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Bridging theory and practice: developing lower-level skills in L2 reading

Studies on L2 reading have provided extensive evidence for the significant contribution of lower-level processing skills in learning to read and the critical impact on the overall development of L2 reading of more accurate and fluent connections between three sub-lexical components: phonology, orthography and semantics. The broad consensus among researchers in this field is that while beginning readers rely more on phonological processing during reading, skilled readers tend towards orthographic processing. However, currently in L2 reading pedagogy, the repertoire of practical techniques to address developmental changes in the word recognition process is as yet limited. This article thus sets out to bridge theory and practice for teaching L2 reading by presenting a series of stepwise instructional techniques for promoting accuracy and fluency in the connections between the above three sub-lexical components. To do this, it draws on findings from cognitive psychology, in particular in relation to the construct of the phonological loop in the framework of working memory, which has provided important implications for L2 acquisition as a whole. It also takes a cross-linguistic perspective, discussing the potential pedagogical implications of different L1–L2 variations.