A Genre-Based Reading Program for Sixth Grade Students from Institución Educativa Técnica José Agustín Blanco Barros

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze how a genre-based reading program may contribute to the development of sixth grade students' reading competence in a public school in Sabanalarga. The study was carried out through a qualitative action research case study research design, which included 42 sixth grade students, and the English teacher who was also the teacher-researcher. The teacher-researcher identified students' low level of reading competence, planned an intervention in order to implement it and evaluate its outcome. The data collection techniques applied were semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis (reading texts, activities and materials used by the teacher, and lesson plans). For a better management of the results, some categories were determined addressing teacher´s strategies, materials characteristics, and characterization of levels of reading competence. The results showed students' motivation towards reading, and demonstrated a significant progress in their reading process, which confirmed the effectiveness of the genre-based approach for teaching reading.