L2 Reading on the Web: Strategies for Accessing Information in Hypermedia

Abstract

This empirical study explores how L2 learners access information while reading L2 texts in a Web-based learning environment. Twenty-three second-year German students read and summarized two online texts in the netLearn program, while their use of online multimedia support resources was tracked. Multimedia resources included a program-internal glossary, an online bilingual dictionary, and an audio narration of the text. After reading each text, learners wrote summaries, and the summaries were scored in terms of the number of propositions recalled. The tracker noted the number of words looked up and the amount of time spent on the tasks of reading and writing. In addition, a subset of students did think aloud protocols while reading online. Selected students were interviewed after they used the program about their metacognitive reading strategies. The results from both the quantitative data (e.g., number of words looked up, time spent on tasks, and number of propositions recalled) and the qualitative data (e.g., when and why learners looked words up and whether they found the audio helpful) provide insights into how L2 learners use online textual and audio information to aid comprehension while reading.