Adolescents' navigation of linguistic and nonlinguistic modes when reading a digital narrative

Abstract

Background:The purpose of this study was to examine how skilled adolescent readers draw on their prior knowledge of multimodality and narrative text structure when navigating an intentionally designed digital narrative text. We know that skilled middle-school readers have been taught narrative text structure and that adolescents who use the Internet regularly are aware of multimodality. However, we do not know if these same readers understand the purposes of multimodality in digital narratives, nor do we know how they navigate modes when they are used as both scaffolds and central to meaning making in the same text. Methods: The participants were a purposeful sample of 10 skilled eighth-grade readers who used the Internet regularly to search, locate and read content in and outside of school. Transcripts from think alouds, semistructured interviews and oral retellings were qualitatively analysed to identify patterns in participants' navigation of a digital narrative. Results: Data analysis suggested that skilled readers who use the Internet regularly brought multiple layers of textual schema to the task of reading a digital multimodal narrative. Results also indicated these skilled readers relied on written language to learn story elements and interpreted the purpose of nonlinguistic modes was to set the tone of the story and present details. Additionally, participants reported utilising flexible approaches to navigating the text depending upon which modes were presented. Conclusions: Literacy instruction must disrupt long-held beliefs that privilege words over other modes in texts. It should include explicit teaching of multimodality and the flexibility required for reading in digital spaces.

Guiding their Thinking: A Formative Study of Digital Source Evaluation

“…The average length of initial screencasts was about 3 minutes, and the final screencast averaged about 5 minutes, resulting in almost 9 hours of transcriptions. Using screencasts allowed us a think aloud protocol that offered insight into students’ thinking processes (Charters, 2003; Karchmer‐Klein & Shinas, 2019). Additionally, responses on lateral reading worksheets and observations of student classwork supported our analysis work.…”