In the academic setting such as the professional training at a university, reading is considered very important since we are required to read documents such as academic papers or literature associated with our interest or major in order to get some information or some knowledge when we conduct our study or learning in the specific area. In addition, the cutting-edge technologies or knowledge in the scientific fields are announced all over the world, in many cases, in English. Consequently, it is highly significant to investigate and discuss teaching or learning about successful, autonomous ESL/EFL readers at the academic level.
This article discusses some factors (e.g. ESP/EAP, the important role of background knowledge etc.) contributing to being autonomous EST readers at the academic level in the ESL/EFL context like Japan and a perspective on the construction of the pedagogical frameworks.
The article also investigates an overview concerning how L2 learners acquire background knowledge in the academic fields. The result suggested the important role of the Internet.
