Inhibition or compensation? A multi-dimensional comparison of reading processes in Dutch and English

This article examines 2 hypotheses about processing of global text content in second language reading: the inhibition hypothesis and the compensation hypothesis. A 3-dimensional classification scheme is used to compare 22 Dutch high school students’ reading strategies in Dutch and English. Results show that the readers use higher proportions of Language-Oriented strategies, Regulatory strategies, and Above-Clause strategies in English than in Dutch. Interaction effects with readers’ level of Dutch reading proficiency and language background are also found. On the whole, the readers focus more on language in the text in English, with little evidence that this inhibits them in focusing on global text content. The readers do not compensate for language problems by focusing more on global text content in English.