TO GLOSS OR NOT TO GLOSS AN INVESTIGATION

“TO GLOSS OR NOT TO GLOSS”: AN INVESTIGATION OF READIN COMPREHENSION ONLINE Lara Lomicka Jan. 1998

TO GLOSS OR NOT TO GLOSS? Gloss: defining an unfamiliar word, usually in a margin, to aid in comprehension Goal is to prevent constant dictionary use in FL classrooms, resulting in more fluent reading and better comprehension Previous study results have been mixed as to whether glossing helps with reading comprehension

NEW GLOSSING? Previous studies looked mostly at the effect of traditional glossing and vocabulary recall With access to multimedia, there have been changes to traditional glossing “Invisible and unobtrusive” Includes pictures, sounds, movies, culture Results in a more global approach to texts

MULTIMEDIA GLOSSING The author mentions four recent studies Each demonstrates that students recall vocabulary better with glossing in a multimedia setting Students also really liked this option But what about reading comprehension?

GLOSSING AND READING COMPREHENSION GALT (Glossing Authentic Language Texts) Takes into account the many facets of reading comprehension 6 all together GALT provided a glossing type to address each of the 6 facets

GALT GLOSSING For instance… Word recognition Word glossing Intratextual Question control button Prior perception knowledge Introduction to text and cultural descriptions

ONLINE COMPREHENSION IN L 1 A “causal inference” is needed. How do events in the text relate to the rest of the text? This is tested with Associations Paraphrases Explanations Predictions

LEVELS OF COMPREHENSION L 1 Surface Just level the words Textbase The level meanings of the parts Situation model Integration of the parts with knowledge

TESTING LEVELS OF COMPREHENSION “Thinking Aloud” Students verbalize their thoughts after each sentence or section of text they read. They say what they understood, why they think what they think, predictions, etc Forces students to remember more than just vocabulary as well! Very hard for L 2 students to reach the situation model. What’s their focus?

THE STUDY 12 French students were divided into 3 groups and asked to read an excerpt from a poem No glossing Traditional glossing Multimedia glossing

THE STUDY Students were all provided with an introduction to the text. Students were asked to think aloud in English. All types of glosses were recorded. For those in Group C, GALT was used.

THE RESULTS All the “aloud thoughts” were recorded and grouped into four main categories for testing comprehension Explanations was their main outcome < < Students in each group had difficulty sometimes.

TRACKER DATA Group B used French annotations more often than English Group C used English more often! Even with all of Group C‘s choices, they used the traditional annotations the most.

TRACKER DATA Pronunciation and grammar glosses were rarely consulted and had little effect on comprehension Question and reference guides were the most useful for comprehension.

TRACKER DATA The image gloss was only accessed by one person They loved it though! It was an explanation without translation.

DISCUSSION Students really focused on vocabulary. They did not move further than textbase level. Translation into English does not mean comprehension! Why the reliance on traditional gloss?

USEFUL FINDINGS Multimedia glossing may increase comprehension Very small sample size May be different now (2008) Question and reference glosses were most helpful with global comprehension Shows again that using technology in the FL classroom can be beneficial and enjoyable to students