The questions investigated in this study concern the adequacy of the current comprehensive English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, the need for a separate but complementary reading program, the relative merits of a classroom-based or an independent reading laboratory method, and the relationship between native language reading proficiency and the ability to read in English. The subjects were 101 Hispanic non-native speakers of English who were entering freshmen at an urban college. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group or to one of two experimental groups, one a classroom-based, the other an independent laboratory method. Statistics revealed that those students participating in a reading program made greater reading comprehension gains than those not participating. However, there was no significant difference in the performance of the two experimental groups. Nor was there any significant interaction between subgroups arranged according to English language proficiency. An analysis of the native language subgroups disclosed that the students with greater native language fluency made significantly more progress in learning to read in English than those of lesser fluency; they also made greater gains with the independent reading laboratory method than with the classroom based method. Neither method was effective with the low native language subgroups. (Author/AMH)