Comparing reading strategies usage of intermediate-level heritage and non-heritage learners of Chinese

Research has shown that effective use of reading strategies contributes to reading comprehension. Thus far, most studies on reading strategy use have been conducted with second language (L2) readers of alphabetic languages such as English. There has been scant research on reading strategy use of Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners. Among the limited studies examining reading strategies employed by CSL learners, the majority were focused on advanced learner's reading strategies, and less attention has been devoted to intermediate-level learners. Furthermore, although a small number of studies investigating intermediate-level CLS learners' reading strategy use had both non-heritage and heritage participants, no comparison between the two groups was made. Given the vast differences of the learning profiles of heritage and non-heritage CSL students, it is possible that the reading strategies adopted by the two groups and the learning outcomes could be quite different. This study addresses this gap in literature.