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Electronic Books: Children'S Reading and Comprehension: Shirley Grimshaw, Naomi Dungworth, Cliff Mcknight and Anne Morris

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Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Oxford, UKBJETBritish Journal of Educational Technology0007-1013British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 20062006384583599ArticlesElectronic booksBritish Journal of
Educational Technology

British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007 583–599


doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2006.00640.x

Electronic books: children’s reading and comprehension

Shirley Grimshaw, Naomi Dungworth, Cliff McKnight


and Anne Morris
Shirley Grimshaw is a portal researcher in Research Innovation Services at University of Nottingham.
Naomi Dungworth is a research associate, Cliff McKnight is a professor of Information Studies and
Anne Morris is a reader in the Department of Information Science at Loughborough University.
Address for correspondence: Shirley Grimshaw, Research Innovation Services, The University of
Nottingham, King’s Meadow Campus, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, NG7 2NR, UK. Email:
shirley.grimshaw@nottingham.ac.uk

Abstract
This study investigates the differences in children’s comprehension and
enjoyment of storybooks according to the medium of presentation. Two
different storybooks were used and 132 children participated. Of these, 51
children read an extract from The Magicians of Caprona, about half reading an
electronic version with an online dictionary, and the rest reading a printed
version with a separate printed dictionary. The remaining 81 children read an
extract from The Little Prince, 26 reading an electronic version, 26 reading the
same but with narration and 29 reading a printed version. No dictionary was
supplied with this storybook. The type of medium did not significantly affect
the children’s enjoyment of either storybook, and while it took them longer to
read the electronic versions, this difference was only significant for The Little
Prince. For both storybooks, comprehension scores were higher for retrieval-
type questions than for inference ones. The use of the online dictionary in the
electronic condition of The Magicians of Caprona was significantly greater than
that for the printed dictionary in that condition. The provision of narration
in the electronic version of The Little Prince led to significantly higher
comprehension scores than when narration was absent.

Introduction
Techniques to aid and improve children’s reading skills and to motivate them towards
further reading are always of interest to educationalists and to those involved in edu-
cational research. Thus, it is unsurprising that the increased availability of children’s
storybooks in electronic format should be an area of research interest.

Both Reinking (1987) and Ambrose (1991) emphasise the need for a systematic
research to specifically examine the impact of electronic books on children’s learning.
© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Published by
Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
584 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

Comparisons between reading with and without a computer allow us to understand


the ways in which computers may enhance or hinder reading and learning.

But what can computers provide that the ordinary printed book cannot to assist the
learning process? Torgesen (1986) suggests that for high-level comprehension pro-
cesses to take place, lower level processes, like rapid word recognition, must first occur.
More recent works by Oakhill, Cain and Bryant (2003) and Stothard and Hulme (1992)
have highlighted the role of working memory, text integration and ‘informationally rich
text representation’ as important contributors to comprehension skills. In terms of
working memory, poor comprehension skills have been shown to relate directly to poor
performance on working memory tasks (those tasks that require a switch between
storage and processing functions) (Oakhill et al, 2003). Features such as word pronun-
ciation, narration, sound effects and animations, which support the text, all help to
remove the effort from decoding individual words and allow the child to focus on
meaning (Lewin, 2000; Matthew, 1997; Miller, Blackstock & Miller, 1994). Many elec-
tronic books have these facilities. At the most basic level, they may come with some
form of digitised speech that provides word pronunciation and definitions to aid com-
prehension. Others have a fully digitised narration accompanied by highlighting of the
relevant text. Page turning is implemented through the use of forward and backward
arrows (Figure 1).

Many of the CD-ROM versions are more sophisticated, with actors reading the parts of
the different characters so that the story ‘comes alive’. Page turning may occur by
clicking on the corner of the page, thus replicating the experience of reading a conven-

Figure 1: Pages from the electronic version of The Magicians of Caprona showing the online
dictionary facility

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 585

Figure 2: Pages from the CD-ROM version of The Little Prince. Narration facility was activated by
double-clicking on the swallow

tional storybook. Sound effects and animated pictures may also be features of CD-ROM
books. The information provided by these dynamic cues, in terms of illustrating and
integrating the meaning of the text, goes beyond that provided by the 2-dimensional
drawings found in the printed versions. The interpretation of the text provided by the
actors may help overcome any weaknesses that the reader has in terms of decoding the
vocabulary, syntactic ability and working memory (Figure 2).

An example of the gains obtained from electronic books can be found in Greenlee-Moore
and Smith’s (1996) US study. They found that for their sample of 31 9–10-year-olds,
when the narrative was long and difficult (as defined by readability using the Fry
Readability graph), comprehension scores were higher in the electronic condition. The
results were explained in terms of the benefits of instant pronunciation and definition
of difficult words in the electronic condition. Although children in the printed condition
could have received the same vocabulary help from their teacher, no child made use of
this facility. The authors suggest that one benefit of the electronic condition is the
privacy of ‘failure’; the request for help is private. Further, when children ask for help
from the class teacher, this involves a certain amount of ‘down time’ from the text.
Children generally prefer to read on, ignorant of some of the word meanings, than to
suffer delay.

The responses in Greenlee-Moore and Smith’s study were videotaped. The recordings
showed that while both groups were eager to read the books and to answer the

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586 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

comprehension questions administered after reading, the CD-ROM group showed greater
enjoyment and enthusiasm for the task. The link between motivation and reading
success has long been recognised by teachers and educationalists (Adam & Wild, 1997;
Gambrell, 2001; Guthrie, Wigfield, Metsala & Cox, 1999). If the added features of
electronic books can increase the children’s enjoyment and engagement with the text
then this, too, may facilitate comprehension as well as their enthusiasm for reading.

A major problem with studies of this type is finding the appropriate ways of measuring
the learning gains. This complex process involves separating variables and devising
valid and reliable tests for concepts that are difficult to define. Many of the studies
previously carried out in this area (Burrell & Trushell, 1997; de Jong & Bus, 2004;
Maynard & McKnight, 2001; Ricci & Beal, 2002; Trushell, Burrell & Maitland, 2001;
Trushell, Maitland & Burrell, 2003; Underwood, 2000; Underwood & Underwood,
1998) have been small-scale and have relied on story retelling or multiple-choice
questions as a way of testing the children’s understanding of the story. The results have
been conflicting and often hard to interpret, with memory being a confounding
variable.

The present study is an attempt to address some of the shortcomings of previous


research. Firstly, it addresses the problem of memory as a confounding variable in the
testing process by allowing the children access to the text during testing. Failure to
retrieve answers correctly from the text should not, therefore, be because of failure to
remember the text. Secondly, in order that deeper processing and integration of the text
can be examined, it includes some questions that involve the child having to make
inferences rather than just demonstrating a straightforward retrieval of information.
Thirdly, the study attempts to tease out any specific factors of the different media that
might influence the children’s comprehension. For this reason, several different condi-
tions are tested. These include silent reading from the computer screen without addi-
tional help, silent reading from the computer screen with a dictionary facility that
includes pronunciation, and silent reading from the computer screen with accompa-
nied narration provided by actors and with animated pictures and some sound effects.
It should be noted that this last condition differs from the interactive conditions tested
in some previous studies (Maynard & McKnight, 2001; Trushell et al, 2001; Under-
wood, 2000) in that the animation and sound effects are not controlled by the child.
Rather, they are integrated parts of the narrated condition that serve to illustrate the
storyline further. Table 1 below describes the features or functions of the electronic
storybooks used in the present research and those of other more interactive books used
in previous studies.

The main aims of the study are:

• to discover whether the medium of presentation (electronic or printed) affects the


children’s comprehension and reading speed;
• to discover whether the medium of presentation affects the direct retrieval of infor-
mation and/or the integration of material as shown by the ability to make inferences;

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 587

• to identify the particular features of the medium that might be responsible for any
advantage in reading comprehension;
• to find out whether the children’s enjoyment of reading is affected by the medium
used.

Table 1: Features and functions of the electronic storybooks used in the present research and in
previous studies

Type of Research
Series/Booktitle electronic book studies

Perfectbound The Magicians of Caprona Downloadable This study


Language English—computerised speech e-book
Story interaction Narration by computerised voice can (Adobe,
modes be activated. 2002)
Text interaction Double-clicking on word activates
pronunciation and brings up
dictionary definition. Dictionary is
of general type and not matched to
reading level of storybook.
Interactions with No graphics
graphics
Navigation Forward and backwards arrows
through
program
Other features Text size, orientation of page, and
page view (one or two pages to
screen)
Tivola The Little Prince CD-ROM This study
Language English narration by Kenneth
Brannagh, child actor, as Little
Prince
Story interaction With or without narration
modes
Text interaction None
Interactions with Pictures and animations illustrate
graphics story but are not interactive.
Navigation When narration is off, clicking corner
through of page navigates reader backwards
program and forwards through book. Clicking
on swallow at start of chapter starts
the animated, narrated version.
Other features Pertinent sound effects and music to
set mood of story. A different part of
the ‘menu’ allows the child to visit
the different planets, listen to the
characters, play a game, keep a diary
and find out about the life of the
author. None of these features is
available when the storybook is
accessed.

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
588 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

Table 1: Continued

Type of Research
Series/Booktitle electronic book studies

Discis CD-ROM Adam and


Language English and Spanish Wild (1997)
Story interaction Can be customised. In default mode Miller,
modes story is read aloud and navigates Blackstock
automatically. There are no and Miller
opportunities for interaction with text (1994)
or graphics. In interactive mode, Greenlee-
reader clicks on corner to progress Moore and
through story, sentences can be read Smith
aloud and interaction with graphics (1996)
and text is possible. Matthew
Text interaction Text highlighted phrase by phrase as (1997)
read aloud. Readers can have
sentence or individual word read
again, words pronounced, read in
syllables or defined.
Interactions with Readers click on ‘hot spots’ within the
graphics illustration, no animation occurs but
a picture label appears and word is
read aloud. Some hot spots produce
sound effects.
Navigation Dependent on story interaction mode—
through as described above
program
Other features Many customisation options—
including a monitoring and recording
option for diagnostic purposes

Type of
Series/Booktitle electronic book Researchers

Living Books CD-ROM Matthew


Language English and Spanish (1997)
Story interaction Two interaction modes. In ‘Read to Me’ Underwood
modes mode story is read aloud. In ‘Let me and
Play’ mode reader can interact with Underwood
text and graphics after each page has (1998)
been read aloud. Underwood
Text interaction Text is highlighted phrase by phrase as (2000)
it is read aloud. In ‘Let me Play’ mode, Trushell,
child can hear page read again or Maitland
single word read aloud. and
Interactions with In ‘Let me Play’ mode, reader can click Burrell
graphics on ‘hot spots’ within the graphics, (2003)
which results in animation, sound
effects, speech and music.

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 589

Table 1: Continued

Type of
Series/Booktitle electronic book Researchers

Navigation Reader chooses mode and language


through from main menu. Navigation through
program pages is by arrows.
Other features Several of the books offer languages
other than English or Spanish.
LudiMedia / Ubi Soft CD-ROM Burrell and
Language Multilingual—English version narrated Trushell
by Ben Kingsley (1997)
Story interaction Story appears in text at top of screen and Trushell,
modes is read aloud. Burrell and
Text interaction Clicking on text activates the read aloud Maitland
feature. (2001)
Interactions with Story has 220 click-on animations.
graphics Some are incidental to story and some
are supplementary.
Navigation Contents page from which reader selects
through prologue and then a scene from a
program choice of 11 different scenes.
Alternatively reader can leaf forwards
and backwards through scenes once
accessed.
Other features Well-drawn graphics integrate 3D
backgrounds with 3D animations.
Music and sound effects. Story offered
in five different languages.

Method
Design
Choice of storybook
There were several constraints on the type of storybook that was suitable for the study.
The story had to appeal to 9–10-year-olds, male and female, be of an appropriate
reading level and be available in all the different formats—CD-ROM, printed and down-
loadable. It also had to be a story that the children had not read before, or seen on video,
DVD or film as this could affect their scores on the comprehension test as well as their
enjoyment of the story.

In practice, it proved impossible to find a single storybook that was available in the three
different formats, so it was decided to use two different books, one available in printed
form and downloadable format, and the other one available in printed form and CD-
ROM. The chosen stories were The Magicians of Caprona (Wynne Jones, 1980) and The
Little Prince (de Saint-Exupery, 1943). Both texts were approved by the literacy adviser
for Leicestershire as being suitable for the age group being tested and appropriate for
both sexes. They were contrasting in terms of style and storyline but both could be

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590 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

considered as quality children’s literature. (This was ensured by checking entries in The
Horn Book Guide Online and The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature (Carpenter &
Pritchard, 1995).

Comprehension tests
The comprehension tests were based on the English Key Stage 2 reading tests for
Standard Attainment Tests (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 2002) and were
approved by the literacy adviser for Leicestershire as appropriate for the age group being
studied. The tests contained mostly multiple-choice questions that required the child to
ring the correct answer. There were also some questions that required the child to
answer with a single word, phrase or a simple sentence. Some questions involved a
direct retrieval of information and others required inference, both simple and complex,
or the interpretation of imagery in language. The children were allowed access to the
extract during testing to ensure that memory per se was not being measured. In fact, to
ease the process of retrieval, the children were directed to the appropriate chapter or
range of pages where the information could be found.

Experimental design and controls


The experimental design of the study used independent measures, with no child
being tested on more than one condition. Two conditions were tested using The
Magicians of Caprona—the printed and the electronic versions of the text. Three con-
ditions were tested using The Little Prince: (1) printed, (2) CD-ROM with narration
and (3) CD-ROM without narration. Separate analyses were carried out for the two
texts.

The children were matched across conditions in terms of reading age, chronological
age and, as far as possible within these constraints, in terms of gender. Controls for age
and reading age were confirmed by conducting t-tests on the two groups for The
Magicians of Caprona and by one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) on the groups for
The Little Prince. No significant differences were found. It was confirmed with class
teachers that neither storybook was present in their school library and that both books
were likely to be new to the children. Any child who, on initial questioning, claimed to
have previously read the storybook assigned to them was asked to read the alternative
text.

Extracts from both storybooks were chosen so that they contained sufficient informa-
tion for the construction of meaningful comprehension tests while not being too long
(2080 words for The Little Prince and 1634 words for The Magicians of Caprona).

If children had difficulty in reading the questions or needed extra help, this was provided
and taken into account at the analysis stage. The exploration of some features of the
electronic versions was not encouraged as this would have affected the necessary con-
trols. Thus, page view, orientation and text size were fixed unless real difficulties because
of a sight defect were experienced (something that occurred just once throughout the
study).

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 591

Participants
Altogether, 132 children took part in the study and there were 72 females and 60
males. Of the total sample, 51 children read the extract from The Magicians of Caprona,
with 25 reading the printed version and 26 reading the electronic version. The remain-
ing 81 children read the extract from The Little Prince, with 29 being given the printed
version, 26 being given the CD-ROM version without narration and the remaining 26
having the CD-ROM version with narration. The age range was from 9 years and 9
months to 11 years and 2 months. The children were from seven different primary
schools in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The sample included chil-
dren from a variety of social and ethnic backgrounds, but all the children spoke English
as their first language. Reading ages ranged from 7 years and 7 months to 15 years and
3 months.

Procedure
Pilot studies
Two small pilot studies were conducted prior to the main study. These showed that
children took longer to read the extract than had been anticipated and became bored
with the task before starting on the comprehension test. Both extracts were shortened
to take account of this. There was also too much reading on the comprehension tests
for those who found reading difficult. The number of questions was therefore reduced
from 20 to 15.

Some children also struggled to provide written answers, commenting that they knew
what the answer was but could not quite ‘put it into words’. The comprehension test
was therefore changed to include more multiple-choice questions (8 out of 15). Four
of these involved retrieval while the other four involved inference. The rest of the test
was a mixture of retrieval- and inference-type questions requiring longer answers,
and two ‘find and copy’ questions that tested the children’s ability to identify textual
evidence. As some children found the find and copy questions difficult because of lack
of experience with questions of this type rather than of failure to comprehend per se,
it was decided to accept reformulated answers provided that the meaning was
retained.

It was also felt that asking the children about their enjoyment of the extract just after
they had completed the comprehension test might mean that their answers were biased
by their experience of the test. It was, therefore, decided to ask them immediately after
reading and before the comprehension test.

The study
The children worked one-on-one with a researcher in a quiet area of their school and
only those whose parents had consented took part in the study.

After checking that the child had no previous experience of the text, a short synopsis
of the story so far was read aloud while the child followed on a printed copy. The children
who were going to read an electronic version of the extract were then familiarised with

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
592 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

the equipment (Toshiba Satellite Pro) and the software. One of the features of the
electronic version of The Magicians of Caprona was an online dictionary. Double-clicking
on a word brought up its definition and activated pronunciation, and this facility was
demonstrated. The children reading from the printed version of this text were provided
with a printed copy of the Oxford Primary Dictionary (Allen, 2002) which was recom-
mended for their age.

The children who were going to receive the narration of The Little Prince on CD-ROM
were instructed to read the text on the screen as they listened. They were shown how
to activate the narration, and the headphones and sound level were checked for their
comfort. No dictionary was available with either the onscreen version or the printed
version of this text.

The children were asked to read the extract quietly to themselves and were discreetly
timed. When they had finished reading, they were asked whether they had enjoyed it a
lot, a little, or not at all. They were also asked whether they thought that they would like
to read the whole book.

It was explained to the children that they could refer back to the extract when doing
the comprehension test, and this was actively encouraged. Children who had received
the narration could use the text but were not allowed to activate the narration.

The time taken to complete the test was recorded for each child. No child was allowed
to struggle too much, and help or termination of the test was offered when this
occurred. The testing was terminated early on only two occasions. All departures from
the standard procedure were noted for later analysis.

For the purpose of blind marking, a coding system was used on the scripts, which
identified the participants but did not disclose the condition to which they had been
assigned.

Results
Computer skills
The children were generally very skilled at using computers and most schools that were
visited allocated regular time to the acquisition of information technology skills. In
schools where this was not the case, a corresponding lack of skills was obvious in the
children and this may have caused some small time delays in completing the tasks.

Time taken to read the extracts (median times are given with the range in brackets)
The Magicians of Caprona
The children took longer to read the extract from the computer than from the printed
book, and there was greater variability in the reading times (12 minutes (28) and 10
minutes (13) respectively). The Mann–Whitney test showed that this difference was not
significant.

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 593

The Little Prince


The narrated condition was not included in this analysis as the time to read the extract
in that condition was fixed (14.5 minutes).

The Mann–Whitney test showed that children took significantly longer to read from the
computer, 18 minutes (28), than from the printed book, 14 minutes (23.5), U = 225,
p = 0.01.

Time taken to complete the comprehension test


The Magicians of Caprona
The Mann–Whitney test showed that the children who had read the printed version of
the text took significantly longer to complete the comprehension test, 20 minutes (34),
than did those who had read the electronic version, 16 minutes (22). The results were
significant at 0.04 level, U = 217.5.

The Little Prince


The Kruskal–Wallis test showed that the children who had read the extract from the
CD-ROM without narration took significantly longer to complete the comprehension
test than did the children in the other two conditions (printed 19.43 [25.7], CD-ROM
with narration 19.56 [16.3], CD-ROM without narration 23.31 [27]). The results were
significant at 0.05 level, χ2 = 6.03.

Scores on the comprehension tests


The maximum score that was possible for children to obtain on either test was 20.

The Magicians of Caprona


The mean scores for the printed and electronic conditions were 13.80 (SD 3.8) and
12.35 (SD 4.3) respectively.

An independent t-test showed that the difference in the scores between the two condi-
tions was not significant, t = 1.285, df = 49, p = 0.205.

The Little Prince


The mean scores for the three conditions (printed, CD-ROM with narration and CD-
ROM without narration) were 10.9 (SD 3.97), 13.08 (3.94) and 10.38 (SD 3.97)
respectively.

The one-way ANOVA showed that the difference was significant, F2,78 = 3.413,
p = 0.038. The Tukey posthoc test showed that the children who had experienced the
extract on CD-ROM with narration scored significantly higher on the comprehension
test than did those who had experienced the extract on CD-ROM without narration,
p = 0.043. No other significant differences in the comprehension scores were found
between the conditions.

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
594 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

Table 2: Scores for different question types for the two conditions of
The Magicians of Caprona

Quest type Condition Mean SD n

Retrieval Printed 7.68 2.19 5


Electronic 6.92 2.71 26
Inference Printed 5.20 2.02 25
Electronic 4.65 2.11 26

SD = standard deviation.

Table 3: Scores for different question types for the three conditions of
The Little Prince

Quest type Condition Mean SD n

Retrieval Printed 4.83 1.77 29


CD-ROM no narration 5.08 1.47 26
CD-ROM with narration 5.85 1.29 26
Inference Printed 3.59 1.52 29
CD-ROM no narration 3.12 2.10 26
CD-ROM with narration 4.27 2.05 26

SD = standard deviation.

Types of questions—retrieval and inference


Across the sample who read The Magicians of Caprona, the scores were higher for the
retrieval questions than for the inference questions (the mean scores were 7.29 [SD 2.4]
and 4.92 [SD 2.1] respectively). A related t-test showed that this difference was signi-
ficant, t = 7.67, p < 0.0005. For those who read The Little Prince, the scores were also
higher for the retrieval questions than for the inference questions (the mean scores were
5.23 [SD 1.5] and 3.65 [SD 1.9] respectively). A related t-test showed that this differ-
ence was significant, t = 7.92, p < 0.0005 (Tables 2 and 3).

When the analyses were carried out on the different conditions, it was found that while
the mean scores were higher for both retrieval and inference questions in the printed
condition for The Magicians of Caprona (see Table 2), this difference was not significant.

For The Little Prince, a significant difference between the conditions was found,
F2,78 = 3.353, p = 0.04. The posthoc tests revealed that a significant difference existed
between the CD-ROM without narration group and the CD-ROM with narration group,
p = 0.055. Near significance was reached for comparisons between the printed group
and those who had CD-ROM with narration, p = 0.089. The scores for both retrieval
and inference questions were higher in the narrated condition (See Table 3).

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 595

Table 4: Enjoyment ratings for the extracts from the two texts

Desire to
finish book
Little/Not
Book Condition at all Lot n No Yes n

The Little Prince Printed 22 7 29 10 19 29


CD-ROM no narration 21 5 26 11 15 26
CD-ROM with narration 15 11 26 6 20 26
The Magicians of Printed 15 10 25 5 17 22
Caprona Electronic 18 8 26 8 15 23

The medium of presentation and the children’s enjoyment of the stories


Enjoyment was measured by how much each child enjoyed reading the extract (a lot, a
little, not at all), and by the child’s desire to read the whole book (yes, no). The responses
were compared with the different conditions (Table 4).

Out of a sample of 51 children who read The Magicians of Caprona, only four children,
two from each condition, said that they did not enjoy the extract at all.

Out of a sample of 81 children who read The Little Prince, only nine children, two from
the CD-ROM without narration condition and seven from the printed condition said
that they did not enjoy the extract at all.

For analysis purposes and to meet the requirements of the chi-square test, these chil-
dren were combined with those who had rated their enjoyment as ‘a little’. Although
differences in ratings were found for the different conditions (See Table 4) for both texts,
the chi-square tests showed that these differences were not statistically significant.

The type of medium did not significantly influence the children’s desire to finish either
book.

The use of the dictionary


The children made good use of the online dictionary, and the analysis showed that there
was a significantly greater usage of the electronic dictionary compared with that of the
printed dictionary provided for all children who read the printed version of The Magi-
cians of Caprona, t = 4.01, df = 25.04, p < 0.0005. The online dictionary was accessed
by 18 of the 26 children in that condition, the total number of times accessed being
152. The printed dictionary was used only once by one child out of the 25 children in
that condition.

Discussion
Time taken to read the extract
The children generally took longer to read the extract from the computer than from the
printed books. In the case of The Magicians of Caprona, this might be at least partially

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
596 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

explained by the children’s use of the online dictionary. However, no dictionary was
available for The Little Prince, and yet children took significantly longer to read the
extract from the computer than from the printed version. Nor would the problem seem
to be one of clarity of text. Apart from one child who had a mild visual impairment and
for whom the text was enlarged, no child complained that the onscreen text was too
small to read. Also, the quantity of text per page was less for the onscreen version than
for the printed version.

One major difference for the children reading onscreen was that they were unable to
follow the text manually, eg, using a bookmark or a finger. The children reading the
printed versions often used the bookmark for this purpose. This practice is not uncom-
mon in young readers, particularly when fluency of reading has not yet been estab-
lished. The inability to track the electronic texts may explain the longer reading times
for this medium. It is important to note, however, that while onscreen tracking was not
available in the present study, some manufacturers of children’s electronic texts have
addressed this requirement by providing highlighting of individual words as the story
is read (for example Johnston, 2004, Start-to-Finish series).

Time taken to complete the comprehension test


The children were encouraged to refer back to the text when completing the test so that
errors because of forgetting could be ruled out. The comprehension test guided the
children to the appropriate pages of the text and there seemed to be little difference in
the ease with which the children located the appropriate passages in the different
media.

The children who had read the printed version of The Magicians of Caprona took longer
to complete the comprehension test than did those who had read the electronic version.
In contrast, the children who had read the electronic version of The Little Prince without
narration took longest to complete the comprehension test. As the problem did not seem
to be one of searching, a possible explanation may be that the two conditions, which
had slower test times, were the least exciting for that particular book and that the
children who had experienced them were less engaged with the task.

Scores on the comprehension tests


The comprehension scores were not significantly different when the children read the
electronic versions of the extracts compared to when they read printed versions of the
same. Thus, it would seem that although children took advantage of the online
dictionary in the electronic version of The Magicians of Caprona, this did not produce a
significant change in the comprehension scores. If, as Torgesen (1986) suggested, a
successful lower level processing of words is essential for a high-level comprehension,
it might be expected that providing the definitions of unknown words would help the
children’s comprehension. This was certainly the finding of Greenlee-Moore and Smith
(1996). It could be that in this present study, the children’s reading ability was suffi-
ciently matched to the text that the provision of a dictionary made no significant differ-
ence to the comprehension scores. The uptake of the dictionary may have been because

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Electronic books 597

of its novelty value rather than of actual need per se. This may still be seen as an
advantage of the electronic medium, for even if the dictionary usage is because of
novelty rather than of need, the habit of accessing it may become established in the
young reader. An alternative explanation for the lack of benefit obtained may be that
the definitions provided were not suitably matched to the reading level of the children.
At present, many of the electronic storybooks for children are accompanied by a dictio-
nary that is not tailored to the needs of the younger reader. That said, the benefits of an
appropriate online dictionary, compared with a printed one, are easy to see. It does not
require the child to search alphabetically, nor to remember the spelling of the word
while searching. Instant access means minimal interruption to the reading flow, and
any embarrassment concerning ignorance of the word meaning is private (Greenlee-
Moore & Smith, 1996).

While dictionary usage did not produce a significant increase in the comprehension
scores, this was achieved by the provision of narration. Narration benefited the chil-
dren’s ability to both retrieve information directly and to make inferences from the text.
The narration that accompanied the CD-ROM version of The Little Prince was by a well-
known actor. It is likely that this provision reduced the load on working memory, and
that the use of correct intonation and emphasis served to integrate the text and to
provide a richer context to the storyline. If, as Oakhill et al (2003) and Stothard and
Hulme (1992) suggest, all of these are important factors in the comprehension process,
then this extra provision could have led to the benefits observed. Furthermore, the
addition of animated pictures and sound effects in the narrated condition will have
added to the textual and contextual clues. Although children were not provided with
the narration when searching for answers, it is probable that they would have found it
easier to identify the relevant parts of the text when the initial input was so much richer
and easier to process than in the other two conditions. The added clues to the interpre-
tation of the text may also have assisted the integration of ideas within the storyline,
making it more likely that children would make the correct inferences.

Very few children found the narration to be a hindrance to them in their reading and
those who did tended to be more able readers who found the narration to be too slow.
Many children commented that the narration had been useful when words were diffi-
cult to read.

The children’s enjoyment of the stories


There were no significant differences in the children’s enjoyment of the extracts when
they read electronic versions compared to when they read printed versions. The enjoy-
ment ratings were higher for the children who had received the narration of The Little
Prince, but the effect was not significant. The children’s desire to finish either book was
not affected by the condition, but many more wished to do this than those who did not.

Conclusion
The children generally took longer to read an electronic version than a printed version
of the extracts. However, there was no significant difference in the children’s compre-

© 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
598 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 4 2007

hension scores when they read the printed version, compared to when they read the
electronic version. The provision of narration was shown to significantly improve com-
prehension, both in terms of the children’s ability to retrieve information and to make
inferences from the text. The enjoyment of the extract was enhanced by narration, and
the use of the online dictionary was significantly greater than that of the printed
dictionary.

The study found that the main benefits to children’s reading of electronic storybooks,
compared with printed ones, were the provision of narration, accompanied by animated
pictures and sound effects that related directly to the storyline. Immediate access to the
definition of words was a feature that the children seemed to enjoy, but if benefit is to
be obtained from this then the definitions must be matched to the reading level of the
child. Electronic books that incorporate these features have the capacity to increase
children’s comprehension and enjoyment of storybooks.

One final point needs to be made, prompted by an online report of recent research using
interactive storybooks (Henry & Jones, 2006, The Sydney Morning Herald). The report
was headed ‘Interactive learning fails reading test’. The electronic book used in the
study was from the Living Books series (see Table 1). As the variety of electronic books
increases, it is critical that a clear distinction is made between the different types in
terms of the degree of interaction and animation that they offer and whether those
features are supplementary or incidental to the story (Trushell et al, 2001). Research
has shown that while some electronic books of the more ‘edutainment’ type may moti-
vate children to read (Adam & Wild, 1997) they can distract them from the story and
interfere with story retention (Trushell et al, 2001; Underwood, 2000). Failure to dif-
ferentiate between different types of electronic books can lead to an overgeneralisation
of results and selective press reporting. This in turn may limit the adoption of a valuable
resource for both teaching and learning.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the AHRB for funding the research reported here.

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