Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sixth Cohort
Level.
Table of contents:
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3
2 Method ........................................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Procedure ............................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Participants ............................................................................................................. 9
2.3 Instruments ............................................................................................................. 9
2.3.1 Reading Comprehension Test 1 ..................................................................... 9
2.3.1 Reading Comprehension Test 2 ................................................................... 10
2.3.1 Self-Assessment: Survey .............................................................................. 11
3 Results......................................................................................................................... 12
4 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 15
5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 18
6 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................. 18
7 References .................................................................................................................. 20
8 Appendices ................................................................................................................. 22
Research question:
Does Free Voluntary Reading in a foreign language help secondary school students in
Morón improve their reading comprehension level of proficiency in their mother tongue?
Hypothesis:
The use of Free Voluntary Reading in a foreign language improves students’ mother tongue
reading comprehension level of proficiency.
Abstract:
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
In 2018, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reading
comprehension exams (PISA) showed that, on average, more than half of the students in
Argentina belonged to the lowest quartile and were below the world average. Besides, it
was the country with the worst results in South America after Peru. In this context, this study
attempts to verify if Free Voluntary Reading (FVR), fostered by Krashen, may be a possible
solution to the problem, with the particular feature of testing whether FVR in a foreign
language improves students’ mother tongue reading comprehension level. In order to do
so, two PISA exams were adapted to assess the participants in two steps: before and after
a process of two months of FVR in class. Besides, a survey was carried out to obtain data
related to students’ motivation and reading habits. The results showed that the participants
improved on average from level 1a, below the world average, to level 4, above the world
average. What is more, most students admitted being more motivated and improved their
reading habits. These findings suggest that FVR in a foreign language could be one possible
option to solve the reading comprehension problem that students face in their mother
tongue.
Key words: Free Voluntary Reading – English – Reading comprehension – Mother Tongue
- TEFL
Resumen:
En 2018, los resultados de comprensión lectora de las pruebas PISA que administra la
Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE) arrojaron que, en
promedio, más de la mitad de los estudiantes en Argentina pertenecían al cuartil más bajo
y estaban por debajo del promedio mundial. Además, fue el país con peores resultados en
Sudamérica después de Perú. En este contexto, este estudio intenta verificar si el método
de lectura voluntaria promovido por Krashen puede ser una posible solución al problema,
con la particularidad de comprobar si la lectura voluntaria en una lengua extranjera mejora
la comprensión lectora en la lengua materna de los estudiantes. Para ello, se adaptaron
dos exámenes PISA para evaluar a los estudiantes en dos etapas: antes y después de un
proceso de dos meses de lectura voluntaria en el aula. Además, se llevó a cabo una
encuesta para obtener datos relacionados con la motivación y hábitos de lectura de los
participantes. Los resultados demostraron que los estudiantes mejoraron pasando del nivel
1a, por debajo del promedio mundial, al nivel 4, por encima del promedio mundial. Además,
la mayoría de los estudiantes admitieron estar más motivados y mejoraron sus hábitos de
lectura. Estos hallazgos sugieren que la lectura voluntaria en una lengua extranjera podría
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
ser una opción posible para superar el problema de comprensión lectora que enfrentan los
alumnos argentinos en su primera lengua.
Introduction
If we ask what reading comprehension is, the first concept that probably comes to
our minds is Literacy. Rintaningrum explains that “It is widely accepted that literacy generally
is simply defined as “the ability to read and write” (2009: p. 1) but he also mentions that, in
general, authors agree that it is difficult to get to a definition of Literacy because it has
changed over the years according to the needs of society and because of the complexity
that involves defining what is and what is not having the ability to read and write.
However, historically, since the creation of formal education, literacy has been
increasing substantially if we use this accepted and simple definition mentioned before. In
fact, according to Roser and Ortiz-Ospina (2018), “while only 12% of the people in the world
could read and write in 1820, today the share has reversed: only 14% of the world
population, in 2016 remained illiterate.” In fact, they explain that “Over the last 65 years the
global literacy rate increased by 4% every 5 years – from 42% in 1960 to 86% in 2015”.
Nevertheless, despite this development, people tend to believe that illiteracy is a problem
that we have to deal with nowadays. But is it a real problem that should be tackled? Is it
really necessary to concentrate on students' reading skills? In order to answer these
questions, it is important to go deeper in the concept and see how it is related to reading
comprehension, which is the aspect of literacy that this research focused on.
After explaining the concept of literacy, its connection to reading and how reading
comprehension is measured, many questions arise. Who are the lowest quartile nowadays?
What about our country? It is important to take into account what the current situation of
students around the world is and how Argentinian students stand in comparison to the rest
of the world. According to OECD last assessment in 2018, “77% of students, on average
across OECD countries, attained at least Level 2 proficiency in reading.” (ibid: p. 86). This
means that the average level in the world is level 2, in which students, at a minimum, are
“able to identify the main idea in a text of moderate length, find information based on explicit,
though sometimes complex, criteria, and reflect on the purpose and form of texts when
explicitly directed to do so.” (Ibid). If we compare Argentina to the rest of the world, then,
we need to worry about the results: Argentinian average score was 402, 6 points under level
2 minimum. This statistic shows that Argentinian average students belong to the lowest
quartile in the world, and even worse, in the region, Argentina is one of the lowest in the
ranking, while other countries, such as Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Chile are in level 2.
However, OECD has been the target of many critics in Argentina and many other
countries. “Who funds them?” “What is the real purpose behind these exams?” are some of
the questions that people and politicians from different spectrums of society have asked.
For that reason, in order to have a more complete and objective perspective of the reading
comprehension situation in Argentina, this research also took into consideration the results
of Aprender 2021. This is an assessment that was carried out by the Ministry of Education
at primary school level last year in order to get information about the characteristics of the
conditions of learning and teaching in Argentina. Unfortunately, although instead of 6 levels,
Aprender classified students in only 4, the results were consistent with the ones in PISA.
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
That implies that 22,3% of the students in our country are under the basic level, which
according to its method means that students “localizan información explícita expresada de
manera destacada o fácilmente recuperable en función de su relevancia y, de acuerdo con
el nivel de complejidad del texto, pueden localizar también datos de importancia
secundaria.” This definition is very similar to the one used by PISA to describe level 1, which
is under the global average.
In this context, the search for possible solutions becomes relevant and one of them
was proposed by Stephen Krashen: Free Voluntary Reading. In his book The Power of
Reading: Insights from the research, he explains that “Free voluntary reading (henceforth
FVR) means reading because you want to, without having to write book reports and or
answering questions at the end of the chapter. In FVR, you don’t have to finish the book if
you don’t like it.” (Krashen, 2004: p. 1). The results that this approach has shown are
interesting enough to take into account for this research. For instance, Krashen reports that,
in 2003, “Kim calculated that reading one book over the summer was associated with a .03
standard deviation gain in reading comprehension; thus, reading five books is associated
with a .15 standard deviation gain.” (ibid: p. 9). This evidence suggests that, by giving
students the opportunity to choose and read the books they like, we are not just fostering
reading and learning motivation but also helping them improve their reading skills.
What is more, this FVR experience has been tested in different kinds of settings,
even in difficult ones, such as reform schools. Krashen explains that McNeil in 1976
“examined the effects of a free reading program on 60 reform school boys, ages 12–17.”
and the results showed that “After one year, the readers increased their reading
comprehension scores (Scholastic Achievement Test) from 69.9 to 82.7 (a gain of 12.8),
while comparisons only improved from 55.8 to 60.4 (a gain of 4.6).” (ibid: p. 4). These data
shows that the use of free voluntary reading seems to make a big difference in contexts of
violence and poverty and becomes even more relevant if we consider that, according to
Aprender 2021, 43,1% of students in the lowest socioeconomic level were under the Basic
level of reading comprehension.
Although they do not refer to FVR, there are other authors who also agree on the
fact that the use of literature in the classroom makes a great impact on students’ reading
comprehension. One of the most important authors is Hişmanoğlu, who supported
Krashen’s ideas and also referred to a context similar to the one in this research (Teaching
English as a Foreign Language):
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
Similarly, dealing with short stories, Pourkalhor and Kohan concluded that “all
respondents in a group that the researchers taught reading comprehension through short
stories showed improvement after the reading course” (2013: p. 58). In fact, the result of
their study showed that “the control group and experimental group show a significant
difference in their posttest.” (ibid). Therefore, Krashen, as well as Kim, Lao, Porkalhor,
Kohan and Hişmanoğlu, all of them in different contexts, arrived at the same conclusion:
using literature in the classroom makes a positive difference.
On the other hand, it is also worth mentioning that there are two authors who
disagree with this view. Khatib and Nasrollahi showed in an experiment carried out in Iran
that “The results of the research found no satisfactory reasons for teaching literature” (2012,
p.245), explaining that in order to comprehend a text there are “Other factors such as
student’s language proficiency, interest, sex, age, etc.” (ibid).
But what other solutions have been tested in Latin America to solve this problem?
One of them was the one proposed by Barrionuevo and Pico in Tucumán, which involved
using Systemic Functional Linguistics in the classroom to help students improve their
reading skills in the foreign language. In their study, “students could see the relationship
between language and context and at the same time they could understand the role of social
experience in the linguistic choices made by writers” (2006: p. 179). However, they also
pointed out something similar to Khatib and Nasrollahi, saying that she doubts “whether
anyone will ever come up with a perfect method for teaching second language reading.
There are many factors which affect reading comprehension in an EFL class” (ibid). Another
study that tried to deal with this problem was the one by Menacho Lopez in Peru, which
fostered the use of collaborative strategies among students and teachers in order to improve
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
In Argentina, there are also some studies that used FVR, but their focus is not on
reading comprehension as in the present study. For example, Gabriela Leiton used this
approach but with the intention to teach vulnerable students grammar and phonetics. She
concludes that “la literatura funciona para la enseñanza del inglés como segunda lengua
en contextos de vulnerabilidad social: porque la gramática sin base sustancial, sin contexto,
para mis alumnos cuyo universo simbólico es limitado, no es experiencia, y se torna casi
inútil” (2020: p, 18). This matches Krashen’s claims about this approach but does not
mention anything about how it can help improve reading comprehension. On the other hand,
a Mexican author called Echandi Ruiz, made research on how millennials deal with libraries
nowadays and how technology can help students get more motivated towards reading for
pleasure. She concluded that “En cuanto a las actividades de dinamización de la lectura
reportadas desde diferentes bibliotecas se corroboró que tienen un efecto relevante en la
comprensión lectora de la obra, así como en el disfrute de la lectura, favorecen la reflexión,
la crítica profunda en torno a los libros.” (2018, p. 44) These findings coincide with what
was previously exposed by the Free Voluntary Reading promoters.
Taking into account the literature review on the subject, there seems to be no
research on the impact that FVR on a foreign language has on students’ mother tongue
reading comprehension, the current literature only contemplates FVR in students’ first
language. Finally, it is also unexpected that little research has been done on how to make
Argentinian students jump from OECD reading comprehension level 1 to, at least, level 2.
In this context, Hişmanoğlu’s words gain relevance when he explains that “When students
master literal understanding, they move to the inferential level, where they must make
speculations and interpretations concerning the characters, setting, and theme, and where
they produce the author’s point of view.” (2005, p. 57). For that reason, this study has tried
to fill those gaps and show whether the use of literature in the classroom, specially with a
Free Voluntary Reading approach, helps students improve their mother tongue’s reading
comprehension skills.
Finally, considering that many students in Argentina improve their economic and
social situation through university education and that they need a good level of reading
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
comprehension proficiency to enter universities, the fact that only half of the students in
Argentina reached at least level 2 proficiency in reading is worrying. What is more, most
students from the school in which the study took place are candidates to study at
Universidad Nacional de La Matanza, where they will have to take an entrance course called
“Seminario”, which requires the students to use different and varied reading strategies.
Helping them reach level 2 of reading proficiency may help them pass this subject more
easily.
Method:
Procedure
This classroom research was conducted in three different stages. The first step
consisted of assessing students’ reading skills in their mother tongue by means of an
adapted PISA exam (See Appendix 1) to test their comprehension level at a starting point.
In the second step, once their level in reading comprehension was stated, students
were given access to a virtual library1 with almost 80 books in English that included a variety
of literary and also non-literary genres, topics and levels from elementary to advanced. For
a period of two months, students took thirty minutes every class to read whatever they had
chosen from this selection or other books they could bring to the classroom from home.
They were also free to start and finish the books whenever they considered it.
Once the Free Voluntary Reading stage was over, students were assessed once
more with a similar instrument (See Appendix 2) in order to check their progress. At the
same time, they were also given a self-assessment form (See Appendix 3) so as to keep a
record of their progress and motivation. They were also asked about their previous reading
habits and if they had changed them after this process.
1
Virtual library:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gC8quGXFbBOSoFjzWsrMYRXqsOlw9pLL?usp=sharing
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
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Participants
This research was conducted in a private secondary school in Moron in 2021. The
subjects were 25 pre-intermediate students, 12 were female and 13 male, all of them
between 15 and 16 years old.
Instruments
• “Gripe”
• “Herramientas científicas de la policía”
• “La democracia en Atenas”
• “Población activa”
• “Edificios altos”
Table 1.1
2
Appendix 5 can be found online in the hyperlink. It is not attached to the document due to its
length.
3
See Appendix 4 to find the definition of technical terms used in the tables.
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
Table 1.2
Distribution of score points in reading, by coding requirement for each reading process in
the first adapted exam:
• “Las Zapatillas”
• “Cómo cepillarse los dientes”
• “Macondo”
• “Destino Buenos Aires”
• “La garantía”
• “La seguridad de los teléfonos móviles”
Table 1.3
Table 1.4
Distribution of score points in reading, by coding requirement for each reading process used
in the second adapted exam
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
It was also necessary to adapt the score limits to determine the different levels of
proficiency, for PISA exams are much longer than the ones used in this research. The scale
(see Table 1.5) was calculated based on the mathematical Rule of Three.
Table 1.5
Survey: Self-Assessment.
Although students completed their names in the surveys and exams, so that progress could
be measured, it is important to clarify that each student was assigned a different number to
preserve anonymity and confidentiality.
Results:
4
To adapt the scores to PISA criteria, results must be multiplied by 33,4782.
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
Table 2.1
5
1: % Improvement = (Final result – Initial result) / initial result x 100.
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
This table shows the overall results of the reading comprehension tests done by the
students before and after the project and motivation results based on a survey that was
answered at the end of the process. Based on that, it can be observed that, on average, the
course improved 55,70% their reading comprehension skills. 3 Students decided not to
participate in the project.
Table 2.2
Table 2.2 shows the distribution of the group that participated in the study and their
final results. If only the number of students who were tested twice is considered, the
percentage of students who improved their reading comprehension skills is 87,5%.
Table 2.3
Gender comparative
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
These graphics indicate that men got better results and improved 3,62% more than women.
Table 2.4
Table 2.5
Tables 2.4 and 2.5 are connected to students' motivation and habits. It is seen that
although motivation increased, more than half of the students did not change their reading
habits in their free time.
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
Discussion:
As the participants of the present study are 4th year pre-intermediate students who
attend a private secondary school in Moron, Province of Buenos Aires, it is not possible to
know whether the results can be generalized to a greater national or even regional level.
Nevertheless, the results demonstrate that there are possible solutions for the reading
comprehension problems of students in Argentina, taking into consideration that the last
PISA exams in 2018 showed that Argentinian students are below the world average and
one of the worst in South America.
The results from the present study have shown very interesting and positive insights
regarding this problematic situation, such as the fact that 87,5% (see Table 2.1 and 2.2) of
the participants have improved their reading comprehension level. What is more, on
average, students improved their abilities 55,7% after the Free Voluntary Reading process.
This study also reveals through a survey answered by the students their motivation
towards books and also their reading habits before and after the FVR process. Most
students, 62% of the group (see Table 2.4), admitted that their motivation increased but,
oppositely, not all of them changed their reading habits, only 44% (see Table 2.5). That
means that every 10 students whose motivation increased, 6 changed their habits and
started reading more in their free time.
The main finding that must be considered is the answer to the question that was
proposed at the beginning of this paper: Does the use of free voluntary reading in a foreign
language help secondary school students improve their reading comprehension level of
proficiency in their mother tongue? Taking into consideration the fact that 87,5% of the
students improved their reading comprehension level of proficiency 55,7% on average, it
can be concluded that the hypothesis was verified. What is more, this outcome coincides
with what other authors had concluded before but referring to the impact that FVR in the
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
first language has on the reading comprehension level of proficiency in student’s mother
tongue. For example, Snow (2002, p. 8) explained that “children who have had a rich
exposure to literacy experiences are more likely to succeed”. Correspondingly, Lao (2000,
p. 267) concluded that “students who participated in a popular literature class designed to
interest them in pleasure reading increased their reading accuracy and reading rate
substantially”. And, similarly, Krashen (2004, p. 149) got to the following verdict:
When children read for pleasure, when they get “hooked on books,”
they acquire, involuntarily and without conscious effort, nearly all of
the so-called language skills many people are so concerned about:
They will become adequate readers, acquire a large vocabulary,
develop the ability to understand and use complex grammatical
constructions, develop a good writing style, and become good (but
not necessarily perfect) spellers.
Therefore, taking into account the results of this study and what these researchers among
others have proved, the evidence seems to show that reading for pleasure in a foreign
language helps students improve their reading comprehension skills in their first language.
It is also interesting to note that this approach is not only about helping students
improve their reading comprehension skills. This approach also brings democracy and
critical thinking to the classroom. The power that the teacher has to decide what author or
books to read or not is now transferred to the students, giving them the possibility to make
their own choices. Letting our students make their own decisions on what to read is a
political act and a crucial element to foster critical thinking. In this study, some students
chose to read political books like 1984 or Animal Farm by Orwell, other students chose to
read books with a feminist view and others simply did not choose from the teacher’s virtual
library, but they brought or searched online their own books. But that does not finish there,
students also started asking each other about their choices and recommending books. We
may say that the idea of collaborative strategies mentioned before proposed by Menacho
Lopez in Peru can also be seen here.
At that point, considering that achievement, it is important to clarify that despite being
the starting point of this study, PISA results should be carefully used and analysed. As was
mentioned in the Introduction, OECD has been strongly criticised. Although there were
some technical remarks on some tricky questions or certain ways of assessing, the most
important critics were related to the real purpose of these exams. Even if we later confirmed
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
by national studies that there is a real problem with reading comprehension in Argentina,
we should question: What is the purpose behind creating this ranking? Who pays for them?
Who inspects the way they are assessed and corrected? How can we all agree on same
global criteria to assess what is reading if even scholars find it difficult to get consensus on
a definition? As Hanberger explains, “if matters such as promoting democracy, human
rights, cultural and multicultural awareness, diversity, sustainable development, and critical
thinking are conceived as quality in education, PISA tests have low validity as these qualities
are not measured” (2014, p.175). We should also be careful about how we use the results.
They are just a diagnose, not another element to stigmatize certain countries or sectors of
society, which usually happens with media when PISA publishes the reports.
Another outcome from this research is that there could be a correlation between the
increase of motivation and the improvement in reading skills. This is not a new discovery at
all, in the world of education it is a generalized truth that motivation and learning go hand in
hand. For example, Ahmadi (2017) made a review on the different studies worldwide on the
connection between motivation and reading comprehension, in which he states that
“learners with higher motivation in reading comprehension would advance more than other
learners with lower motivation. Motivation is one of the key factors to assist learners’ reading
comprehension. Motivation helps both performance and understanding of one’s reading
comprehension” (ibid, p. 5). Likewise, the present study shows that 62% of the students
increased their motivation and at the same time 87,5% improved their reading skills.
Although it is difficult to attach the positive results only to motivation, the study seems to
verify that, at least, it is a very important factor.
There is also an interesting correlation between motivation and reading habits in the
results. Although more than half of the students increased their motivation, not all of them
changed their reading habits, given that only 44% of the participants admitted reading more
after the project. Even if we consider it as a low number, the final statistic shows that every
10 students who increased their motivation, 6 started reading more in their free time. There
are other research papers which support this correlation, for example Iftanti (2015, p. 371)
explains that “if the EFL students are always motivated to read English for their academic
or enjoyment activities, this will lead them to the development of their good English reading
habits.” Therefore, it can be said that this reading project is a positive vicious circle: Free
Voluntary Reading at school makes students read more, which makes students feel more
motivated towards books, this motivation involves improving reading habits, which involves
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
Comprehension Level
Conclusion
To sum up, this work has been able to verify the hypothesis proposed. After students
were assessed in their first reading comprehension exam, the results showed that students
belonged to level 1a on average, similar to the national findings obtained by OECD in 2018.
On the other hand, after students were exposed to FVR in English, the second assessment
showed that they became level 4 on average. Those scores surpassed the expectations of
the objectives stated in the introduction section, which was to make students become level
3 on average. That means that we have reached satisfactory results proving that Free
Voluntary Reading in a foreign language improves reading comprehension in students'
mother tongue.
What is more, the present findings add to a growing body of literature on the
correlation between learning and motivation, which also seems to lead to changes in
students’ habits. Consequently, the present findings might help to or, at least, suggest a
course of action to solve this problem Argentinian students have and could potentially lead
to a practical solution to apply in secondary school education. The importance of this work
also lies in the fact that solutions to reading comprehension problems in the mother tongue
are more than a problem just for Language teachers to deal with because, as it could be
concluded, other subjects can help solve it too.
One of the limitations of this research is the fact that it was conducted in a specific course,
school and area of the province of Buenos Aires. As a result, some factors such as
geographical distribution, age and socioeconomic status were not considered. Similarly, the
number of participants may not be large enough to validate the conclusions of this research.
For that reason, such analyses should therefore be treated with considerable caution and
further work needs to be performed to establish if this solution can also work at a national
level and taking into account different age groups.
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Voluntary Reading in English: Influence on Students’ Mother Tongue’s Reading
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It is also worth mentioning that the virtual library included non-literary genres such
as biographies due to two reasons. Firstly, because PISA exams included literary as well
as non-literary texts and, secondly, in order to foster reading and provide different options
for those students who were not interested in fictional genres.
Regarding the data analysis, there are two results which cannot lead to conclusions
in this study based on certain limitations but, at the same time, they open a gap for future
research. One of them is the fact that men improved their reading skills 3,62% more than
women (see Table 2.3). It is difficult to arrive at a conclusion based on that evidence for two
simple reasons: there were different numbers of men and women and, more importantly,
different starting points in their reading comprehension level. Even so, it would be interesting
to go deeper into the impact that Free Voluntary Reading makes according to sex and also
other factors such as level of proficiency.
Finally, there is a limitation in the correlation between improvement and the number
of books read by each student. In this project, in order to foster student’s motivation, there
were a great variety of books that students had access to in a virtual library. This variety
included different genres, which involved different formats and levels, and as a result, a
different number of pages. Therefore, there were some students who read only one book
but one that had 300 pages and, on the other hand, some students who read three short
stories. The consequence of this dynamic implies that it is difficult to establish a connection
between the number of books read and the improvement in reading skills. Besides, since it
was free reading, maybe if a student got bored, they did not finish a book and started with
another one, which makes it impossible to compare the number of pages read by each of
them. Nevertheless, future research is possible in which the project involves only novels or
only short stories.
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OECD. (2019). PISA 2018 Results (Volume I): What Students Know and Can Do, PISA,
OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5f07c754-en.
Pourkalhor, O., & Kohan, N. (2013). Teaching reading comprehension through short stories
in advance classes. Asian journal of social sciences & humanities, 2(2).
Rintaningrum, R. (2009). Literacy: Its importance and changes in the concept and
definition. Teflin, 20(1), 1-7.
Schleicher, A. (2019). PISA 2018: Insights and Interpretations. Paris: OECD Publishing.
UGA Mary Frances Early College of Education. (2012). The Power of Reading - Stephen
Krashen [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag.
APPENDIX
1
GRIPE
PROGRAMA DE ACOL PARA LA VACUNACIÓN VOLUNTARIA CONTRA
LA GRIPE
Página | 14
Si usted quiere vacunarse durante la semana del 17 de mayo, por favor, avise a la jefa
de personal, Raquel Escribano, antes del viernes 7 de mayo. La fecha y la hora se fijarán
conforme a la disponibilidad de la enfermera, el número de participantes en la
campaña y el horario más conveniente para la mayoría de los empleados. Si quiere
vacunarse para este invierno pero no puede hacerlo en las fechas establecidas, por
favor, comuníqueselo a Raquel. Quizá pueda fijarse una sesión de vacunación alternativa
si el número de personas es suficiente.
Para más información, contacte con Raquel en la extensión 5577.
Por tu salud
Raquel Escribano, directora del departamento de recursos humanos de una empresa
llamada ACOL, preparó la información que se presenta en esta página y en la anterior para
distribuirla entre el personal de la empresa ACOL.
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Pregunta 2 2109
Podemos hablar sobre el contenido de un escrito (lo que dice). Podemos hablar
sobre su estilo (el modo en el que se presenta). Raquel quería que esta hoja
informativa tuviera un estilo cordial y que animase a vacunarse. ¿Crees que lo
consiguió?
Explica tu respuesta refiriéndote a los detalles tales como el diseño, el estilo de
redacción, los dibujos o los gráficos de la presentación de la hoja informativa.
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Pregunta 3 109
Esta hoja informativa sugiere que si uno quiere protegerse del virus de la gripe, la
inyección de una vacuna de la gripe es...
A Más eficaz que el ejercicio y una dieta saludable, pero más arriesgada.
B Una buena idea, pero no un sustituto del ejercicio y la dieta saludable.
C Tan eficaz como el ejercicio y una dieta saludable y menos problemática.
D No es necesaria si se hace ejercicio y se sigue una dieta sana.
Pregunta 4 109
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Pregunta 5 109
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Página | 35
Para explicar la estructura del ADN, el autor habla de un collar de perlas. ¿Cómo
varía este collar de perlas de una persona a otra?
A Varía en longitud.
B El orden de las perlas es diferente.
C El número de collares es diferente.
D El color de las perlas es diferente.
Pregunta 2 109
Pregunta 3 109
Pregunta 4 109
Página | 36
PARTE B
Tucídides atribuye al dirigente ateniense Pericles (siglo V a. C.) el siguiente discurso
en honor de los soldados caídos en el primer año de la guerra del Peloponeso.
Nuestro sistema de gobierno no copia las leyes de los estados vecinos; nosotros
somos más un ejemplo para otros que imitadores de los demás. Nuestro sistema se
denomina democracia, ya que el gobierno no depende de unos pocos, sino de una
mayoría. Nuestras leyes garantizan iguales derechos para todos en las cuestiones privadas,
mientras que el prestigio en la vida pública depende más de los méritos que de la clase
social.
Tampoco la clase social impide a nadie llegar a ejercer cualquier cargo público (...). Y,
al tiempo que no interferimos en las cuestiones privadas, respetamos la ley en los asuntos
públicos. Obedecemos a quienes ponemos a desempeñar cargos públicos y obedecemos
las leyes, en especial las dirigidas a la protección de los oprimidos y las leyes no escritas
que supone una verdadera vergüenza infringir.
Además, nos hemos procurado muchos placeres para el espíritu. Los juegos y
sacrificios que celebramos durante todo el año y la elegancia de nuestras casas particulares
constituyen una fuente diaria de placer que nos ayuda a olvidar cualquier preocupación;
mientras que los numerosos habitantes de la ciudad atraen a Atenas productos de todo el
mundo, de modo que a los atenienses los frutos de otros pueblos les son tan familiares
como los suyos propios.
Página | 137
Uno de los objetivos del discurso de la parte B era honrar a los soldados caídos en
el primer año de la guerra del Peloponeso.
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Pregunta 2 109
Pregunta 3 109
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Página | 138
Fíjate en este fragmento del texto, que se encuentra casi al final de la Parte B:
«Además, nos hemos procurado muchos placeres para el espíritu. Los juegos y
sacrificios que celebramos durante todo el año y la elegancia de nuestras casas particulares
constituyen una fuente diaria de placer que nos hace olvidar cualquier preocupación.»
Página | 139
Notas:
1. Las cifras referentes a la población se dan en miles de personas (x 1.000)
2. La población en edad de trabajar se define como las personas con edades comprendidas entre los 15 y los 65 años.
3. Se considera “fuera de la población activa” a aquellos que no buscan trabajo activamente y/o que están incapacitados para el trabajo.
Página | 187
¿Cuáles son los dos grupos en que se divide la población en edad de trabajar?
A Empleados y desempleados.
B En edad de trabajar y fuera de ella.
C Trabajadores de jornada completa y trabajadores a tiempo parcial.
D Dentro de la población activa y fuera de la población activa.
Pregunta 2 2109
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Pregunta 3 2109
¿En qué parte del esquema en forma de árbol, si la hay, se incluiría cada una de las
personas de la lista que aparece a continuación?
Un estudiante de 21 años.
Página | 188
Pregunta 5 109
Página | 189
Pregunta 1 109
Cuando se publicó el artículo, ¿cuál era el edificio más alto finalizado según el
gráfico dos?
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Página | 224
Pregunta 3 109
El Radisson SAS Plaza de Oslo (Noruega), sólo tiene 117 metros de altura. ¿Por
qué se ha incluido en el Gráfico 2?
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Pregunta 4 109
Imagínate que un artículo como éste, sobre edificios altos, se publica de nuevo
dentro de 20 años.
Página | 225
Durante 14 años el Centro de medicina deportiva de Lyon (Francia) ha estado estudiando las lesiones
de los jóvenes deportistas y de los deportistas profesionales. El estudio ha establecido que la mejor
medida a tomar es la prevención... y unas buenas zapatillas deportivas.
Página | 40
Pregunta 2 109
Según el artículo, ¿por qué no deberían ser demasiado rígidas las zapatillas
deportivas?
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Pregunta 3 109
Una parte del artículo afirma: “Un buen calzado deportivo debe cumplir cuatro
requisitos.” ¿Cuáles son esos requisitos?
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Página | 41
¿Se vuelven nuestros dientes más y más blancos cuanto más tiempo y más fuerte los
cepillamos?
Los investigadores británicos responden que no. De hecho, han probado muchas
alternativas distintas y al final han descubierto la manera perfecta de cepillarse los dientes. Un
cepillado de dos minutos, sin cepillar demasiado fuerte, proporciona el mejor resultado. Si
uno cepilla fuerte, daña el esmalte de los dientes y las encías sin quitar los restos de comida o
la placa dental.
Bente Hansen, experta en el cepillado de los dientes, señala que es una buena idea
sujetar el cepillo de dientes como se sujeta un bolígrafo. “Comience por una esquina y
continúe cepillándose a lo largo de toda la hilera”, dice. “¡Tampoco olvide la lengua! De hecho,
ésta puede contener miles de bacterias que pueden causar mal aliento”.
Pregunta 1 109
Página | 152
Pregunta 3 109
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Pregunta 4 109
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Pregunta 1 2109
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Página | 115
Al final del fragmento ¿por qué decidieron los habitantes de Macondo no volver al
cine?
A Querían divertirse y distraerse, pero descubrieron que las películas eran
realistas y tristes.
B No podían pagar el precio de las entradas.
C Querían reservar sus emociones para los acontecimientos de la vida real.
D Buscaban implicarse emocionalmente pero las películas les parecieron
aburridas, poco convincentes y de mala calidad.
Pregunta 3 109
¿Quiénes son los “seres imaginarios” de los que se habla en la última línea del
texto?
A Fantasmas.
B Invenciones de feria.
C Personajes de las películas.
D Actores.
Pregunta 4 109
¿Estás de acuerdo con la opinión final de los habitantes de Macondo sobre el valor
de las películas? Explica tu respuesta y compara tu actitud hacia las películas con la
suya.
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Tres pilotos, cada uno tras una cubierta de motor pesada como una barcaza,
perdidos en la noche, evaluaban su vuelo y, al acercarse a la ciudad inmensa,
bajarían lentamente de su cielo tormentoso o en calma, como extraños
campesinos que descienden de sus montañas.
Bien.
Pronto Rivière oiría ese avión; la noche abandonaba ya a uno de ellos, como un
mar, lleno de flujo y reflujo y misterios, abandona en la orilla el tesoro que ha
zarandeado tanto tiempo. Y más tarde, devolvería a los otros dos.
Antoine de Saint‐Exupéry. Vol de Nuit .
© Éditions Gallimard
1
Región del sur de Chile y Argentina
Página | 145
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Pregunta 2 109
«Destino Buenos Aires» se escribió en 1931. ¿Crees que hoy en día las
preocupaciones de Rivière serían parecidas? Justifica tu respuesta.
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Pregunta 3 109
Pregunta 4 109
Según el penúltimo párrafo («Pronto …») ¿en qué se parecen la noche y el mar?
A Los dos esconden lo que hay en ellos.
B Los dos son ruidosos.
C Los dos han sido domados por el hombre.
D Los dos son peligrosos para el hombre.
E Los dos son silenciosos.
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Página | 204
Página | 205
Utiliza los datos del recibo para rellenar la tarjeta de garantía. El nombre y los datos
del propietario ya se han rellenado.
Pregunta 2 109
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Pregunta 3 109
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Pregunta 4 109
Al final de la factura aparecen escritas las palabras “gracias por su compra”. Una de
las razones posibles para ello es sencillamente la de ser educado. ¿Cuál sería otra
posible razón?
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Sí No
1. Las ondas de radio Las ondas de radio no son lo
emitidas por los suficientemente potentes
teléfonos móviles pueden como para dañar el
elevar la temperatura de organismo elevando su
los tejidos del organismo temperatura.
y tener efectos dañinos.
Página | 240
Haz No hagas
Punto clave Limita la duración de las No uses el teléfono móvil
Dado el enorme
llamadas. si la recepción es débil,
número de
usuarios de
puesto que el teléfono
teléfonos móviles, necesita más potencia
incluso un para comunicarse con la
pequeño efecto estación base y las
adverso sobre la emisiones de ondas de
salud podría tener radio son más fuertes.
importantes
repercusiones
sobre la salud Mantén el móvil alejado No compres un teléfono
pública. del cuerpo cuando lo móvil con una tasa
lleves en modo de «SAR»1 elevada. Esto
espera. significa que emite más
radiación.
1
SAR (Tasa específica de absorción, en sus siglas en inglés): mide la cantidad de radiaciones electromagnéticas absorbidas por los tejidos
del organismo cuando se usa un teléfono móvil.
Página | 241
Pregunta 2 109
¿Qué relación tiene esta información con las afirmaciones del Punto 4 que aparecen
en las columnas Sí y No de la tabla ¿Son peligrosos los teléfonos móviles?
A Respalda el argumento de SÍ, pero no lo demuestra.
B Demuestra el argumento del SÍ.
C Respalda el argumento de NO, pero no lo demuestra.
D Muestra que el argumento del NO es falso.
Pregunta 3 109
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Página | 242
Appendix 3 - Survey
*Obligatorio
1. Name *
2. How many books did you read in this Free Voluntary Reading Stage? *
4. Before this project, how often did you read in your free time? *
Every day
Twice a week
Once a week
Once a month
Never
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bL1ewL_lyHr4n386ZbPlUyknZO9GYR-W6C39TGflzHc/edit 1/4
24/3/22, 19:01 Appendix 3 - Survey
5. After this project, how often do you read in your free time? *
Every day
Twice a week
Once a week
Once a month
Never
10
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bL1ewL_lyHr4n386ZbPlUyknZO9GYR-W6C39TGflzHc/edit 2/4
24/3/22, 19:01 Appendix 3 - Survey
10
10
9. How did you feel during this project? Use the adjectives that best represent your feelings during this
process *
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bL1ewL_lyHr4n386ZbPlUyknZO9GYR-W6C39TGflzHc/edit 3/4
24/3/22, 19:01 Appendix 3 - Survey
10. Do you think that reading for pleasure helps you improve your reading comprehension skills? *
Yes
No
I don't know
Formularios
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bL1ewL_lyHr4n386ZbPlUyknZO9GYR-W6C39TGflzHc/edit 4/4
APPENDIX
4
Appendix 4
PISA criteria, definition of technical words. This information was retrieved from:
OECD (2019), PISA 2018 Assessment and Analytical Framework, PISA, OECD
Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b25efab8-en.
Types of Texts
Continuous Texts
Continuous texts are formed by sentences organised into paragraphs. Examples
of continuous texts include newspaper reports, essays, novels, short stories, reviews
and letters. Graphically or visually, it is organised by its separation into sentences and
paragraphs with spacing (e.g. indentation) and punctuation conventions. Texts also
follow a hierarchical structure signalled by headings and content that help readers to
recognise its organisation. These markers also provide clues to text boundaries (showing
section completion, for example). The location of information is often facilitated by the
use of different font sizes, font types such as italic and boldface, and borders and
patterns. The use of typographical and format clues is an essential subskill of effective
reading.
Non-continuous Texts
Non-continuous texts are organised differently to continuous texts and therefore
require a different kind of reading approach. Most non-continuous texts are composed
of a number of lists (Kirsch and Mosenthal, 1990). Some are single, simple lists, but most
consist of several simple lists possibly crossed with one another.
Types of Process
Access and Retrieve
- Accessing and retrieving information within a piece of text: Locating information from
tables, text chapters or whole books is a skill in and by itself (Dreher and Guthrie,
1990; Moore, 1995; Rouet and Coutelet, 2008). Locating information draws on
readers' understanding of the demands of the task, their knowledge of text organisers
(e.g., headers, paragraphs) and their ability to assess the relevance of a piece of
text. The ability to locate information depends on readers' strategic awareness of
their information needs and their capacity to quickly disengage from irrelevant
passages (McCrudden and Schraw, 2007). In addition, readers sometimes have to
skim through a series of paragraphs in order to retrieve specific pieces of information.
This requires an ability to modulate one's reading speed and depth of processing and
to know when to keep in consideration or dismiss the information in the text (Duggan
and Payne, 2009). Access and retrieval tasks in PISA 2018 require the reader to
scan a single piece of text in order to retrieve target information composed of a few
words, phrases or numerical values. There is little or no need to comprehend the text
beyond the phrase level. The identification of target information is achieved through
literal or close to literal matching of elements in the question and in the text, although
some tasks may require inferences at the word or phrase level.
- Searching for and selecting relevant text: Proficient readers are able to select
information when faced with not just one, but also when faced with several pieces of
text. In electronic environments, the amount of available information often largely
exceeds the amount readers are able to actually process. In these multiple-text
reading situations, readers have to make decisions as to which of the available
pieces of text is the most important, relevant, accurate or truthful (Rouet and Britt,
2011). These decisions are based on readers' assessment of the qualities of the
pieces of text, which are made from partial and sometimes opaque indicators, such
as the information contained in a web link (Gerjets, Kammerer and Werner, 2011;
Mason, Boldrin and Ariasi, 2010; Naumann, 2015; Rieh, 2002). Thus, one's ability to
search for and select a piece of text from among a set of texts is an integral
component of reading literacy. In PISA 2018, text search and selection tasks involve
the use of text descriptors such as headers, source information (e.g. author, medium,
date), and embedded or explicit links such as search engine result pages.
When readers are faced with more than one text, integration and inference
generation may need to be performed based on pieces of information located in different
pieces of texts (Perfetti, Rouet and Britt, 1999). One specific problem that may arise
when integrating information across multiple pieces of text is that they might provide
inconsistent or conflicting information. In those cases, readers must engage in evaluation
processes in order to acknowledge and handle the conflict (Bråten, Strømsø and Britt,
2009; Stadtler and Bromme, 2014)
- Assessing quality and credibility: Competent readers can evaluate the quality and
credibility of the information in a piece of text: whether the information is valid, up-to-
date, accurate and/or unbiased. Proficient evaluation sometimes requires the reader
to identify and assess the source of the information: whether the author is competent,
well-informed and benevolent. Reflecting on content and form.
Competent readers must also be able to reflect on the quality and style of the
writing. This reflection involves being able to evaluate the form of the writing and how
the content and form together relate to and express the author’s purposes and point of
view. Reflecting also involves drawing upon one's knowledge, opinions or attitudes
beyond the text in order to relate the information provided within the text to one’s own
conceptual and experiential frames of reference. Reflection items may be thought of as
those that require readers to consult their own experience or knowledge to compare,
contrast or hypothesise different perspectives or viewpoints. Evaluation and reflection
were arguably always part of reading literacy, but their importance has increased with
the increased amount and heterogeneity of information readers are faced with today.
- Detecting and handling conflict: When facing multiple pieces of text that contradict
each other, readers need to be aware of the conflict and to find ways to deal with it
(Britt and Rouet, 2012; Stadtler and Bromme, 2013; 2014). Handling conflict typically
requires readers to assign discrepant claims to their respective sources and to
assess the soundness of the claims and/or the credibility of the sources. As these
skills underlie much of contemporary reading, it is an issue of critical importance to
measure the extent to which 15-year-olds can meet the new challenges of
comprehending, comparing and integrating multiple pieces of texts (Bråten et al.,
2011; Coiro et al., 2008; Goldman, 2004) Leu et al., 2015; Mason, Boldrin and Ariasi,
2010; Rouet and Britt, 2014).