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GENDER AND LEARNING STYLE IN THE USE OF

HYPERTEXT FOR READING IN AN EFL PROGRAM

Patricia HaseltineProvidence University, Taiwan

Susan Hui-yun Yang and Kuen-Sung Tai,

Ta Hwa Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the results of research carried out among students in two college-level schools in Taiwan on therelationships between gender and the use of a hypertext design for reading in the foreign language of English. It further

examines the gender differences in motivation for studying English among these students. It is found that, although using

hypertext for reading is seen as beneficial by most college students, more women students, who are also more learning-directed than goal-oriented, still prefer to read printed materials in a linear format than men students, who are more goal-directed than learning-oriented and like to make access to hypertext choices. That is, there is a significant difference

between men and women students for the appreciation of a hypertext dictionary which provides vocabulary meanings,with men students proving significantly higher than women.

KEYWORDS

hypertext, reading, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Taiwan, gender, learning style

1. INTRODUCTION

In our research, we are attempting to assess how differences in gender and learning styles influence the use ofhypertext EFL reading materials. We compared students in a technological institute with students in anEnglish department. Through a questionnaire and the instructional tasks of using the hypertext design as

opposed to using non-hypertext computer text, we determined the ways students tend to approach readingEnglish materials on the computer.

2. RESEARCH BACKGROUND

In general we are working toward a profile of an implied hypertext reader. From our own experience and thestudies of hypertext, we assume that such a reader is different from a more conventional one. Thomas (1997)holds that hypertext reading requires a new definition of literacy. Some of the principles of non-linearreading are not so new, however. As Dwight and Garrison (2003) warn, the hyperworld we imagine has no

fixed centers (p. 713). As Gaggi (1997) has made clear, the computer is just one site in which suchdecentering of the subject occurs, but is the most disruptive and therefore has the most potential forempowering the reader with choices. Travis (1966) moreover explains that hypertext incorporates virtual-reality technology to make the reader become a role-player in real-time dramatic performance with otherreaders.

Interactivity with the text can take a number of forms, depending upon the materials made accessible in

the design. Balcytiene (1999) found that the hypertext format is especially effective for those who havehigher capacity to use metacognitive skills to construct a mental model. Metacognition is especiallyimportant for adult learners because their prior knowledge is much richer than those of young learners.

Besides proficiency, another factor influencing hypertext adaptability is that of learning styles of variousindividuals. Crosby and Iding (1997) show learning styles to be related to performance of multimedia tutors.

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Haseltine (2001) holds that Gardners Multiple Intelligences influence the reading of hypertexts, especially

differences in spatial and verbal intelligences. The research of M. Graff (2005) also focused on browsingstrategies, distinguishing between the cognitive styles of verbalisers and imagers, finding that there were

significant differences in browsing strategies between these two groups. Verbalisers use relational strategies

while imagers use hierarchical ones.Motivation in language study can be combined with students interest in using the computer (Yang

2004).The motivational model for different learning styles suggested by Diaz-Maggioli (2003) was the model

we chose for this study of gender differences. According to Diaz-Maggioli, there are three kinds of adultlearners participating in professional development. The first type refers to the goal-oriented participants who

know how to use education to accomplish their objectives. The second type refers to the participants who areactivity-oriented. They experience pleasure in the participation. The third type refers to the learning-orientedparticipants who seek knowledge for its own sake(4). As for gender, in Taiwan, according to Fan and Li(2005), although women like using the computer and enter computer programs with high grades, there is also

a high attrition rate for women in computer departments.Foreign language learning requires learning new vocabulary and hypertext provides a quick and easy way

of finding out the meanings of words. Tripp and Roby (1994) have carried out experiments using a hypertextdictionary and memory. It was found that there are positive effects of using various complementary ways of

introducing vocabulary. They also note that experts tend to use the hypertext vocabulary links less than newlearners. Thus the use of vocabulary choices in hypertext reading was a focus of our investigation.

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Subjects

The subjects for our research were 112 students from the English Department in Providence University and

38 students from several departments, including computer science, engineering, chemistry, and industrialmanagement. In total there were 109 women and 41 men.

3.2 Hypertext DesignWe provided two sites and in the overall project were comparing how students prefer respond to readingswhich have hypertext and those which do not. The non-hypertext version required them to do conventional

reading while the other hypertext version provided a number of choices including (1) a pop-up vocabulary fordifficult words in English, (2) cultural information linking through a click to a discussion of festivals andother backgrounds, (3) site links available with a click, and (4) audio listening for each story. Both groupscould click to answer comprehension questions. There are four stories two of which are narrative genres fromtraditional stories and two which are expository and relate to festivals. One of the stories was Chinese andone of the cultural expository writings was on a contemporary festival in Taiwan; one of the stories was amore unfamiliar American legend and information about an American festival.

3.3 Procedures

Participants in two classes, one from Providence University and one from Ta-Hwa College of Technologywere asked to go to the hypertext site and read the stories with hypertext links while participants in two otherclasses, one from Providence University and one from Ta-Hwa College of Technology were asked to go tothe non-hypertext site and read the stories and do the comprehension questions. All students were given thesame questionnaire.

3.4 Questionnaire

We administered a questionnaire that included four parts: some questions asking about goal-directedmotivation; some asking about learning directed motivation, some asking about activity-directed motivation,

and some dealing with hypertext usage.

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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Conventional Reading vs. Hypertext Reading

As to whether studying a text without hypertext and even printing a text for study from print is better thanusing the hypertext, there was some difference in the responses of men and women students. Women studentsagreed that printing a text would be easier reading than hypertext with 41.3 % agreeing while men studentsdid not have as high a level of agreement with only 17.1% agreeing.

4.2 Goal-Directed Motivation VS. Learning-Directed Motivation

Confirming Maggioli-Diaz, many of our language learners are goal-directed. Of the women students, 39.5%are goal-directed while only 38% of the men are goal-directed in their study of English.

As for being learning-directed, more women were highly motivated in this way than men. 48.7% ofwomen are learning-directed in their English study while only 41.4% of men have this motivation.

4.3. Areas of Statistical Significance

4.3.1 Preference for Hypertext Dictionaries

There was a significant difference between the genders for the use of hypertext dictionaries. More menstudents wanted to use the aid than women students. However, this may be partly because the womenstudents were more proficient in the foreign language.

4.3.2 Preference for Conventional Reading

Significance was found for the choice not to use hypertext choice as the results of the t-test show. (0.007 with2-tailed significance). That is, women hold conventional linear reading preferences over mens use of

hypertext. (Test for Equality of Variances shows a significance of 0.010 with equal variances assumed).4.3.3 Preference for guessing at the meaning of words rather than using hypertext

One question concerned whether or not the students liked to guess at the meaning of a word rather thanuse a hypertext dictionary. It was found that there was a significant difference (0.0003) between schools,Providence University classes being predominantly composed of women and Ta-hua being predominantlycomposed of men. More women wanted to guess at the meanings of words more frequently.

5. CONCLUSIONS

We have found, therefore, that our students generally find it useful to use the computer for learning English.They are goal-directed and learning directed, but we were unable to get results for their being activity-directed in their study of English. We surmise that the computer is not viewed as a site of activity for learningEnglish. Women students are more learning-oriented than goal-directed while male students are more goal-

directed than learning-oriented. Students in Taiwan spend time online, but since most materials are availablein Chinese, they read much Chinese text. Hypertext designs are seen as useful for EFL students, especially

for vocabulary usage. Men students, more than women, especially like the convenience of using hypertextdictionaries for looking up vocabulary. In another related task, we found that students who are learning-directed did better on the reading test of comprehension than those who were activity or goal directed.

The gender differences may be influenced by the fact that the majority of men students are majoring intechnical subjects while the majority of women students were majoring in English. Fan and Li found higheroverall academic achievement among women computer students in spite of the attrition rate noticed by a

number of researchers. We did not focus on computer department students and we were interested in thelearning of language. Our results show that for this higher proficiency group of predominantly womenstudents in the English Department, there was a high interest in using the computer for learning English, butthat their liking for vocabulary provisions was significantly less than that for men students. There is the

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possibility that our findings are confirming what Tipp and Roby (1994) and other researchers who found that

higher proficiency learners tend to use hyperlinks less frequently than beginning language learners.

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