The Design of a Theme-Based and Genre-Oriented Strategic Reading Course to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills at a Public School in Colombia

• Main Author: Fabián Padilla De La Cerda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ASOCOPI 2016-04-01
• Series: HOW
• Subjects: Content-based instruction; genre approach; reading comprehension; reading strategies; syllabus design
• Online Access: http://howjournalcolombia.org/index.php/how/article/view/143

This paper reports the process of designing and partially implementing and evaluating a content-based and genre-oriented syllabus with a group of ninth graders at a public school in Barranquilla, Colombia. The syllabus sought to promote reading strategies in order to improve learners’ comprehension of natural science texts. The results of this intervention show that the use of academic texts with low achievers, who in turn can develop a good comprehension of different kind of texts, is possible if these students are aware of the structure of the texts they are reading and if they are provided with reading strategies that are appropriate for each genre.