectively disentangles the terms 'reading skills,' 'reading processes,' and 'reading strategies.' Because reading acts involve multiple skills and strategies that are orchestrated in concert with one another, Hudson, like Grabe (2004) and Anderson (1999), implies that the key to teaching reading skills and strategies is through a combined skill- and strategies-instructional approach rather than as discrete skills and strategies taught independently of one another.

The studies on content and formal schemata cited in chapters 6 and 7 place an emphasis on the reader and the knowledge he or she brings to the text. According to the schema-theoretic perspective, reading comprehension is dependent on the reader's background knowledge, including his or her knowledge of genre and rhetoric, discussed in chapter 8. The research reviewed in chapter 9 focuses on vocabulary development and pedagogy. Hudson synthesizes the major findings on many dimensions of these areas of research, including breadth and depth of word knowledge, vocabulary learning, dictionary use, glosses, vocabulary learning strategies, and contextualized and decontextualized vocabulary learning.

In chapter 10, the author outlines the research regarding how the construction of meaning occurs through reading-writing linkages and the similarities between reading and writing. This chapter is particularly important for teachers because it emphasizes the benefits of integrating reading and writing: writing activities can provide a context for reading, which can thereby enhance students' reading experiences.

The final chapter summarizes the main issues presented in each chapter. When using this text with a university class, students may find it beneficial to read the associated summaries in chapter 11 before reading the actual chapters. This approach may assist readers in developing a systematic framework to organize and evaluate the numerous studies covered in the text.

Each chapter is followed by discussion and study questions that are at times designed to connect reading theory with teaching practice. However, because the study questions and the text in general are mainly focused on reading research, the questions do not create extensive opportunities for teachers in training to analyze, implement, and reflect on the relationships between relevant theory and practice related to teaching and learning.

Given the large number of research findings discussed in Teaching Second Language Reading, I cannot be overcritical of Hudson's coverage. However, teaching should begin with some form of assessment so that teachers can determine what their students know and can already do before they can help students develop their strengths and improve upon their weaknesses. Therefore, a brief discussion of reading assessment should be included: teachers need to learn how to make curricular and instructional choices based upon what they learn from assessing their students' reading needs, skills, and strategies.

Although Teaching Second Language Reading is a useful source book that will assist L2 and FL pre-service and...