Critical reading requires readers to engage in thinking actively about a text, to ask questions when concentrating on the text, and to better comprehend the content and the meaning of the given text (Collins et al., 2018). Although critical reading has been studied among Chinese university English Language Learners’ (ELL) (Li, 2008; Liu & Guo, 2006), there is a paucity of studies on the relationships between critical reading skills and reading comprehension within the same language and across languages (in the case of the current research, Chinese L1 and English L2). This study aims to investigate whether there are relationships between Chinese university ELLs’ reading comprehension and critical reading skills in Chinese or/and English. The study also aims to determine if there is evidence that critical reading skills in one language may support the development of similar skills, or reading comprehension in general, in another language.

This study comprised measures of English vocabulary size, English reading comprehension, English critical reading skills, English decoding skills, Chinese reading comprehension and Chinese critical reading skills. All measures were based on those found in the relevant literature on reading, then adapted for the current study before being piloted and revised as necessary. An English Learning Experience Questionnaire was also developed to examine the participants’ use of English outside the English classroom setting. Data for the main study was collected online. The six measures and one questionnaire were completed by 143 Chinese undergraduate students from a public university in China.

The findings revealed significant moderate correlations between participants’ critical reading skills and their reading comprehension in both Chinese and English. These correlations were evident among groups of students divided into high and low English reading comprehenders. In addition, there was a significant moderate positive correlation between participants’ Chinese-L1 critical reading and English-L2 reading comprehension but this was identified in the high-level English reading group only. There was also a relationship between critical reading levels in the two languages for this group of students.

Regression analyses showed that the English critical reading of the high-level English reading group is predictive of variability in English reading comprehension. A significant level of prediction is maintained after controlling students’ demographic characteristics, English learning experiences, English decoding and English vocabulary, and Chinese reading comprehension and Chinese critical reading. However, the results of the low-level English reading group suggested that the participants’ English critical reading did not explain additional variability in their English reading comprehension after controlling these same variables. For these low-level reading students, their English vocabulary levels was the main predictor of variability in English reading comprehension.

Furthermore, Chinese critical reading explained extra variability in Chinese reading comprehension after controlling demographic variables in both reading groups. Also, cross-language regression analyses suggested the data may support an additional influence of Chinese critical reading on participants’ English reading comprehension in the high-level English reading group after controlling demographic and English variables. Finally, the data from the English Learning Experience Questionnaire indicated that participants’ use of English outside classroom settings was limited, particularly for the participants in the low-level English reading group.

These findings suggested that the high-level English reading group may rely on both English vocabulary and English critical reading in processing their English reading comprehension. However, the low-level English reading group may rely more on English vocabulary in processing English texts rather than English critical reading. In addition, the findings of the high-level English reading group may support an additional influence of Chinese critical reading on their English reading comprehension after controlling demographic and English variables. These findings have both theoretical and educational implications, which are discussed in this thesis.