An investigation of scaffolded reading on EFL hypertext comprehension

Abstract

With the rapid growth of computer technology, some printed texts are designed as hypertexts to help EFL (English as a foreign language) learners search for and process multiple resources in a timely manner for autonomous learning. The purpose of this study was to design a hypertext system and examine if a 14-week teacher-guided print-based and hypertext reading intervention might benefit non-traditional EFL students' reading comprehension. Non-traditional EFL students are older students with greater work experience. The primary investigation finding revealed no significant difference in comprehension between the teacher-guided print-based and hypertext intervention conditions, though a significant mean improvement was found after hypertext learning. EFL learners' attitudes also supported that both teacher-guided print-based and hypertext interventions merit reading comprehension performance. In addition, there appears to be a significantly strong and positive relationship between the perceived usefulness of hypertext reading and attempt of future hypertext use, suggesting that the majority of non-traditional EFL learners made a positive willingness and prediction to use the hypertext system in their future reading, but that the degree of usefulness of hypertext reading was not reliably predicted by their hypertext comprehension scores. Based on the investigation results, limitations and future research are discussed and presented. IntroductionRecent research on the subject of reading has shown that reading exists as a complex cognitive activity indispensable for adequate functioning and for obtaining information in contemporary society (Alfassi, 2004;Zhang, 1993). To enter any literate society, students must know how to learn from reading in order to succeed. However, students in Taiwan often select ineffective and inefficient strategies with little strategic intent (Ko, 2002). Many Taiwanese English as a foreign language (EFL) students assume that the intended author's meaning lies within the printed words, leaving the reading process no more than obtaining meaning from the words on the page. EFL students in Taiwan approach reading passively, relying heavily on the use of a bilingual dictionary, thereby spending countless hours labouring over direct sentence-by-sentence translations. Despite all the efforts made, students' reading comprehension remains poor (Shang, 2010).For too many EFL students, reading failure is a persistent problem; not all readers have the essential knowledge to master reading strategies and experiences to relate to the text (Chen, Teng, Lee, & Kinshuk, 2011). Effective and appropriate scaffolding is, therefore, necessary to meet the needs of students to cope with the reading difficulties mentioned above (Ritchey, Silverman, Montanaro, & Schatschneider, 2012). Scaffolding is a conception of providing students with necessary learning support to resolve what they cannot accomplish alone to achieve the ultimate goal of reading (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976), and it has been a flexible and effe...

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“…As indicated by Shang (2015), a well-designed u-learning application with an easy-to-use interface would guide students to engage in practice and hence enhance their foreign language outcomes. Most importantly, this finding implies that language teachers and system designers should pay attention to the ease of use of learning technology for HA learners to improve their receptive skills.…”

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“…The study also showed that digital texts played an important role in fostering students' comprehension skills and metacognitive awareness. In this respect, Shang (2015) examined the effect of hypertexts on scaffolding EFL reading comprehension, and found a significant difference in the comprehension scores of those students who used hypertext-based reading. Kissau and Algozzine (2015) indicated that the mode of instructional delivery had an impact on self-efficacy.…”