Third graders’ digital and paper text comprehension

Background

Research suggests differences in digital and paper text comprehension, but studies on primary school children are limited, and the role of textual genre remains unclear. This study examines the effects of reading medium and its interaction with text genre on text comprehension and explores whether these effects vary with comprehension skills, medium preference for academic vs leisure purposes, and computer use, controlling for working memory and attention skills.

Method

A within participants design was implemented with 157 third graders (mean age = 8.40, SD = 0.30, 48.41 % female) reading four different texts: two linear texts (one narrative and one expository) on paper and two other linear texts (one narrative and one expository) on screen. Participants read four texts (two narrative and two expository), with counterbalanced variations in medium (paper-digital; digital-paper) and textual genre (narrative-expository; expository-narrative).

Results

Students demonstrated better comprehension of narrative texts compared to expository ones. However, no significant effects on comprehension outcomes were observed for the reading medium or its interaction with text genre, regardless of students’ reading comprehension abilities or their preferred use of computers.

Conclusion

The absence of the reading medium effect aligns with some previous research in primary education, although it contrasts with meta-analytic findings on the effect of reading medium. We highlight the importance of promoting the strategic use of digital devices for reading in later school years to prevent potential misuse, especially as unproductive digital activities become increasingly diverse.