The
Internet
TESLJournal
The Difficulties That EFL
Learners Have with Reading Text on the Web
Min-chen
Tseng
jane0412(at)mail.cgu.edu.tw
Chang Gung University
(Taoyuan, Taiwan)
The purpose of this
article
was to investigate the difficulties of
reading text on the web for
EFL learners. The major difficulties
students experienced when
reading text on the web were: they
experienced
eyestrain, they
skipped lines, and they could not take notes or
underline any words
or text on computer screens.
Introduction
With the advent of
technology, computers have become an indispensable
part of daily
life. Students access the Internet at home and at school
on a regular
basis. They browse different web pages, check
emails
and chat
with friends. While browsing different web pages they take
part in a
lot of reading activities. The Internet provides new text
formats,
new ways to interact with the information on the web pages.
The new
methods of interacting with information could overwhelm
some
EFL
learners in Taiwan, who are taught to read from traditional
text
printed on paper.
Reading traditional text in the
field of ESL/EFL has been well studied
over the past few decades.
When reading printed text, readers start
from the top left-hand
corner and finish at the bottom right-hand
corner. Readers' eyes move
in a straight line, making the reading
experience a linear activity.
However, the process of reading hypertext
is uniquely different
(Barnes, 1994). When reading web pages, readers
click a hyperlink and
then they are led to a different web page. The
web pages on the
Internet consist of graphics, sounds, pictures, text,
animation, and
clips of films. Readers read information in scattered
bits and pieces
not in a textual whole. Their eyes move in a circular
motion.
According to Ojala (2000), online reading is a non-linear
activity.
Reading hypertext is different from reading printed
text.
Background
Since reading printed text is different
from reading text on the web,
the
purpose of the study was to find
the difficulties that EFL learners
experienced and provide
pedagogical suggestions accordingly.
Students were asked to do
reading comprehension exercises on the
Internet, and then they were
interviewed regarding the reading
difficulties they
encountered.
The Influential Factors of Reading Text on the
Web
Students were asked the influential factors for reading text
on the
web. The
answers were divided into five types.
- Eyestrain and eyes-blurred: thirty students
(36%)
mentioned that their eyes were strained after staring at the
computer
screens for a period of time. They also felt their eyes
blurred and
could not read text clearly.
- Others: Sixteen
students (18%) pointed out
different factors. Three students
mentioned they could not think on
computer screens, five of them said
it was because of habit, four of
them said when they read online,
they wanted to browse other irrelevant
websites, two of them said the
radiation of computers affected reading
on computer screens, and two
of them said the speed of downloading was
a critical point.
- Background color: fourteen students (16%) pointed
out that the
background color was a crucial factor that affected
reading on
computer screens. They did not like a bright background that
made
their eyes feel uncomfortable.
- Lines: thirteen students
(15%) said that it was
easy to skip lines when reading on computer
screens. They sometimes got
lost between lines, and had to look for
the line they intend to read.
- Font size: thirteen students
(15%) stated that the
words on computer screens were too small. It
increased the difficulty
in reading.
The
biggest factor of reading text on the web was eyestrain.
When
students' eyes felt tired, they just skipped the questions.
Since their
eyes felt uncomfortable, it was tiring to go backwards
and forwards
among web pages. The second influential factor was the
background.
Students did not like a bright background.
The third influential factor is lines
and font size. On paper, there
are 38 lines on one page using a
single space format. A participant can
read the questions and find
answers from the passage. When the length
of the text is not long,
some students might still remember where, in
the upper, middle or
bottom of the page or even which line they saw
that particular words
or phrases. But on a web page, there could be
unlimited lines. When
students
tried to find a
certain word or line, they had to go from the top of
the page and
look for the answers. They might just get lost in between
lines as
they mentioned. Therefore, it affected the way the students
read in
this study. Also, students felt that the words on the web pages
were
too small. It was fairly tiring for them to read every word on
the
computer. One particular influential factor listed in "others"
was that
students thought there were too many websites on the
Internet; they
would feel like going to other websites and this
distracted their
attention from the test.
The Advantages and
Disadvantages of Reading Text on the Web
Students were asked the
advantages and disadvantages for reading text on web pages. Their answers
were categorized as follows:
Advantages: (Excerpts from
Students)
- It was convenient for searching for
information.
- There were many animated
pictures.
Disadvantages: (Excerpts from Students)
- My eyes got tired easily sitting in front of a
computer
screen.
- There were too many words.
- We
could not write anything on computer screens.
- It was not
convenient to carry a computer everywhere.
- All the words
and pictures were on the computer.
It was not
real.
- It was more difficult to locate a certain word or line
on
computer screens.
- I did not get used to reading on
computer screens.
- There was radiation.
- I felt
tense reading on computers.
- I could not focus my mind on
computer screens.
- It wasted electric power.
- It
was not convenient to find something on computers
because it
took
time turning on computers and waiting for
downloading.
While reading the text on the computer
screens, students pointed out
many
disadvantages. For instance, they
felt tired physically reading words
in front of a computer. Also,
that it was not convenient to take the
computer everywhere,
and that
they could not focus their attention on the computer
screens.
The Difficulties of Reading Text on the
Web
Students were asked what the difficulties were for them
reading on a
computer screen. There were six types of answers.
- Eyestrains:
Thirty-seven
students (50%) had the biggest
problem with eyestrain. They felt tired
easily reading on computer
screens. Therefore, they were not able to
read for a long period of
time.
- Lines:
Eighteen students
(25%) said that it was easy to
skip lines or got lost on computer
screens. Then it took longer to
relocate certain word or lines.
- Notes:
Eight students
(11%) pointed out they could not
take notes or underline anything on
computer screens.
- Habits:
Five
students
(7%) brought up that it was difficult to overcome old
habits. They got
used to reading in books. They could not pay
attention to computer
screens.
- No
Difficulties: Three
students (4%) did not think
there were any difficulties with reading on
computer screens.
- Portability:
Two
students
(3%) mentioned that they could not read on computer screens
in bed or
take it everywhere they went.
Pedagogical
Implications
The pedagogical implications for
teachers are as
follows.
The Importance of Selecting Web Pages
for EFL
Students
There are
too many different kinds of
web pages on
the
Internet. They serve as
good resources for leading students into a new
topic or doing
critical thinking. However, some of them have
fancy backgrounds
and pictures, but they are not designed for
educational or language
learning purposes. Teachers should screen or
choose appropriate web
sites, which provide clear instructions, and
proper content. Thus,
students do not need to waste time searching for
websites, but
instead focus on reading the content of
the
websites.
The Importance of Adjusting the
Setting of Computer Screens and Web
Pages
From the study, students felt
tired
reading from computer screens. Students can be taught to adjust
the
brightness, width, and color contrast on the monitor, and enlarge
the
font size on the menu bar by themselves in order to find the
most
suitable screens for their eyes.
Testing
on Paper and Computers:
From
the results,
students performed better in doing tests on
printed on paper than on tests done on a computer screen. When giving students tests on
computers, it is important for
teachers to notice that the difference
of text presentation will affect
students' performance. The
familiarity of using computers is also a big
factor when students do
tests on the Internet.
The Importance of Teaching
Students How to Read Text on the Web
Students get used to reading on paper,
but they are
not
familiar with reading text on the web. One reason is because it
is
different
from their usual reading habit and the other is they do
not know how to
read text web pages. Therefore, schools could provide
courses that
train students how to look for information on the
Internet and how to
read through it.
Here are some tips for teachers:
- When
teaching
prediction,
a lot of
pictures and articles could be found on the Internet for
teachers and
students to preview a lesson. Teachers can
recommend
some
websites for students to preview or make predictions with the
new
materials. Thus, it would arouse students' interest and
motivation to
read new articles.
- When skimming
the text,
it was
found that students skipped lines. However, the
nature
of
skimming is to skim over the text. They do not read word by
word. Since
there are many articles on the Internet, they are good
sources to train
students to skim an article and try to get the
general idea of it.
- When scanning
an article,
students used their eyes, fingers,
rulers, or a mouse to help them.
Alternatively, they can be taught to
choose "Edit" on the menu bar, and
click "Find". It will be
faster for students to locate a
certain
word or line, especially in a
very long article.
- Vocabulary
is important
for students. There are many
online dictionaries or concordances.
Alternatively, they can be
taught to make their own vocabulary cards by
using Word, Excel and
FrontPage.
- The background
color of
the web pages is also important for
reading hypertext. When teachers
are making their own materials, some
Java Scripts can help teachers to
change background
color.
It is not advisable to use computers to teach for
one or two hours as
students developed eyestrain in this study. It is
suggested to combine
materials in textbooks and some activities
on computer screens. The
purpose is to let students' eyes take a
rest. Also, the combination of
two mediums will make the class more
interesting. Alternatively, divide
the class into three phases:
work-in, work-on, and work-out periods. In
the work-in period, provide
relevant background information or
vocabulary to lead students into
the topic. In the work-on period, ask
students to read articles on
the computer. In the work-out period, some
exercises can be designed
to test students' comprehension, or ask
students to have further
discussions. All the exercises used in the
three periods can be
prepared either on paper or on the Internet. If
all the exercises are
made on the Internet, eyestrain will be the
biggest problem as the
results of this study show, and it will impede
students'
performance.
Conclusion
The Internet is one of the major
innovations of the twentieth century.
It has had a profound impact on
the teaching of foreign languages. Many
publications, conferences and
meetings are filled with papers and
presentations that promote the
advantages of teaching and learning with
the Internet. However, the
results of this study showed the
difficulties of reading text of the
web for some students.
Teachers and researchers have to realize the
difference and
characteristics in the presentation on computer, and
then develop
programs or websites suitable for
students in
learning English. It is hoped the difference can be
solved and learners
can read text on the web as easily as they read
on paper.
References
- Barnes, S. (1994).
Hypertext literacy. Interpersonal
Computing
and Technology, 2(4),
24-36.
- Ojala, M. (2000). Online reading as a
nonlinear activity.
Econtent, 23 (5), 6.
The
Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIV, No. 2, February 2008
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Tseng-TextOnTheWeb.html