Hyperlink desirability in adolescent fiction: location and absorption

Abstract

In the digital age, children’s and adolescents’ willingness to engage in absorbed reading for pleasure is on the decline. Digital narratives with a linear storyline enriched with hyperlinks to supporting media materials, could potentially facilitate narrative absorption even better than print, thus stimulating fictional reading among adolescents. This paper examines hyperlink placement desirability in five full-length novels, and investigates the link with narrative absorption. It was found that, independently of genre, the desired hyperlinks were most concentrated in the first quartile of the story, and gradually diminished towards quartile four. Furthermore, closer scrutiny of one case study showed that as reported narrative absorption levels increased, hyperlink desirability decreased. The results suggest that hyperlinks to different types of supporting media materials could be particularly useful to assist reading if situated in the first quartile of digital narrative. As the story plot reaches its climax, hyperlinks may become less required for experienced readers, whereas lower ability readers might still benefit from their support to sustain the reading experience.

Keywords:

• Digital narratives
• hyperlinks
• evolving readers
• location
• narrative absorption
• mobile-assisted reading development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claudio Vanhees

Claudio Vanhees is a researcher and a doctoral candidate at the Antwerp School of Education and the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Antwerp. His research focuses specifically on the role of technology in the reading process of adolescent learners and its impact on narrative absorption and reading enjoyment.

Mathea Simons

Mathea Simons is associate professor for French and Spanish foreign language pedagogy at the Antwerp School of Education and the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Antwerp. Her research interests are in teacher education and foreign language education.

Vanessa Joosen

Vanessa Joosen specializes in English literature and children’s literature studies at the Faculty of Arts (University of Antwerp). Her research interests include the construction of childhood, adulthood and old age in literature, and digital approaches to children’s literature studies.