Digital Versus Print Reading in Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis of Student Comprehension in Pakistan and Turkey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-iii.251Keywords:
Digital Reading, Print Reading, Reading Comprehension, Higher Education, Cross-cultural Comparison, Pakistan, TurkeyAbstract
Digital technologies have increasingly shifted university students from print to digital reading. This shift has attracted increasing scholarly attention, particularly in non-Western contexts. For longer, complex texts, print reading offers the advantage of deeper comprehension; on the other hand, digital reading provides accessibility, availability, and convenience of digital academic resources. However, comparative research on print vs. digital reading comprehension remains limited across different cultural contexts, particularly in Turkey and Pakistan. This study compared digital vs. print reading comprehension among university students of Pakistan and Turkey and investigated how distinct reading modes influence students' self-reported comprehension. The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey approach in which data were collected from N = 174 English-medium university students from Pakistan (n = 101) and Turkey (n = 73) through stratified random sampling. An online questionnaire using a five-point Print and Digital Reading Habits scale was administered. The findings demonstrated that print reading mode was significantly preferred by Turkish students for better comprehension (M = 3.75) compared to digital mode (M = 3.38, p = .007). Pakistani students showed a balanced pattern, with neither reading mode showing a statistically significant distinction. The results indicated that the effects of reading medium on comprehension ability vary across cultural and educational factors, while highlighting the need for context-dependent reading instruction in digitally transitioning institutions.
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