Reading Performance and Functional Reading Levels of ESL Learners in Print and Hypertexts

Schools and students are currently bombarded with loads of information coming from various reading modalities, particularly print and hypertext. This study aimed to find out the effect of these modalities on reading comprehension performance and functional reading levels of 64 Grade 12 STEM strand students in reading academic texts using the Counterbalanced Design under Quasi-Experimental research. The participants, which were equally divided into 2 (two) groups, experienced reading academic texts both in print and hypertext modalities, and answered a 10-item comprehension test after reading each academic text to determine reading performance and functional reading levels. Findings of the study revealed that interest, content knowledge, and text modality, be it print or hypertext, did not significantly influence the reading comprehension performance of the readers especially in reading academic texts; schema imposition impeded comprehension level and performance regardless of the media; many learners, despite being technology savvy or techie, still preferred print text, although a few preferred hypertexts in academic setting, and the text modality preference of the readers does not ensure better comprehension performance of the readers; and visual presentations found on hypertexts could either be a distraction that may not significantly affect reading comprehension performance of a learner, or unique features of hypertexts that help readers better understand reading materials in hypertext modality, but may not directly affect the reading comprehension performance in reading hypertext. It is recommended that further studies be conducted on comprehension performance using narrative texts, instead of expository texts, with inclusion of development of skills on technology literacy in the curriculum, and on the effects of length of text on the comprehension performance in reading print and hypertexts.