Prior topical knowledge and L2 proficiency as determinants of strategic processing in English for Academic Purposes multi-texts comprehension

There has been a substantial body of research, in L2, documenting the central importance of strategic knowledge in reading comprehension and exploring the variables likely to influence strategy use by readers. All this research has, however, been conducted within the single-text tradition of reading research. With a movement toward the multiple-texts-based construction of meaning in the current academic environments, surprisingly little is known about the factors influencing strategy use in this emerging type of literacy. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the processing strategies English for Academic Purposes (EAP) multiple-texts readers use as a function of varying levels of language proficiency and prior knowledge. The study participants were 48 L1-Persian undergraduates at different levels of English language proficiency and prior knowledge of the topic. Think-aloud reporting was used to obtain information regarding the strategic behavior of the participants while reading as series of technical reading documents. Results of the comparisons of processing strategies across different levels of language proficiency and prior knowledge revealed that both these factors exert significant effects on the frequency and types of processing strategies EAP readers employ while dealing with multiple technical documents.