Investigates the impact of causal discourse markers (connectives and signaling phrases) on the comprehension of expository texts in a first language (L1) and a second language (L2). Indicates that readers benefit from the presence of causal relational markers both in L1 and in L2. Discusses implications for (theories of) text processing as well as for the further insights in reading comprehension in L1 and L2. (SG)