Revising the framework for PISA 2018
17. The revisions to the reading literacy framework retain aspects of the 2009/2015 frameworks
that are still relevant to PISA 2018. However, the framework is enhanced and revised in the
following ways:
The framework fully integrates reading in a traditional sense together with the new forms of
reading that have emerged over the past decades and continue to emerge due to the
spread of digital devices and digital texts.
The framework incorporates constructs involved in basic reading processes. These
constructs, such as fluent reading, literal interpretation, inter-sentence integration,
extracting the central themes and inferencing, are critical skills for processing complex or
multiple texts for specific purposes. If students fail at performing higher-level text
processing functions, it is critical to know whether it was due to difficulties in these basic
skills in order to provide targeted support to student populations within educational
systems.
The framework revisits the way in which the domain is organised to incorporate reading
processes such as evaluating the veracity of texts, information seeking, reading from
multiple sources and the integration/synthesis of information across sources. The revision
rebalances the prominence of different reading processes to reflect the global importance
of the different constructs, while ensuring there is a link to the prior frameworks in order to
maintain trend.
The revision considers how new technology options and the use of scenarios involving print
and digital text can be harnessed to achieve a more authentic assessment of reading,
consistent with the current use of texts around the world.
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The importance of digital reading literacy
18. Reading in today's world is very different from just 20 years ago. Up to the mid-1990s, reading
was mostly performed with paper. Printed matter existed in many different forms, shapes and
texture, from children books to lengthy novels, from leaflets to encyclopaedia, from newspapers
and magazines to scholarly journals, from administrative forms to notes on billboards.
19. In the early 1990s, a small percentage of people owned computers and most of those owned
were mainframes or desktop PCs. Very few people owned laptops for their personal use, whereas
digital tablets and smartphones were still mostly fiction. Computer-based reading was limited to
specific types of users and uses, typically a specialised worker dealing with technical or scientific
information. In addition, due to mediocre display quality, computer-based reading was slower,
more error-prone and more tiring than reading on paper (Dillon, 1994). Initially acclaimed as a
means to "free" the reader from the printed text "straightjacket", the emerging hypertext technology
[(i.e. the linking of digital information pages allowing each reader to dynamically construct their own
route through information chunks (Conklin, 1988)] was also generating syndromes of disorientation
and cognitive overhead, as design of the Web was still in its infancy (Foltz, 1996; Nielsen, 1999;
Rouet & Levonen, 1996). But then, only a very small fraction of the world population had access to
the newly-born World Wide Web.
20. In less than 20 years, the number of computers in use worldwide grew to an estimated 2 billion
in 2015 (ITU, 2014b). In 2013, 40%
of the world’s population had access to the Internet at home,
with sharp contrasts between developed countries, where access reached 80% of the population,
and some less developed countries; where access lagged below 20% (ITU, 2014b). The last
decade has witnessed a dramatic expansion of portable digital devices, with wireless Internet
access overtaking fixed broadband subscriptions in 2009 (OECD, 2012). By 2015, computer sales
were slowing, whereas digital pads, readers and cell phones still grew at two-digit rates (Gartner,
2015).
21. As a notable consequence of the spread of information and communication technology (ICT) in
the general public, reading is massively shifting from print to digital texts. For example, computers
have become the second source of news for American citizens, after TV and before radio and
printed newspapers and magazines (American Press Institute, 2014). Similarly, British children and
teenagers prefer to read digital than printed texts (Clark, 2014), and a recent UNESCO report
showed that two thirds of users of a phone-based reader across five developing countries indicated
that their interest in reading and time spent reading increased once it was possible to read on their
phones (UNESCO, 2014). This shift has important consequences for the definition of reading as a
skill. Firstly, the texts that people read on line are quite different from traditional printed texts. In
order to enjoy the wealth of information, communication and other services offered through digital
devices, online readers have to cope with smaller displays, cluttered screens and challenging
networks of pages. In addition, new genres of print-based communication have appeared, such as
email, short messaging, forums and social networking applications. It is important to stress that the
rise of digital technology means that people need to be selective in what they read while they must
also read more, more often and for a broader range of purposes. Reading and writing are even
replacing speech in some essential communication acts, such as telephoning and help desks. A
consequence is that readers have to understand these new text-based genres and social-cultural
practices.
22. Readers in the digital age also have to master several new skills. They have to be minimally
ICT literate in order to understand and operate the devices and applications. They also have to
search and access the texts they need to read through the use of search engines, menus, links,
tabs and other paging and scrolling functions. Due to the uncontrolled profusion of information on
the Internet, readers also have to be discerning in their choice of information sources and
assessment of information quality and credibility. Finally, readers have to read across texts to
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corroborate information, to detect potential discrepancies and conflicts and to resolve them. The
importance of these new skills was clearly illustrated in the OECD’s PISA 2009 digital reading
study, whose report noted the following:
Navigation is a key component of digital reading, as readers “construct” their text through
navigation. Thus, navigational choices directly influence what kind of text is eventually
processed. Stronger readers tend to choose strategies that are suited to the demands of
the individual tasks. Better readers tend to minimise their visits to irrelevant pages and
locate necessary pages efficiently. (OECD, 2011, p. 20)
23. In addition, a 2015 study of student use of computers in the classroom (OECD, 2015) shows
for instance that “students’ average navigation behaviour explains a significant part of the
differences in digital reading performance between countries/economies that is not accounted for
by differences in print-
reading performance” (p. 119), (see also Nauman, 2015).
24. Thus, in many parts of the world skilful digital reading literacy is now key to one’s ability to
achieve one’s goals and participate in society. The 2018 PISA reading framework is revised and
expanded so as to encompass those skills that are essential for reading and interacting with digital
texts.
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