Abstract
The spread of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been changing literacy practices and activities. Consequently, the traditional view of literacy as the ability to read and write needs to be revised to encompass new forms of literacy called e-literacy, or “digital/silicon/electronic literacies” (Murray &amp; McPherson, 2006, p. 132) as well as “hyperreading” (Usó-Juan &amp; Ruiz-Madrid, 2009, p. 59). The members of the 21st century “global”, “fluid” and “networked” (Jewitt, 2008) societies engage in activities that the access to the WWW makes possible. The aim of the paper is to discuss print-based models of reading, identify similarities and differences between online and offline text comprehension, also with respect to the foreign/second language (L2) reading. Online texts entail the necessity to use different sets of skills and strategies which have to be incorporated into a model of electronic text comprehension. Suggestions as to what such a model might include, based on theoretical<br />underpinnings and empirical findings, are presented.
Highlights
In the 21st century, ways of getting information, acquiring knowledge, communicating with others, exchanging views and opinions, doing shopping, getting entertainment, or establishing formal or informal networks have been changing due to a fast progress in information and communication technologies (ICTs)
Reading in any language is ”the process of receiving and interpreting information encoded in language form via the medium of print” (Urquhart & Weir, 1998, p. 22) which entails text decoding and comprehension. It is “the ability to extract visual information from the page and comprehend the meaning of the text” (Rayner & Pollatsek, 1989, p. 23). Both definitions refer to “print” and “page”, the two elements that are absent in online texts that are not printed nor do they physically appear on page but on the computer screen
L1 literacy explains about 20% of a reader’s comprehension, L2 knowledge accounts for about 30% while unexplained variance accounts for the remaining 50% of text comprehension
Summary
In the 21st century, ways of getting information, acquiring knowledge, communicating with others, exchanging views and opinions, doing shopping, getting entertainment, or establishing formal or informal networks have been changing due to a fast progress in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Interactive models, combine both lower and higher level processes which support each other in text comprehension Reading always starts with the recognition of the scripted form that has to be lexically accessed and further processed to result in understanding. The central element – knowledge of L1 and L2 (and of other foreign languages, not included in the model) – is surrounded by another circle that represents individual learner differences, that is attitudes, language aptitude, dyslexia, reading practices and reading preferences This circle is embedded in yet another circle that represents the reader’s social context including the family socio-economic status, literacy leisure activities, school success, print-rich environment and access to the Internet (sic!).
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