Children's hypertext comprehension

Abstract

The present chapter gives an overview of the literature on hypertext comprehension, children's hypertext comprehension and individual variation therein, ending with a perspective for future research. Hypertext comprehension requires the reader to make bridging inferences between the different parts of the text, which requires more background knowledge than when reading a linear text. Especially readers low in prior knowledge thus experience problems in the comprehension of hypertext, but these are also the ones who benefit from a hierarchical structure or a graphical overview. This is also the case for children. Future research should address the comprehension of networked hypertexts, also in groups of children with comprehension problems. For these groups, intervention research is needed to arrive at methods to improve hypertext comprehension.