Résultat de la recherche
Reading comprehension strategies used by Chilean deaf adults. A think-aloud study
This qualitative study aimed to identify and analyse reading comprehension strategies used by five deaf adults, 22–47 years old,who were close to complete or had lready completed their studies at a higher education institution. The method chosen was a partial replication of the one used by Banner and Wang (2011) in their think-aloud study to describe cognitive and metacognitive reading comprehension strategies use among deaf students and adults. The present study included similar interview questions and think-aloud procedures, which were conducted by a deaf teacher, native user of Chilean Sign Language (LSCh). Participants read informational texts and were interrupted three times during the reading task to answer questions about their cognitive and metacognitive processes. Results showed that these deaf adults can use strategies from all he categories identified by Pressley and Afflerbach (1995) : constructing meaning, monitoring and improving comprehension, and evaluating comprehension. Some strategies described in the study from Banner and Wang were observed only in individual cases, and some of them were not used at all. The deaf participants of this study also used some strategies that were not included in some previous studies. Since very few deaf adults in Chile have completed higher education, the information provided by this study could be useful in guiding interventions aimed to improve reading comprehension in elementary, highschool, and college DHH students. The relevance of early experiences with reading, and motivational factors associated to reading achievement are discussed.
Chilean deaf adolescents’ experiences with reading: beliefs and practices associated to different types of reading activities
Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students’ difficulties with written language have been consistently reported, but there are few studies about deaf students’ reading practices and experiences. This study aimed to characterize past and current reading experiences of Chilean D/HH adolescents. There were 46 participating students (7th–12th graders). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, which addressed students’ beliefs about reading, early experiences with books, preferred reading material, and perceptions of themselves as readers. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results show that, for students, reading is an arduous and not much enjoyed activity; it becomes a task they try to avoid and which they circumscribe mostly to the school context. Some of them report enjoying interacting with other types of texts, especially when these include pictures, but they do not seem to consider them as true reading activities. Reading difficulties faced in their early school years are still present. Students tend to blame their difficulties on limited vocabulary knowledge and to ask for help from teachers and parents in order to understand text. Most of them are not independent readers, and having to rely on someone else to understand text perpetuates their view of themselves as non-readers. Results are interpreted within a sociocultural framework to understand learning and motivation; the discussion includes suggestions for improving teaching practices.