Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of cooperative learning on second-graders' motivation and learning from text. In Study 1, students (n = 160) in cooperative learning groups were compared with their counterparts (n = 107) in traditional instruction groups. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between the two groups, with more favourable perceptions of teachers' instructional practices and better reading comprehension in the instructional intervention groups than in the traditional instruction groups. In Study 2, 51 second-graders participated in the instructional intervention programme. The results showed that students' positive cooperative behaviour and attitudes were related to their motivation and reading comprehension. When students perceived that their peers were willing to help each other and were committed to the group, they tended to be more motivated and performed better in reading comprehension.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410701880159]

This study looks closely at the relation between background knowledge and L2 proficiency in L2 reading performance in two groups of university learners of English, one from Mainland China and one from Hong Kong. The students (n = 214) shared Chinese culture in general, but differed in terms of their local sub-cultural and social background. They were divided into intermediate and post-intermediate groups on the basis of a test of General Proficiency in English. Two English cloze tests were then constructed to assess reading comprehension, one with cultural content that would have been familiar to the Hong Kong students, and one that was culture free. The results show a strong cultural effect on reading comprehension, but not on post-intermediate readers. The findings have implications for teaching reading to L2 learners.
[Copyright of Language, Culture and Curriculum is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908310308666657]