The effects of reading perspective on summarization have not been investigated in previous studies even though many researchers have confirmed its influence on reading processes and comprehension. Through two experiments, the present study examined how EFL learners' perspective in reading affects their summary writing processes, including importance rating and application of macrorules. Experiment 1 showed that reading perspective influenced the reader's evaluation of information importance, whereas it had no significant effect on the selection of information to be included in summaries - a result which might have been caused by the lenient restriction on summary length. Hence, in Experiment 2, the effects of reading perspective were re-examined with a shorter summary task. Contrary to Experiment 1, the results revealed the significant influence of reading perspective on the selection of information as well as on the application of two other macrorules: generalization and construction. These findings suggest the importance of providing reading perspective in summary writing as well as the possibility that summary length influences the application of macrorules.
