ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the reader, especially the second language (L2) reader, in an effort to understand how readers’ prior knowledge and individual characteristics influence their interaction with a specific text—and how these interactions can vary across readers. It looks at the reader-based variables in the reading process, discusses challenges specific to L2 readers, and outlines the practical implications of these variables for needs assessment, course design, text selection, and classroom instruction. The chapter examines the different audiences of L2 readers, the various influences that form readers’ background knowledge, the ways in which L2 readers’ knowledge and experiences may be different from those of monolingual native speakers, and learner attitudes toward reading. Of course, any teacher who has worked with international students is well aware of the tremendous variation across international students with regard to those assumptions.
