At the interface between hardcopy and screen – reading and understanding the text
Submitted by:
Bernadeta Niesporek-Szamburska
Abstract:
The main object of the study was to determine the impact of the reading modality for understanding content. There was measured reading comprehension: children (aged 8-9 and 10-12 years old) responded to questions related to the text of a modern fairy tale, created the plan events, etc., as well as they defined the emotional states, which accompanied them during reading (the stimulation of their imagination and the depth of the emotional experience was also measured – the quality and intensity of emotions). The reading comprehension was tested by copyright test of reading comprehension (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81), whereas emotions were tested by using Scale of Six Emotions by Wojciszke and Baryła (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86).
Respondents (N = 160, divided into younger (aged 8-9) and older (aged 10-12) students) were randomized into 2 groups. The first group received a piece of text (numbering about 700 words) in paper form. The second group read the same text in electronic form (they were reading it from the screen of an electronic device – the computer).
By analysis of variance we compared the results of the reading comprehension test and emotional arousal in both tested groups.
The results:
The research results indicate that students who read the text in the classic, printed version, scored significantly better results in the test of reading comprehension than students who read the text on the computer screen (Baron 2015). Children that read in the traditional way experienced a deeper emotion. Furthermore, their ideas were richer and more plastic (not just imagined text, but felt smells and tastes there) (Carr 2010). The results (in respect to the genre of literary fiction for children) confirm the results of the world research, showing that the traditional book promotes a deeper reading, concentration and improves the way in which the recipient is experiencing the text (Baron 2015; Hayles 2010).
The implications arising from the results may be relevant for all the teachers that teach children how to read.
Keywords: reading modality, deep reading, digital device for reading, reading comprehension.
References:
Baron N., 2015, Words On screen. The Fate of Reading in a Digital World, Oxford.
Carr N., 2010, What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. The Shallow, New York.
Hayles N.K., 2010, How We Read. Close, Hyper, Machine, „ADE Bulletin” 150 (2010), s. 62-79.