B.a. Degree research project

Abstract

This paper aims to report the insights of a research project carried out at Aspaen Gimnasio Saucara (seventh graders) in Bucaramanga Santander. The main objective was to determine what improvement in reading and comprehension in English does the explicit instruction on reading strategies reveal in an EFL group of seventh graders. The type of research design was applied under the paradigm of qualitative research with the research method of interventional studies that sought to solve or find new insights about a situation through explicit instruction on reading strategies that needed to constantly be tested, adapted and tailored to the needs; all within action research that pretended to solve the problem and account changes in the classroom. The instruments that were used included “direct observation” that provided broad information to the project, “surveys” that were used to learn about the knowledge, attitudes, and characteristics of program participants towards the reading process and reading preferences and habits, “interviews”, and “diagnostic tests” used to have a point of reference or “baseline data” to measure the changes in participants’ knowledge and enhancement of the skills as a result of the implementation in the research project. As an expected outcome the research project aimed to determine how explicit instruction on reading strategies impacted the reading comprehension skills in English as a foreign language in the students in order to achieve higher levels of academic achievement in the different subjects.