Does using electronic textbooks facilitate word reading and associated cognitive skills in Chinese primary school students

Abstract

The present study examined whether primary school students using electronic textbooks, compared to those using paper-print textbooks, performed better in Chinese word recognition and associated cognitive skills. Seventy-four primary school students (35 paper-print textbook users and 39 electronic textbook users) were tested on Chinese literacy, orthographic skills, semantic skills, phonological knowledge of words and fluency in reading Chinese. Results showed that the electronic textbook users performed significantly better than the paper-print textbook users on most of the measures, including orthography, phonology, semantics and fluency tasks. These results suggest that the elements and activities in electronic textbooks may help strengthen students’ various skills in Chinese word reading. How these elements may facilitate students’ acquisition of Chinese characters are discussed.