La fluidez lectora en una lengua extranjera es un proceso cognitivo
complejo que implica la coordinación automática de mecanismos de
naturaleza visual y auditiva, en los que intervienen multitud de variables.
Muchos estudios han abordado la relación entre fluidez lectora oral y
comprensión lectora en lengua materna (L1) y en segundas lenguas (L2).
Sin embargo, siendo la lectura fluida silenciosa el modo de lectura
competente en edad adulta, la investigación sobre su naturaleza y la
identificación de los problemas lectores relacionados con la fluidez en
estudiantes universitarios, que aprenden español como L2, continúa siendo
escasa. Esta disertación doctoral tiene por objetivo expandir el
conocimiento sobre la dimensión acústica de la fluidez lectora silenciosa en
L2, para identificar los problemas de los lectores a partir del análisis de
factores como la aptitud musical, la conciencia fonológica y la memoria de
trabajo auditiva.
En los estudios científicos que comprenden esta tesis por compendio
participaron 164 estudiantes universitarios, de los cuales 47 eran
estudiantes españoles aprendiendo inglés y 117 eran estudiantes italianos
aprendiendo español como lengua extranjera. Las habilidades lectoras,
cognitivas y musicales de los aprendientes fueron evaluadas para averiguar
si la aptitud musical del lector adulto puede ser especialmente relevante, a
la hora de comprender el desarrollo de la fluidez lectora silenciosa en una
L2. Los resultados de los estudios experimentales muestran la existencia de
fuertes correlaciones entre las destrezas lectoras, las variables cognitivas y
las musicales. Estos hallazgos implican que las diferencias en fluidez
lectora silenciosa y la detección de los perfiles de estudiantes de español
como L2 con problemas en la lectura pueden considerarse desde la relación
que mantiene la fluidez lectora silenciosa con la dimensión acústica de la
vi
lectura, la memoria de trabajo y otras experiencias auditivas como la
aptitud musical.
Reading fluency is the benchmark of reading proficiency in monolingual educational
settings, however when we explore what happens to adult students learning a second
language, this relationship between reading fluency and reading comprehension seems to
be not so strong. Readers who decode well but are weak in reading comprehension are
often referred to as word callers. Weak comprehension skills has been attributed to
several factors: poor working memory, lack of background knowledge, weak L2
linguistic competence. In any case, when we carry out an analysis of adult reader's
reading competence we usually find a similar result, as if it were a kind of a reading
disability called hyperlexia. This is the most prevalent L2 reader's profile, which consists
of fluent decoding without construction of meaning, or weak listening comprehension
skills. As the most of the reading life passes in silence and, in this vein, silent reading fluency is
considered the primary reading mode of proficient readers, this doctoral dissertation is
aimed to increase knowledge about the acoustic dimension of silent reading fluency,
from the analysis of some linguistic and extralinguistic variables in order to detect
university students’ profiles with reading difficulties in Spanish language learning.
Fluent reading in a foreign language is a complex cognitive process which involves the
automatic coordination of naturally visual and auditory skills, where a great number of
variables are interacting. In spite of the fact that silent reading fluency is the adulthood
competent reading way, many previous studies have been conducted on the oral reading
fluency of adults who learn a second language while the research on silent reading
fluency and its underlying components remains to be scarce or inconclusive. This doctoral dissertation presents the conclusions of previous literature review and the
results of three experimental studies published in different scientific journals. A total of
164 participants participated in these studies: 47 were Spanish students learning English
and 117 were Italian students learning Spanish as a foreign language. In addition to
reading skills as phonological awareness and the ability of recognizing words in context
during silent reading, in theses studies cognitive and musical skills were included in
order to explore if certain auditory abilities of adult readers, as their musical aptitude
and their auditory working memory, could be specially relevant to understand the L2
silent reading fluency development. The results of the experimental studies show strong
correlations between reading skills and cognitive and musical variables. This fact helps
to understand that individual differences in silent reading fluency development in adult
students of Spanish language could be explained for differences in auditory skills , and
therefore the acoustic profile of L2 readers, regarding musical aptitude that they obtain
from their previous auditory experience.
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