“Google and me together can read anything.” Online reading strategies to develop hypertext comprehension in ESL readers

Abstract

If we are to build in our students, literacy skills relevant for the 21 st century, reading classrooms need to take into account the changing nature of texts that our students are required to read in real-world contexts (Alexander & The Disciplined Reading and Learning Research Laboratory, 2012). This paper exhorts ESL teachers to use online texts or hypertexts, in addition to print textbooks, in the reading classroom. The use of hypertexts can increase the literacy participation of students by making reading authentic, and ensuring literacy skills they acquire more meaningful and productive (Coiro, Killi, & Castek, 2017).In the reading classroom where this research was located, it was observed that readers who scored low on reading comprehension tests based on print texts demonstrated higher levels of comprehension while performing on tests based on hypertexts. The study was conducted to identify the reading strategies used by these readers. It was found that ESL readers were able to overcome deficits in their prior knowledge (topic familiarity) and/or language proficiency by using specific reading and navigating strategies. This paper proposes that strategy training in the use of newer reading and navigating strategies might help develop online reading comprehension expertise and build independent reading habits in ESL readers.

The effect of reading strategy use on online reading comprehension

“…Nowadays, students spend a great deal of time reading, searching for information and communicating on the Internet for various purposes (e.g., schoolwork and social interaction; [ 11 ]). In the digital age, online reading literacy encompasses the ability to seek, expand, apply and create new information online [[ 9 , 43 ]]. Furthermore, online reading literacy has become a crucial source of information for teachers and students [ 6 , 19 ].…”

“…Online reading literacy includes five major functions, setting key questions, searching for information to answer these questions, criticising the resultant information, integrating meaningful information and conveying information [ 47 ]. In fact, online literacy can stimulate curiosity by supporting various topics with varied levels of reading difficulty, by scaffolding reading comprehension with background language and knowledge support through hyperlinks, and by offering online multimodality and ease of access to required information with a few clicks [ 9 ].…”

“…In the modern age, digital and online tools have become important resources for language acquisition and educational achievement [ [6] , [7] , [8] ]. Additionally, students spend the majority of their time outside school, navigating the Internet via mobile phones, laptops, computers, and other electronic devices; thus, the classroom, which does not encourage online learning, lacks relevance to the real-world situation [ 9 ]. The current nature of literacy has changed the learning process due to the emergence of new technological tools [ 10 ].…”

“…Understanding which strategies are most beneficial for online reading comprehension can help educators optimize learners’ reading experience and improve their reading skills. In the digital age, online reading has become increasingly prevalent [ 9 ]. Studying online reading comprehension in a specific language, such as Hungarian, can shed light on how individuals navigate and comprehend digital texts [ 28 , 29 ].…”

The Correlation of EFL Graduate Students’ Strategies and Attitude Toward Reading English E-Journal Articles

“…In the aspect of EEJA reading strategy, the existed literature so far focused on how reading strategy impacted students' reading comprehension along with the importance of reading strategy training they needed (Ahmadi, Ismail, & Abdullah, 2013;Kern, 1989;Kung, 2019;Muhid, Amalia, Hilaliyah, Budiana, & Wajdi, 2020;Par, 2020;Shih & Reynolds, 2018;Taylor, Stevens, & Asher, 2006). Until recently, the advent of information technologies helped researchers to see the importance of online reading and shifted the research direction to online reading strategy (Hsieh & Dwyer, 2009;Huang, 2013;Jose, 2021;Li, 2020;Marboot, Roohani, & Mirzaei, 2020;Taki, 2016;Wu, 2019;Zenotz, 2012). Online reading strategy was then developed to enhancing readers' comprehension ability when reading electronic materials (Huang, 2013).…”