The effect of attitude toward reading and exposure to reading on language competence in the first and second language: Test of the input hypothesis and the interdependence hypothesis using a causal modeling approach

The study was conducted to test two hypotheses: the Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1985) that emphasizes "comprehensible input" as a major contributor to language acquisition and the Interdependence Hypothesis (Cummins, 1981) that postulates that reading in one's mother tongue not only leads to literacy skills is that language, but also to a deeper conceptual and linguistic proficiency in another language. Also, the effect of attitude toward reading on exposure to reading and on language competence in the first and second language context was also looked into.; Using seven questionnaires, the study examined the relationships between attitude toward reading, exposure to reading in the first and second language, and language competence in the first and second language. The role of exposure to reading in the first language in the relationship between attitude toward reading and language ability in the first and second language is also examined. SPSS 7.5 (1997) and Bentler's EQS version 5.5a (1997) statistical programs were used to analyze the data.; In the study 420 college undergraduates at a university in southern Korea participated in the surveys. The criterion measures were the Korean vocabulary test and the English vocabulary test. Most of the hypotheses of the study were confirmed. As expected, attitude toward reading had an indirect effect on Korean language ability through exposure to reading in Korean. Attitude toward reading, however, did not directly affect reading in English but had an indirect effect through reading in Korean. Also, students with better English language ability were those who read more in English and in Korean with a more favorable attitude toward reading. The study was unable to confirm the direct effect from reading in Korean to English language competence. However, an indirect effect via reading in English showed to be significant. The results are discussed in terms of the literature. Implications for research and practice are also presented.