A Study of Efficient Bottom-Up Processing by Reading Aloud and Copying:Based on L2 Learners’ Proficiency Levels of Reading and Spelling

Abstract

The present study examines copying as a teaching technique in terms of developing L2 reading and spelling abilities. It aims at finding the appropriate number of practice times of copying which is suitable for each learner type. The learner types were classified into four types based on the abilities of reading (R) and spelling (S): R+S+, R+S−, R−S+, and R−S−. Twelve Japanese university students were asked to read aloud from an L2 text and copy it three times (i.e. three trials). It was found that copying span was significantly correlated with spelling ability in the first and second trials, but it was not significantly correlated with reading ability in any of the three trials. It was suggested that as a practice, for S+ type learners, copying from an L2 text two times is enough while S−type learners should copy the passage three times. R+S－type learners should copy a text with slashes indicating meaningful word units.