The current study investigates the influence of learners’ attitudes toward reading in their native language (L1) on reading in their second language (L2). Since attitude is one of the factors contributing to positive learning outcomes, an understanding of learners’ attitudes to reading can be instrumental in encouraging L2 learners’ engagement in extensive reading. The study aims to identify the relationship between L1 and L2 reading attitudes and how L2 attitudes change over time as the participants are enrolled in an extensive reading course. The study draws on the three-component view of reading attitude represented by cognitive, affective and conative attitudes. Participants are three university-level ESL learners from Angola, Saudi Arabia, and China. The data collected from a questionnaire, interviews, journals and classroom observations are analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that there is a direct relation between L1 and L2 reading attitudes and that family literacy practices have a bigger influence on learners’ attitude to reading than their cultural background.
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