Does the medium matter? Digital vs. paper reading for leisure and foreign language learning

Die Auswirkungen und Folgen der digitalen Techniken auf unseren Alltag, auf die Weise, wie wir lernen und wie wir in Zukunft lesen werden, sind in den letzten beiden Dekaden Gegenstand verschiedener Forschungsanstrengungen. Besonders das Themenfeld Lesen hat eine hohe, nicht zuletzt auch öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit auf sich gezogen. Zahlreiche Studien haben sich zum Ziel gesetzt, die Nachteile oder negativen Auswirkungen digitaler Geräte im Vergleich zu ihrem analogen Pendant empirisch zu belegen. Die vorliegende Dissertation ist Teil dieser Forschungsanstrengung. Sie versammelt eine Reihe von einzelnen Experimenten zum Lesen und Lernen im digitalen Zeitalter und versteht sich als ein Beitrag zur Versachlichung der Debatte über die zukünftige Ausrichtung der Forschung zum digitalen Lesen und Lernen. Die in dieser Arbeit berichteten Experimente untersuchen genauer das Phänomen des literarischen Lesens aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln und konzentrieren sich nicht nur auf die Differenz analog vs. digital. Vielmehr fassen sie das Lesen als ein komplexes Phänomen auf, das in eine komplexe Gesellschaft eingebettet ist. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist in zwei Teile gegliedert. Im ersten Teil werden zwei Studien zum digitalen Lesen von Literatur zu Freizeit- oder Unterhaltungszwecken vorgestellt. Das erste Experiment untersucht, ob die literarischen Wertzuschreibungen der Leser durch den Leseträger (gedruckt vs. digital) beeinflusst werden, um zu herauszufinden, ob das gedruckte Buch in der digitalen Gesellschaft noch über ein soziales Prestige verfügt. Im zweiten Experiment wird der Faktor Alter in Bezug auf digitales vs. analoges Lesen untersucht. Ausgehend von der 2001 von Mark Prensky geprägten Metapher “digital natives/digital immigrants” wurde eine Studie durchgeführt, um deren Tragfähigkeit zu testen. Besonderes Augenmerk wurde auf die Untersuchung der Lesegewohnheiten und -neigung von jungen und älteren Menschen in Bezug auf das literarische Lesen auf Papier vs. Lesen am Bildschirm gelegt. Der zweite Teil dieser Arbeit behandelt Fragen der Bildung und untersucht detaillierter das literarische Lesen in einer Fremdsprache, hier dem Englischen, und die Nutzung von gedruckten und digitalen Wörterbüchern, um neue Wörter durch das Lesen von Literatur zu lernen. Besonderes Augenmerk wird auf die Nutzungsgewohnheiten im Umgang mit Wörterbüchern und auf den Wortschatzerwerb beim Lesen langer literarischer Texte in einer Fremdsprache (Englisch) gelegt. Die in dieser Arbeit berichteten Experimente, sowohl über das Lesen zum Vergnügen als auch über das Lesen im didaktischen Kontext, belegen, dass die Vertrautheit mit dem Medium, die Lesegewohnheiten und Lesepraxen für die gelingende Lesen und Lernen ausschlaggebender sind als die in der Öffentlichkeit so intensiv diskutierten Formate Druck und Digital. Die Ergebnisse dieser hier versammelten Studien sind daher ein Beitrag zur Versachlichung einer allzu aufgeregt geführten Debatte und eine Handreichung für die Lese- und Lernförderung.In the last two decades more and more researches were dedicated to the impact of new technology on our everyday life, our learning processes, our reading activities. Digitization become an umbrella term to cover this change. Numerous studies on reading stuck on the purpose to prove empirically the disadvantages or the negative effects of digital devices compared to its analogue counterpart. This dissertation is a compilation of publications that seek to contribute to a more fact-based debate on future direction in research on digital reading and learning. The experiments reported in this work study the phenomenon of literary reading from different angles not focusing only on analogue-digital divide, but looking at reading as a complex phenomenon embedded in a more complex society. The goal of the experiments, reported here, is to give evidence-based advice how to read and learn in todays’ society. The present work is divided in two sections. In the first part, two studies on literary (e-) reading for recreational purposes are presented. The first experiment investigates whether the readers’ attributions of literary value might be affected by the reading support (paper vs. digital), in order to explore whether the paper book still carry a social prestige in the digital society. In the second experiment the factor “age” in relation to digital vs paper reading is investigated. Starting from the metaphor “digital natives/digital immigrants” created in 2001 by Mark Prensky, a study was conducted in order to test its reliability. Particular attention was paid to the investigation of the reading habits and inclination of young and elderly people in relation to literary reading on paper vs. on screen. The second part of this thesis moves to the educational context and explore the literary reading in a foreign language, here English, and the dictionary use (paper vs digital) in order to learn new words. A particular attention is given to students’ dictionary-using habits and to vocabulary acquisition while reading long literary text in a foreign language (English). The experiments reported in this work, both in the reading for pleasure and in didactic context, give evidence that familiarity with medium and reading habits, were more determinant for the outcomes than the support (paper vs digital) in itself. The results of the following experiments contribute to a more evidence-based debate, so tightly fought in recent years, and are a handout how to support reading and learning in the digital society.2021-06-2

Programa de inteligencia emocional para la comprensión lectora en estudiantes del nivel primario de una institución educativa, La Libertad

La investigación tuvo como objetivo proponer un programa educativo basado en inteligencia emocional para desarrollar la comprensión lectora en estudiantes de tercero de primaria de una institución educativa de La Libertad, partiendo de una metodología de tipo básica, con enfoque cuantitativo y un diseño no experimental con corte transversal. Entre los principales resultados se tienen que los niveles de comprensión lectora son, en inicio, el 35%, en proceso, el 60%; y en logrado, el 5%; en cuanto a los niveles de comprensión literal, en inicio, el 35%, en proceso, el 55%, y en logrado, el 10%; en relación al nivel inferencial, en inicio, el 55%, en proceso, el 40%, y en logrado, el 5%; y en referencia al nivel crítico, en inicio, el 80%, y en proceso, el 20%. La conclusión fue que los estudiantes logran identificar elementos literales con dificultad, son capaces de realizar deducciones con limitaciones, y no pueden ejecutar análisis críticos o asumir una postura personal sobre los sucesos narrados, siendo necesario proponer una estrategia basada en inteligencia emocional, porque esta permite el análisis, la reflexión y la critica de un texto partiendo la conexión que se tiene con los personajes o los hechos que se narran

English Language Arts Teachers’ Motivations and Experiences Related to Incorporating Digital Texts in Grades 6-12

Selecting text mediums that best support their curriculum needs is a critical task for English Language Arts (ELA) teachers, who also need to choose materials aligned with state standards and district requirements. Because 21st-century learning standards require students to have more technology skills, teachers are increasingly offering digital texts in classrooms. The problem under investigation in this study was the gap in understanding of the curricular choices U.S. teachers make when incorporating digital texts in ELA classrooms for Grades 6-12 to increase literacy. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine ELA teachers’ motivation and experiences related to the incorporation of digital texts into the Grades 6-12 curriculum. Rogers’s diffusion of innovation theory was the conceptual framework used for this study. A basic interpretive qualitative research design was selected for this study. Eight current ELA teachers in Grades 6-12 were recruited from two large suburban school districts to participate in an individual semistructured interview. Interview data were analyzed using thematic coding. Seven themes emerged: motivations, experiences with technology, professional development, implementation of digital texts, barriers, teacher preference, and student preference. My findings from this study can promote positive social change by increasing understanding of the curricular choices teachers make, and the barriers that they face, in incorporating digital texts in their classrooms to aid students in developing competencies that support critical literacy skills. With this understanding, administrators may be encouraged to offer ongoing professional development for educators that supports technology integration and student learning

English Language Arts Teachers’ Motivations and Experiences Related to Incorporating Digital Texts in Grades 6-12

Selecting text mediums that best support their curriculum needs is a critical task for English Language Arts (ELA) teachers, who also need to choose materials aligned with state standards and district requirements. Because 21st-century learning standards require students to have more technology skills, teachers are increasingly offering digital texts in classrooms. The problem under investigation in this study was the gap in understanding of the curricular choices U.S. teachers make when incorporating digital texts in ELA classrooms for Grades 6-12 to increase literacy. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine ELA teachers’ motivation and experiences related to the incorporation of digital texts into the Grades 6-12 curriculum. Rogers’s diffusion of innovation theory was the conceptual framework used for this study. A basic interpretive qualitative research design was selected for this study. Eight current ELA teachers in Grades 6-12 were recruited from two large suburban school districts to participate in an individual semistructured interview. Interview data were analyzed using thematic coding. Seven themes emerged: motivations, experiences with technology, professional development, implementation of digital texts, barriers, teacher preference, and student preference. My findings from this study can promote positive social change by increasing understanding of the curricular choices teachers make, and the barriers that they face, in incorporating digital texts in their classrooms to aid students in developing competencies that support critical literacy skills. With this understanding, administrators may be encouraged to offer ongoing professional development for educators that supports technology integration and student learning

Administrators’ Perceptions of Challenges in Supporting Elementary Teachers’ Efforts to Teach Literacy

Elementary students at a Title 1 school district in a south-central state in the United States have scored significantly low on the state assessment, leading to the state’s warning of a district takeover due to little progress in reading scores. This basic qualitative study aimed to explore elementary administrators’ perceptions of supporting teachers’ instructional strategies to improve students’ literacy skills. This study’s conceptual framework used Hallinger’s model of instructional leadership, which conceptualized instructional leadership as a two-dimensional construct comprised of leadership functions and processes. The chosen methodology used data collection through Zoom for virtual semi-structured interviews with seven district and building-level administrators guided by two research questions. The guided questions focused on how elementary administrators describe practices, processes, and procedures used to improve teachers’ instructional literacy skills and their perceptions of the challenges to support teachers’ implementation of literacy instructional strategies. The data analysis process included open coding and a three-pronged analysis process to analyze interview transcripts. Key findings revealed that various processes, practices, and procedures come with challenges, including time constraints, teacher self-reflection, and differentiating teacher supports. Recommendations derived from the study included conducting additional research on how teachers respond to the different forms of support, viewpoints of different stakeholders, and a larger participant group. The findings of this study can help guide social change by informing the development of school-level or district-level policies and standards regarding support provisions for teachers as they implement literacy instruction strategies

Children learning to read in a digital world

Children’s earliest experiences of written language increasingly involve digital text — on phones, tablets and computers. This shift has triggered worry about the potential harm to children’s ability to read in a deep, focused manner on the one hand, and optimism for the potential of technology to support reading among different groups on the other.In this article, we explore research evidence concerning the impact of digital text on children’s developing literacy skills. Our review advocates the need for a more nuanced understanding regarding the challenges and potential of digital environments and highlights the uniqueness of each child’s digital reading experience