Influence of an Interactive e-Book on the Reading Comprehension of Different Ethnic Groups Using Indigenous Culture as Content

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine whether interactive e-books on indigenous culture influence the reading comprehension of learners from different cultural backgrounds. The study analyses the factors involved in learning comprehension among participants with different cultural backgrounds when reading interactive e-books on indigenous culture. The experiment was conducted over a 9-week period, and 168 students (ages 16–18) completed tests on prior knowledge, reading comprehension, reading attitude, reading motivation, cognitive strategies, and metacognitive strategies. This study determined that in reading activities using interactive e-books on indigenous culture, indigenous students achieved significantly better reading comprehension performance than Han students. Another significant difference was observed in the reading comprehension performance among Han students of different genders. Furthermore, cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies effectively predicted the reading comprehension performance of indigenous students, while reading attitude and prior knowledge effectively predicted the reading comprehension performance of Han students.