Self-regulated reading practices of Malaysian learners on smartphones

Abstract

Past studies on digital reading have theorised how students handled texts on digital devices, but these were limited to teacher-directed tasks in classroom-controlled environments and not explored within the Malaysian context. This interpretive qualitative research aims to explore and understand the self-regulated digital reading practices of Malaysian students on smartphones. The study focuses on identifying the reasons and purposes for reading, practices that emerge from the pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading stages on smartphones, and the effects on students’ language skills. These investigated aspects demonstrate how students comprehend text on smartphones. The research framework was built around three digital reading models that were used to guide the study; the Model of Connected Reading by Turner and Hicks, Model of Constructively Responsive Reading on the Internet (CRRI) by Cho and Afflerbach and the DRIVE model (Deploying Reading in Varied Environments) by Cartwright and Duke. The study employed screen-recording methods, stimulated recalls, and semi-structured interviews to explore the students’ digital reading practices. A total of twelve students from a pre-university institution recorded their smartphone screen activities in their free time and explained their reading practices through the interviews. Data were analysed inductively for emerging themes using the thematic analysis approach and deductively through the reading models. Findings revealed that although the stages of digital reading suggested by those models were observed, the detailed processes differed slightly for Malaysian students. Elements such as the types of text encountered and language abilities influenced their reading experiences. Additional variables such as reading depth and the use of digital assistive tools were also found. Building on the findings, the Model of L2 Digital Reading Practices on Smartphones was developed to explain how readers prepare, receive, experience and act on digital texts encountered on smartphones. Implications suggest that reading practices revealed in the Model be used as guide for readers as they approach, manage and read texts on mobile screens for better comprehension and understanding.