Cultural Background & Reading Comprehension

Following the hypothesized enhancive role of input comprehension in the acquisition process, many studies have focused on comprehension of input, including comprehension of written input. In recent years, the focus in the study of second language reading comprehension has shifted from the texts to the interaction between the texts and readers. In accordance with this switch of attention, content and cultural elements of the texts have begun to be viewed as important as, if not more important than, the linguistic units. In this interactive model, reading is viewed as an active skill rather than a passive one and the contribution of the readers' prior knowledge to the understanding of the text is highly emphasized.