1. Reading comprehension of hypertexts
Digital literacy in deaf and hard-of-hearing children Helen Blom, Msc Prof. dr. Ludo Verhoeven & Dr. Eliane Segers Prof. dr. Harry Knoors & Dr. Daan Hermans

2. Hypertexts?

3. Hypertext reading involves several skills…
Reading skills
(Perfetti, 2007)
Cognitive skills
(Amadieu et al., 2009)
Working memory skills
(Destefano & Lefevre, 2007)
Kloïs et al (2013)

4. Deaf children’s hypertext reading comprehension: unknown!
What do we know?
Regular reading comprehension (Goldin-Meadow & Mayberry, 2001)
Working memory capacity (Hintermair, 2013)
Prior knowledge and vocabulary (Marschark & Wauters, 2008)
 Are deaf children able to monitor their own reading path sufficiently and, as a consequence comprehend hypertexts?

5. Research project 1
Reading comprehension of hypertext versus regular texts in deaf vs. hearing children
Including child factors (vocabulary, decoding, working memory, etc)
Constructions of hypertexts that foster reading comprehension
Hypertext structure
Availability of text overview
Reading strategies that are helpful in optimizing hypertext reading comprehension
Use of tree graphs 2 3

6. Hiërarchical structure versus semantical structure

7. Availability of an overview

8. Research project 1
Reading comprehension of hypertext versus regular texts in deaf vs. hearing children
Including child factors (vocabulary, decoding, working memory, etc)
Constructions of hypertexts that foster reading comprehension
Hypertext structure
Availability of text overview
Reading strategies that are helpful in optimizing hypertext reading comprehension
Use of tree graphs 2 3

9. Participants
126 children (Mean age = 12,15):
27 deaf and hard-of-hearing children (Mean age = 13.77)
2 mainstream, 25 special education
22 age-matched hearing children (Mean age = 13.39)
77 reading level-matched hearing children (Mean age = 11.22)

10. Measures
Reading comprehension of 4 texts (2 hypertexts and 2 linear digital texts)
Multiple choice questions
Drawing a mindmap
Linguistic measures
Word decoding
Vocabulary
Cognitive measures
Nonverbal reasoning skills
Verbal short term memory
Verbal working memory
Spatial short term memory

14. Measures
Reading comprehension of 4 texts (2 hypertexts and 2 linear digital texts)
Multiple choice questions
Drawing a mindmap
Linguistic measures
Word decoding
Vocabulary
Cognitive measures
Nonverbal reasoning skills
Verbal short term memory
Verbal working memory
Spatial short term memory

15. Preliminary results
Comparison D/HH children and reading level matched hearing children:

16. To be continued…. Analyses regarding the age-matched control group
Effect of child factors
Study 2 & 3

17. Questions / suggestions?
Meet me at Booth 10
Wednesday:
me: