Description of the reading processing style and strategies use of the upper-intermediate students at El Pinar high school when reading different texts types and the text features that interfere with the process

Abstract

This study was implemented to increase a target group of upper-intermediate students’ awareness of reading styles and strategies as a possible way of improving their reading comprehension in a Colombian urban high school; similarly, insights on the different text types and their implications in comprehending were also taken into account. A target group of 12 students, grade 10 was established for the study. This research also portrays on the one hand, the traditional idea of reading comprehension as the reader's complete understanding or full grasp of meanings in a text, and, on the other, the view of reading as an interaction between the reader and the text. In the same way, different perspectives concerning the learning strategies models are outlined, and which seem the most adequate for the purposes of my study. Added to this is a description of the research approach and the techniques of data gathering. The data analysis sought to find answers to research questions and the interpretation of results and conclusions. Appendixes included data gathering instruments such as a survey questionnaire for students, a sample format of Solé’s questionnaire, a sample of the survey questionnaire for teachers, an observation instrument of cognitive awareness of reading strategies, a MARSI (Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory) survey questionnaire (adapted), a text-types and text structure questionnaire, and texts for the reading tasks.