Publication Date

2003

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Elish-Piper, Laurie

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Literacy Education

LCSH

Thai language--Study and teaching (Higher)--Foreign speakers; Thia language--Study and teaching (Higher)--United States

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the interaction between L2 readers and an electronic text equipped with hypermedia vocabulary glosses. Twelve non-Thai students, six low-proficiency and six high-proficiency L2 readers, who were enrolled in intermediate and advanced-level Thai courses at two midwestern universities in the United States participated in the study. The text was an excerpt from a short story that was redesigned in an electronic format, in which 42 vocabulary items were annotated with four types of glosses: English (L1) meaning, Thai (L2) meaning, sound, and image. Concurrent think-aloud protocol, computerized log files, and retrospective interviews were used to collect the data. The results revealed that both low-proficiency and high-proficiency L2 readers looked up the L1 gloss most frequently. Furthermore, low-proficiency L2 readers looked up image and sound glosses more frequently than did high-proficiency L2 readers, whereas high-proficiency L2 readers looked up the L2 gloss more frequently than did low-proficiency L2 readers. Additionally, L2 readers adopted individual patterns of gloss lookups. Low-proficiency L2 readers tended to look up more than one gloss type, while high-proficiency tended to look up only one type. L2 readers attempted various strategies to understand the meaning of unknown words before looking up glosses. Both groups used the L1 gloss as an immediate provision of meaning and a confirmation of word inferences and used L2, sound, and image glosses as clues for word inferences. When reading a hypermedia narrative text, L2 readers utilized local strategies more frequently than global strategies. L2 proficiency levels, however, seem to be an important variable for their use of reading strategies. The higher the proficiency, the more frequently they would use global strategies. Educational implications suggest that provision of hypermedia glosses may be beneficial for L2 students; however, they need some scaffolding for utilizing glosses in a beneficial way. Research suggestions include the investigation of L2 readers' use of the narration option and other gloss types as well as the utilization of hypermedia glosses by beginners and younger readers.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [226]-241).

Extent

vii, 253 pages (chiefly color pages)

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS