Phonological and orthographic vocabulary knowledge and processing speed of L2 written text: the case of native Arabic EFL learners

Reading in a foreign language is one of the key defining aspects of successful L2 acquisition. However, research has repeatedly suggested that Arabic-speaking learners of EFL expend a great deal of their reading time in phonologically decoding words letter-by-letter before they are able to access their meanings. To further our understanding of this unique reading difficulty, this study investigated the relationship between the phonological and orthographic lexicons and L2 reading speed among 82 native Arabic learners of EFL. Two measures tapping aural and written modalities of vocabulary knowledge, and a measure of reading speed were administered to the participants. The results showed that phonological vocabulary knowledge correlated more strongly with L2 reading speed (r = .61) than did orthographic vocabulary knowledge (r = .32). Regression modeling also showed that only phonological vocabulary knowledge was able to explain unique variance in learners’ L2 reading speed (R2 = .37). The findings indicate that Arabic-speaking EFL learners do in fact depend greatly on their L2 phonological lexicon when processing English written text. The discussion addresses the importance of developing an orthographic lexicon of suitable size in L2 learners in order to read efficiently in English.