As usual, I refer to myself as a L2 and L3 learner. When I first read the question: "Does reading in a foreign language differ from L1 reading?" I answered "yes", while the author expected everyone to answer "no". To me, reading in my first language is much faster and easier, just because reading process is similar to speaking, therefore, it is more difficult for a L2 reader.
The activities mentioned by the author are quite relevant and interesting. What I would add to those skills would be some text with images and teach the students how to make inferences and guess the context by looking at and analysing images.
Another convenient skill would be the ability to recognize the keywords, and to ignore the words that don't play a huge role in underestanding the whole message of a text, such as some adverbs.
Another focus that has been ignored in the text, is practicing. I think the most useful component in learning any skill in learning a language is practicing. The more the students read in a new language, the faster they will read in that language.
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