Topic: Reading on the Internet

10-second review: What advantage does the Internet have in increasing understanding of words? “In a traditional print environment, the discovery of new word meanings might be through the use of contextual clues, morphological [prefixes, roots, suffixes] awareness, or the use of external reference materials. Online, the reader might use hypertext links to access a dictionary or alternate pages with detailed information, diagrams or other images that explain and elaborate definitions and related concepts.”

Source: A Kymes. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (March 2005), 495. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: There are some definite advantages to reading on line. Teachers and students need to become familiar with using hypertext while reading. Teachers and students also need to learn how to access a vocabulary definition quickly from an on-line dictionary. Google, at http://www.google.com/, is a convenient source for Web Definitions. Merriam Webster’s On-Line Search offers oral pronunciation of difficult words (http://www.merriam-webster.com/). RayS.