L2 reading: An update on relevant L1 research

First language (L1) reading research, from the psycholinguistic view of reading proposed by Goodman (1967) to schema theory and the interactive reading view (Rumelhart 1977), has had a major impact on second language (L2) reading research. There was a substantial lag in time, however, before these LI theories were adapted and proposed for L2 reading. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to introduce the L2 researcher to the relevant and current LI text comprehension issues and theories to help close this gap. Such issues involve 1) levels of representation, especially the situation model, 2) the role of memory in comprehension, 3) content of knowledge structures and inferencing, and 4) the explanation-based theory of text comprehension. L2 reading research and instruction has much to gain by addressing and investigating these issues.