How do Džon and Džein Read Russian? On-Line Vocabulary and its Place in the Reading Process.

Abstract

When reading authentic texts, intermediate-level students face many problems (lack of vocabulary, difficulties with word order and syntax, unfamiliar target language discourse practices) that can significantly impede their comprehension. Intermediate-level students of Russian read two newspaper articles online, where they could click on any word and receive a contextual gloss. Before receiving the guess, they had to guess the meaning of the word and give a reason for their guess. The data reveal interesting patterns in student reading strategies as well as patterns of misreading.