IADIS International Conference e-Society 2006

GENDER AND LEARNING STYLE IN THE USE OF HYPERTEXT FOR READING IN AN EFL PROGRAM
Patricia Haseltine
Providence 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 the relationships 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 learningdirected than goal-oriented, still prefer to read printed materials in a linear format than men students, who are more goaldirected 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 of hypertext EFL reading materials. We compared students in a technological institute with students in an English 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 reading English 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 the studies 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-linear reading 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 such decentering of the subject occurs, but is the most disruptive and therefore has the most potential for empowering the reader with choices. Travis (1966) moreover explains that hypertext incorporates virtualreality technology to make the reader become a role-player in real-time dramatic performance with other readers. 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 have higher capacity to use metacognitive skills to construct a mental model. Metacognition is especially important 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 various individuals. Crosby and Iding (1997) show learning styles to be related to performance of multimedia tutors.

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ISBN: 972-8924-16-X 2006 IADIS

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 browsing strategies, 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 adult learners 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 are activity-oriented. They experience pleasure in the participation. The third type refers to the learning-oriented participants 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 hypertext dictionary 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 new learners. 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 industrial management. In total there were 109 women and 41 men.

3.2 Hypertext Design

We provided two sites and in the overall project were comparing how students prefer respond to readings which 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 for difficult words in English, (2) cultural information linking through a click to a discussion of festivals and other backgrounds, (3) site links available with a click, and (4) audio listening for each story. Both groups could click to answer comprehension questions. There are four stories two of which are narrative genres from traditional stories and two which are expository and relate to festivals. One of the stories was Chinese and one of the cultural expository writings was on a contemporary festival in Taiwan; one of the stories was a more 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 Technology were asked to go to the hypertext site and read the stories with hypertext links while participants in two other classes, one from Providence University and one from Ta-Hwa College of Technology were asked to go to the non-hypertext site and read the stories and do the comprehension questions. All students were given the same questionnaire.

3.4 Questionnaire
We administered a questionnaire that included four parts: some questions asking about goal-directed motivation; some asking about learning directed motivation, some asking about activity-directed motivation, and some dealing with hypertext usage.

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IADIS International Conference e-Society 2006

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 than using the hypertext, there was some difference in the responses of men and women students. Women students agreed that printing a text would be easier reading than hypertext with 41.3 % agreeing while men students did 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% of women 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 men students wanted to use the aid than women students. However, this may be partly because the women students 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 with 2-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 than use 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 predominantly composed 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 activitydirected in their study of English. We surmise that the computer is not viewed as a site of activity for learning English. Women students are more learning-oriented than goal-directed while male students are more goaldirected than learning-oriented. Students in Taiwan spend time online, but since most materials are available in 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 hypertext dictionaries for looking up vocabulary. In another related task, we found that students who are learningdirected 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 in technical subjects while the majority of women students were majoring in English. Fan and Li found higher overall 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 the learning of language. Our results show that for this higher proficiency group of predominantly women students in the English Department, there was a high interest in using the computer for learning English, but that 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.

REFERENCES
Balcytiene, A. (1999) Exploring individual process of knowledge construction with hypertext. Instructional Science. 27, 303-328. Diaz-Maggioli, G. (2003) Options for teacher professional development. English Teaching Forum, 2010. Dwight, J., & Garrison, J. (2003) A manifesto for instructional technology: Hyperpedagogy. Teachers College Record, 105: 5, 699-729. Fan, Tai-Sheng, and Yi-Ching Li. (2005) Gender issues and computers: college computer science education in Taiwan. Computers and Education, 44: 285-300. Gaggi, Silvio. (1997) From text to hypertext: Decentering the subject in fiction, film, the visual arts, and electronic media. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Gardner, Howard. (1999) Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books. Graff, M. (2005) Individual differences in hypertext browsing strategies. Behavior and Information Technology, 24:2, 9399. Haseltine, Patricia. (2001) Reading the images of foreign language text: Energiea, multiple intelligence, and hypertext. National Science Council, R.O.C. Unpublished Research Project Report. McGrath, D. (1992) Hypertext, CAI, paper, or program control: Do learners benefit from choices? Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 24: 4, 513-532. Spiro, F. J., Feltovitch, P.J., Jacobson, M.J. &Coulson, R. L. (1991) Cognitive flexibility, constructivism and hypertext: random access instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured domains. Educational Technology, 31: 5, 24-33. Ryan, M.-L. (1994) Immersion vs. interactivity: Virtual reality and literary theory. Postmodern Culture, 5 (1). Thomas, Herbert. (1997) The new literacy? The challenges of hypertextual discourse. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 10:5, 579-489. Travis, M. A. (1996) Cybernetic esthetics, hypertext and the future of literature. Mosaic, 29 (4). Retrieved May 2, 2004, from http://www.questia.com Tripp, Steven, and Warren Roby (1994) The effects of various information resources on learning from a hypertext bilingual lexicon. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 27:1, 104. Yang, Hui-yun. (2004). The effects of technology on learners perceptions of EFL reading. Conference on ELT and ELearning in an Electronic Age: Issues and Alternatives. Tamshui,

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