Learning to read and reading to learn: using strategies to improve learners' reading abilities. A didactic proposal

Abstract

Reading is an unnatural skill. Human beings were born only to speak and listen. Nonetheless, as humanity evolved, so did their ways of communication and reading and writing became the permanent indicators of telling the story of events. Throughout the history of education, reading has been an immovable skill, and it has always been defined similarly. Notwithstanding, in the last century, different authors (Gates, 1949; Gough, 1972; LaBerge & Samuels, 1974; Rumelhart, 1977; Anthony et al., 1993; Arroyo, 1998; Kong, 2006; Farrell, 2009; Nunan, 2011; and Luque, 2011) have tried to define reading and change the way it is taught and perceived. Currently, the reading skill is seen as frustrating for teachers and annoying for students since, in most secondary schools, it is only used to teach grammar and vocabulary. Despite the fact that the current legislation in the Valencian Community and its Document Pont establish a learning methodology and essential reading strategies to be used, the reality within most Secondary Education schools is far from ideal. For this reason, with the primary objective of applying and improving learners’ reading comprehension strategies in the subject of English as a Foreign Language, a didactic proposal based on implementing the reading strategies proposed by Farrell (2009) has been developed in IES Politécnico. This pedagogical proposal is designed to be implemented in the first level of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) during 9 different sessions of pre-, during- and post-reading stages. Results show that incorporating these reading strategies fosters pupils’ learning when reading, bringing what has been learnt to other contexts aside from the educational one.