A non-experimental correlational research was carried out to study the relationships between reading comprehension of EFL, grammatical knowledge of EFL and reading comprehension of Spanish as a first language of 1.059 freshman engineering and basic sciences students at a South American university.

1. Alderson´s question revisited once again: Is reading in a FL a reading problem or a language problem? Bertha Leiva, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela

4. Literature Review Charles Alderson (84) FL reading A language problem in L2 or a reading problem in L1 ? Mark Clarke (80) Short-circuit Hypothesis Jim Cummins (81) Common Underlying Proficiency Model Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis Threshold Hypothesis

5. Reading in a second language is not a monolingual event since readers have access to their L1 as they read in L2 and many use it as a reading strategy. Upton and Lee-Thompson 2001, Cook 2006 L2 Reading comprehension

10. Bilingual contexts, language majors or other L1 students USB context Study: Contribution of L1 VA and EFL grammar to EFL reading in Spanish speaking freshmen Main skill at the University level EFL Reading

11. EFL Grammar exam 1000 freshmen a year USB Context EFL Reading Exemption exam 3 courses 48 hrs each 12 weeks 4 hrs week Entrance Exam: VA All Spanish speaking subjects USB Reading Program

17. Results: Correlations Sig. > .01

18. R R² BETA sig. Cohort 1 EFLG .68 .46 .68 .000 EFLG-VA .70 .50 .66/.18 .000 Cohort 2 EFLG .72 .53 .72 .000 EFLG-VA .75 .56 .67/.18 .000 Cohort 3 EFLG .80 .65 .80 .000 EFLG-VA .83 .68 .75/.19 .000 Cohort 4 EFLG .82 .67 .82 .000 EFLG-VA .83 .69 .77/.15 .000 Results: Regressions

19. Contingency Coefficient C: No significant association between EFL reading comprehension and subjects´ age and geographical origin. Positive significant relationship with gender, school and parents´ educational level in this study. Results: personal variables

24. Once again it has been found that reading English as a foreign language is both a reading problem and a language problem. If part of the academic and job success of our students depends on how well they read in English, then, we should keep on studying ESL/EFL reading processes and the variables that seem to significantly correlate with them. A final word …

25. Thank you very much! Further questions and comments: [email_address] www.bleiva2003 . motime.com

34. Spanish Verbal Ability section

35. Spanish Verbal Ability section

36. Diagnostic grammar exam

37. Contingency Coefficient C