Analysis of Reading Competence in the Formation of High School Students. A Study on the Levels of Development Achieved

Abstract

The analysis of reading competence in students from upper middle education it must be related to theoretical conceptions, the strategies to be implemented for its development, as well as the evaluation proposals on the performances achieved by the students in the levels of literal, inferential and critical-analogical reading. The objective of the present work was to diagnose the reading competence in the students for being one of the key communicative actions in their school and social formation. In order to reach this, a systematic review of the specialized literature on the topic of reading competence was carried out, in order to measure the levels of reading performance into the learners. The research was taken from the quantitative approach with a descriptive scope, because a series of educational events were searched to be interpreted. The design was not cross-sectional experimental, since an aptitude test was applied for the measurement of reading competence to students of the fifth semester of the 2017-2018 school year of three systems: the Centro Escolar Pdte. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, the high schools of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) and the Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Puebla (Cobaep). The selection of study subjects was based on a non-probabilistic sample, when a subgroup of the population derived from the characteristics of their school contexts was chosen. The test was made by a set of questions that gave a series of results on the performance and management of the reading competition by the high school students. As a result of the research, it was found that the students have several levels of understanding such as: 1) to read the lines —the literal action—; 2) to read between lines —the implicit action—, and 3) to read behind the lines —the point of view, values ​​and assumptions—. So, it is important to match these three levels of comprehension, which are part of the reading competence, because when the student dominates a text, he activates his learning dimensions when he estimates and performs in a complex situation. The student, from reading, has the ability to generate mental representations that are the basis of the functioning of reading competence, which reaches its relevance in contemporary scenarios for being the subject of attention in regional, national and international education systems. The upper middle education subsystems of Puebla must promote strategies that involve teachers and students in order to take advantage of the bibliographic collections, as well as generating actions that promote reading. Students are expected to share moments of consultation, research and reading with different purposes encouraging the interaction and exchange of ideas.