Investigating Common L2 Schema Effects On ESL Learners’ Responses To Reading Comprehension Task

Abstract

The current study examines the effects of L2 schema on ESL learners’ reading comprehension and academic writing in the Pakistani higher education context. Using a qualitative design, data were collected from 26 BS English Linguistics students at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur through reading comprehension and writing tests.[1] The analysis was carried out using a schema-based rubric, revealing that while learners showed developing content and linguistic schemata, major deficiencies existed in formal, cultural, and inferential schemata. L1 transfer appeared as the most influential factor affecting performance which was followed by grammatical, pragmatic, and logical connector schemata. These schema gaps negatively affected text organization, coherence, inference-making, and academic conventions in writing. The findings confirm a strong interrelationship between schema activation, reading comprehension, and academic writing, highlighting the need for targeted schema-based instructional interventions to improve graduate-level ESL academic literacy.