Implementación de modelo de instrucción explícita en el uso de estrategias de lectura con estudiantes de EFL

Abstract

The project consisted in the implementation of the Proposal for Training in Reading Strategies, which constitutes the main product and the second phase of the research 'Learning strategies used in reading comprehension tasks by university students of level IV of English as a foreign language. 'The objective of the research was to diagnose the effectiveness of the proposal for the development of reading strategies in English as a foreign language. The participants were 40 first-semester students from the Faculty of International Business at the Universidad Santo Tomás, Bucaramanga section.

The intervention was carried out within the regular English classes, during an academic semester (16 weeks). The strategies outlined in the instructional proposal were explicitly taught and are framed within the PIP skills teaching scheme (pre-, -in / while, post-: before, during, after). Therefore, in each phase, both top-down and bottom-up strategies were implemented, and in addition, reading strategies were practiced to address tests.

In the previous project, students stated in the survey that they recognized and used top-down and bottom-up reading strategies in about the same proportion, but the difference was not significant. However, in immediate retrospection, carried out after a reading comprehension test, the priority use of bottom-up strategies was evidenced; the test results were low. Therefore, the training scheme in reading strategies was proposed.

The texts and activities from which the strategies were taught were the same for both groups (20 students each), and are suitable for CEFR level A2. Data collection was made from reading comprehension questions taken from three sources: a diagnostic or entrance test (PE) and an exit test (PS) for which the reading section of the international KET exam was applied ( Key Elementary Test, implemented to assess the level of proficiency of English speakers at CEFR level A2), the reading section of the institutional advance and final tests for the courses (PA1, PA2 and PF), and three assigned reading tasks as a class activity (T1, T2 and T3). A comparison was made between the scores obtained between PE and PS, PA1 and PA2 and T1, T2 and T3. Additionally, an initial questionnaire (C1) and a final questionnaire (C2) were applied regarding the strategies recognized and used to tackle reading tasks.

The results show a better performance in the SP compared to the SP. Also, the score in T3 was improved with respect to T2 and T1. However, there was a decrease in the percentage of correct answers obtained in the FP with respect to PA1 and PA2. Regarding the range of reading strategies recognized by students based on the three phases before (pre-), during (in-) and after (post-) of a reading comprehension task of a text, in C1, the A fifth of the students mentioned at least one appropriate strategy for the 'before' reading phase such as 'making inferences from the title' and 'understanding the questions to solve', and a third indicated reading strategies that did not are appropriate for that phase, such as 'underline' or 'summarize'; in C2, to the same question, all the students mentioned between one and three strategies. Regarding the strategies implemented in the 'during' phase, in C1 almost all of the students mentioned between one and three strategies of appropriate use during the reading of the text, and in C2 all students related between one and three Appropriate strategies for the phase, among which are 'reading to find specific information or scanning', 'use of resources to search for unknown information' and 'underlining'. Regarding the use of strategies for the post-reading phase, in C2 a little more than half of the students mentioned appropriate strategies for this phase, a number that increased 39 students who mentioned between one and three strategies in C2.

The study allows testing the proposed training model due to the improvement in performance in reading tasks in an evaluative context and practical exercise based on the use of reading strategies. Thus, the necessary adjustments will be made to gradually implement the model in the university's foreign language programs.