Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
This review synthesizes published studies on technology-assisted reading for additional-language learners. It examines how digital supports, feedback, adaptation, and design choices relate to comprehension, vocabulary growth through reading, and strategy use. The conceptual lens combines affordances, cognitive load and multimedia principles, scaffolding and feedback research, new literacies, accessibility, and teacher knowledge. Across the literature, effects are positive when support is brief and timely, interfaces are simple and text-first, and scaffolds and feedback are calibrated then fade, while benefits weaken with crowded screens, opaque adaptation, uneven measures, and limited access. Opportunities include in-text glosses, actionable feedback, calibrated adaptivity, strategy scaffolds, access-first personalization, and authentic tasks that require sourcing and synthesis. Challenges include cognitive overload, measurement inconsistency, equity and accessibility gaps, and limits on classroom orchestration. Pedagogical guidance emphasizes clear goals, clean layouts, short supports, feedback for action, digital-literacy tasks, and inclusion, supported by teacher workflows. Future work should strengthen comparability of measures, test mechanisms linking design to processing, document classroom use, and specify dosages and personalization. Overall, technology supports reading when it serves clear goals and is woven into coherent teaching.

Keywords: Technology-Assisted Reading, Additional-Language Learners, Cognitive Load, Multimedia Learning, In-Text Glosses, Feedback, Adaptivity

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