Online Reading Comprehension Strategies Among Fifth- and Sixth-Grade General and Special Education Students

Abstract

The present study targeted the online reading strategies of upper-elementary and middle school students with and without learning disabilities in the U.S. and in Taiwan. Several aspects of the comprehension process were studied, including: (1) Internet navigation strategies and behaviours, (2) sensitivity to the organisational structure of hypertexts, (3) online search strategies, and (4) online reading strategies. Data collection involved surveys, structured metacognitive interviews, observations, reading comprehension activities, and online search tasks, completed by 119 American and Taiwanese students in the fifth and sixth grades. The results suggested that students (1) had opportunities to use computers and use the Internet, but they were not taught sufficient online reading and search strategies, (2) were easily disorientated by the non-linear nature and unfamiliar structure of online texts, especially when websites or web pages lacked appropriate tabs or organisational cues for informational passages, (3) did not employ recommended online search strategies, and (4) had weak before-reading strategies as well as difficulty distinguishing before- and during-reading strategies, although their after-reading strategies were often advanced.