Implementation of Genre Based Approach for Studying the Reading Comprehension Process on 10th Grade Students in a Public School

Abstract

Reading is considered one of the most complex communicative skills to develop; thus this process has been as much interest for many researchers who have investigated the reading comprehension process in some learners. The purpose of this research was to study how the implementation of genre based approach influences the L2 reading competence in a low level 10th grade class in a public school. The 33 students speak Spanish as first language and study English as a foreign language. The study was conducted by applying three descriptive report texts for developing the reading classes. Data was collected through observation from video recordings, interview, questionnaires, and test. The result from the study can be summarized as follows: a) Participants’ improvement in reading comprehension influenced by the recognition of the text structure. b) Improvement on comprehension of the stages. c) Identification of what the topic of the text is. d) Causes and effects presented in the text. e) Main problems as well as possible solution suggested by the author. f) Reading as a whole instead of word by word. Nevertheless, the analysis of the final test made evident that a considerable number of participants were not clear enough about some boundaries of certain sentences in some paragraphs and also how these paragraphs relate each other. In light of this difficulty, recommendations are made for future studies.