A classroom study of literary text talks

Varga, A. (2017). Metacognitive perspectives on the development of reading comprehension: A classroom study of literary text-talks, Literacy 51(1), 19-25.

Background

Reading comprehension involves a number of skills and strategies to understand and critically interact with texts. Students sometimes struggle with making sense of texts as they are not equipped with relevant skills, particularly metacognitive skills, to engage in strategic reading to think about what they have read and how they read. Explicit instruction in these skills can support students in navigating various texts and developing metacognition, leading to enhanced learning.

Aims

This study examines how reading strategy instruction in developing metacognitive skills helps to enhance students’ reading comprehension. Learners’ use of both cognitive and metacognitive skills while reading texts is critical to learning success.

Sample

This longitudinal research project studied two classes of students over a four-year period from Grades 6 to 9.

Method

The two classes were taught by two pairs of teachers with one class per pair, supported by a teacher of special needs. To develop students’ reading comprehension, the teachers used fiction for textual discussions. The teachers participated in on-going professional training to gain the knowledge and skills to teach metacognition in reading.

The teachers engaged the students in teacher-led discussions of literary texts and applied specific teaching strategies to develop students’ metacognition. They focussed on the students’:

premises for queries, approaches and viewpoints

interpretations and feelings evoked by the texts

use of reading comprehension strategies

awareness of the interaction between text and reader

use of meta-language

ability to communicate their thoughts and experiences

Video recordings of the lessons in both classrooms were made. These videos were analysed and discussed with the teachers to assess student outcomes and formed the basis for future teacher professional development.

Findings

The explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies facilitated the students’ ability to engage in metacognitive operations such as recognising and making distinct the premises of their queries, approaches and viewpoints. The students noticed and named their interpretation processes and emotional experiences from reading the text. They explained their choice of reading strategies using meta-language. Students became aware of the process of the readers’ interaction with texts that produced meaning as they read and also of the potential of texts to generate meanings of their own.

Implications

The study provided teachers with useful tools to develop students’ reading and metacognition. The students could apply them at their discretion and enhance their reading comprehension. The author recommended that these strategies be adapted and taught at other levels.

Original article retrieved from EBSCOHost.