engleski

The Development of Reading (Meta)Comprehension in the EFL Literacy Landscape: A Case Study

Reading is generally considered to be the first half of the literacy equation (reading + writing = literacy), impossible without a cognitive activity, which implies an intrapersonal problem-solving task taking place within the brain’s architecture. This operation includes, among other things, the reader’s comprehension monitoring, so the ways in which s/he approaches a text are also a part of literacy. Establishing contact with a text, the reader processes language messages ; hence, this procedure requires knowledge of language. In comparison with reading in a native language, reading in a non-native language is even more complex because of its dual-language processing system and, consequently, continual interactions between the two languages. This is theoretical background of the single case study described in the paper, since it follows a developmental path of an EFL learner (Croatian teenager) with special focus on his reading ability. The main aim was to find out how his (meta)comprehension would develop over a longer period of exposure to EFL in the school setting. It was based on the hypothesis that the longer exposure would result in the better awareness of comprehension during the reading process. The study was conducted in two parts that comprised a number of stages. Being a case study, multiple sources and techniques were applied in gathering data, both qualitative and quantitative, such as: multiple-choice comprehension test, questionnaire for measuring the reader’s awareness of strategic reading processes (in grade 5), English proficiency test, cloze-test, self-revelation (stream-of-consciousness data) technique, interview, observation (in grade 8). The study supported a view according to which reading in a non-native language represents a demanding problem-solving process, while strategies are seen as responses to comprehension (and other) problems in a text. In addition, it showed that the longer exposure to a foreign language in the formal learning conditions may not contribute to a great success in this sense. Strategies targeted at the development of (meta)comprehension should be, thus, regularly and actively integrated in the classroom as they enable the reader/learner to have conscious control over his/her own understanding or lack of it.

(meta)comprehension, dynamic system, case study, reading strategies, EFL reading

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