Hypertext
as a Tool for Building ESL Students’ Reading Skills:
A
Pilot Study
Kingsborough
Community College/CUNY
Recent research
(Kasper, 2000; Lomicka, 1998; Soe et al., 2000; Warschauer, 1999) suggests that
hypertext can provide an effective tool for developing reading skills. Because
hypertext is a relatively new textual medium, and because it is likely to
become more dominant in the future, research is needed so that both reading
instructors and students may be empowered to use hypertext to its full
advantage. This paper describes the pilot phase of a two-year controlled
research study of the features, design, and effects of hypertext on the
development of the reading skills of high intermediate level1
college ESL students.
Mishra et al. (1996) note that well-designed
hypertext systems can facilitate active interaction between readers and texts
and can promote cognitive flexibility necessary for the integration and
consolidation of knowledge gleaned from a variety of sources. Although nonlinear
hypertext can offer students many benefits, Rouet and Levonen (1996) advise
that without overt instruction in how to navigate hypertext effectively,
students may become lost in a sea of information, potentially experiencing
cognitive overload. Foltz (1996) further cautions that hypertext may present a
problem for students with poor reading skills.
Having to choose where to go next can take students’ attention away from
processing the text, with the possible result that they generate fewer
hypotheses as they read, making it harder for them to integrate the information
presented. Foltz’ work pointed to two key factors in hypertext comprehension:
(1) the coherence of the text and (2) how the reader’s goals affected
strategies used.
My two-year study seeks to investigate and
assess the role of hypertext in developing ESL students’ reading comprehension
skills. The pilot study, conducted during the 2001-2002 academic year, focused
on developing and testing different types of hypertexts with a total of 50 high
intermediate students enrolled in two different sections of an integrated
reading and writing course.
The pilot study tested and compared these
hypertexts. It measured the effects of each on students’ performance on reading
comprehension tasks. An online feedback
questionnaire assessed students’ reactions to the effectiveness and ease of
use of each type of hypertext.
The majority of
students reported that they found gloss hypertexts to be the most useful; of
these gloss hypertexts, the controlled hypertexts with glosses were rated the
easiest to use and the most effective. In contrast free hypertexts, with or
without glosses, were rated the most difficult to use. Students’ performance on
reading comprehension exercises mirrored their preferences. Scores on gloss
hypertexts, particularly controlled gloss hypertexts, were significantly higher
than those on free hypertexts.
Students’ said
that gloss hypertexts enabled them to read with greater comprehension because
these texts provided easy access to the definitions of new vocabulary words.
They said that controlled hypertexts made the text clearer by providing links
to specific relevant information. Students’ preference for controlled hypertext
supports Foltz’ (1996) claims that text coherence plays a powerful role in
students’ comprehension of hypertext.
Overall students
disliked free hypertext because they found it confusing. They complained that
free hypertext led to too much information, making it easy to get lost in
exploring the links and forget about the main topic. They also said sorting
through and evaluating the usefulness of all the different definitions and
opinions on the topic was time-consuming. In addition, free hypertext was
intimidating to students who were less experienced with the computer. These
results support the claims of both Foltz (1996) and Rouet & Levonen (1996),
and are particularly interesting since students here received instruction both
in how to navigate
hypertext and in how to evaluate
information found on the Web.
Overall
the pilot study has provided student feedback and performance data that support
the claims of previous researchers and has also helped to elucidate issues that
need further attention in Phase 2 of the study. Student feedback and
performance data indicate that glosses facilitate comprehension. Therefore
hypertexts used in developmental reading courses should incorporate glosses.
The results of the pilot study also suggest that students need more extensive
training in how to navigate hypertexts. In addition, students’ exploration of
free hypertexts needs to be more carefully evaluated, with data collected on
the number and content of the sites visited. It is possible that with increased
instruction and practice, students will experience less information overload
with free hypertexts, and they may become more proficient at finding and
pursuing links that lead them to more coherent, and more useful, free hypertexts.
Endnotes:
1 High intermediate
here refers to an entry-level TOEFL score of approximately 425.
References:
Foltz, P. W. (1996). Comprehension, coherence,
and strategies in hypertext and
linear text. In J.
F. Rouet, J. J. Levonen, A. Dillon, & R. J. Spiro (Eds.), Hypertext and cognition (pp.
109-136). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kasper, L. F. (2000). New technologies, new
literacies: Focus discipline research
and ESL learning
communities. Language Learning and Technology, 4(2). [Online]. Available: http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num2/kasper/default.html
Lomicka, L. L. (1998). “To gloss or not to
gloss”: An investigation of reading
comprehension
online. Language Learning and Technology, 1(2), 41-50.
Mishra, P., Spiro, R. J., & Feltovich, P.
J. (1996). Technology, representation,
and cognition: The
prefiguring of knowledge in cognitive flexibility hypertexts. In H. van
Oostendorp & S. de Mul (Eds.), Cognitive
aspects of electronic text processing (pp. 287-305). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Rouet, J. F., Levonen, J. J., Dillon, A.,
& Spiro, R. J. (1996). An introduction to
hypertext and
cognition. In J. F. Rouet, J. J.
Levonen, A. Dillon, & R. J. Spiro (Eds.), Hypertext and cognition (pp. 3-8). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Soe, K., Koki, S., & Chang, J. M. (2000). Effect of computer-assisted instruction
(CAI) on reading achievement: A meta-analysis. Honolulu, HI: Pacific Resources for
Education and Learning.
Biographical Information: Loretta F. Kasper, Ph.D. is Professor of English at Kingsborough Community College/CUNY. She regularly teaches sustained content courses with an Internet component. Dr. Kasper has published several books, book chapters and numerous scholarly articles on her work. She serves on the editorial review boards of several journals and is the Kingsborough liaison to the CUNY Online program.