When giving the rationale for the use of glossed texts, Taylor (2006) reviews the results of meta-analytic experimental research conducted on the effects of native-language (L1) glosses on second-language (L2) reading comprehension, which have revealed a significant difference between groups of studies with traditional and computer-assisted L1 glosses. Learners provided with L1 computer glosses comprehended significantly more text than learners with traditional, paper-based L1 glossing aids. Lomicka (1998) points out that while comparing participants who read the text under one of three conditions: full glossing, limited glossing, or no glossing, it was observed that the number of causal inferences generated for students who had access to full glossing increased. Thus, computerized reading with full glossing may promote a deeper level of text comprehension.
However, arguments have also been voiced against glossing, most notably that glossing may discourage guessing from context, while inferred meanings are said to be more memorable than meanings provided by glosses (Koren, 1999; Rott et al., 2002). Moreover, as is claimed by de Ridder (2002), vocabulary support