Awareness development for online reading

Abstract

In a world in which online reading is becoming increasingly common and, as a consequence, online literacy more and more necessary, this paper focuses on possibility of training L2 (second language) readers to bridge the gap between paper reading and online reading. Many researchers believe metacognitive awareness to be the most important ability in the reading process. This paper will try to show that metacognitive awareness raising is an essential component of any strategy instruction that aims at improving students' reading skills in an EFL (English as a foreign language) context. The first part of the paper deals with concepts such as reading strategies, metacognition, and strategy instruction. The second part presents a study on the influence of metacognitive strategy instruction in online reading, which was carried out at a university in the north of Spain. Subjects were 143 students divided into experimental (n = 95) and control (n = 48) groups. Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained by using different instruments, including some metacognitive tools, such as an online reading strategy survey, a metacognitive activity, or a strategy diary. Results revealed that this metacognitive strategy training had a positive effect on online reading but no effect on the number of strategies used. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.