Reading print and electronic texts

Reading is a theoretically complex process for which there is, as for learning itself, no complete model or theory. While there are many similarities between reading print and electronic texts" given that they share symbol systems" it has been suggested that the shift to the electronic medium involves changes in comprehension and decoding and, more significantly, in 'what counts as literacy' (Leu et al 2004: 1584'). Leu et al claim that, while reading electronic texts requires all that reading print texts entails" including 'skill sets such as phonemic awareness, word recognition, decoding knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, inferential reasoning "¦ and others'" these skills are not enough to be fully literate in electronic media. However, as discussed later in this chapter, others argue that it is not helpful to question whether reading online texts is fundamentally the same as reading print texts, employing the same skills and strategies in a different medium (Burbules 1997: 102).