Considerando a valorização da língua espanhola no contexto educacional brasileiro nos últimos anos, seja por meio da publicação da Lei 11.161/2005 e dos documentos oficiais, seja pela inserção de questões desse idioma no Exame Nacional para o Ensino Médio (Enem), a partir de 2010; considerando também a importância desse exame que tem objetivos bastante amplos, como a avaliação do desempenho do aluno concluinte da educação básica, a seleção de candidatos para o ensino superior e, inclusive, a possibilidade de servir de base para a reestruturação dos currículos do ensino médio, conforme parecer de aprovação da matriz do novo Enem, emitido pelo Conselho Nacional de Secretários de Educação, em 2009, julgamos importante e procedente pesquisar o tema avaliação, focalizando os estudos sobre os instrumentos utilizados para medir as habilidades de língua espanhola no referido exame de abrangência nacional. Para levar a cabo tal propósito, inicialmente traçamos um breve panorama a respeito do ensino de espanhol no Brasil, a fim de percorrer a trajetória dessa língua e compreender as possíveis razões que motivaram sua inclusão no novo formato do Enem. Na sequência, apresentamos os pressupostos teóricos, discutindo aspectos relacionados à avaliação, à leitura e aos procedimentos de avaliação da compreensão leitora. Em seguida, comentamos a Matriz de Referência (2009), divulgada pelo Ministério de Educação e pelo Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (Inep), e que apresenta as habilidades consideradas em cada área do conhecimento do ensino médio. Também discorremos sobre a Matriz de Questões, elaborada por Nery (2002) em sua tese doutoral e que, levando-se em conta alguns ajustes, permite analisar o nível de complexidade das perguntas propostas em provas de língua estrangeira como o Enem. No capítulo seguinte, fazemos um estudo dos textos, dos enunciados e das alternativas presentes nas versões das provas consideradas, conforme fundamentação teórica e metodologia expostas nos capítulos anteriores. Analisamos as questões de espanhol presentes nas três versões do exame: as provas de 2010 a primeira e a segunda aplicação; e a de 2011. De modo geral, constatamos que os itens solicitaram basicamente: a associação entre tema e título com base na compreensão global da mensagem proposta; a identificação de informações expressas; e o reconhecimento da 22 intenção do texto ou do gênero textual. Ao mesmo tempo em que não identificamos questões que privilegiassem o domínio de regras gramaticais e do léxico de forma descontextualizada, é preciso ressaltar que alguns itens puderam ser respondidos somente fundamentados na compreensão do enunciado redigido em português, ou no conhecimento prévio, isto é, sem que o leitor tivesse que revelar a compreensão do texto em língua estrangeira. Ao final do trabalho, apresentamos as referências bibliográficas e, nos anexos, constam as provas analisadas, além de outros textos aos quais nos referimos nas análises. / Considering firstly Spanish language value in Brazilian educational context in late years, not only because of the 11.161/2005 law publication, but also because of the presentation of Spanish language questions in Exame Nacional para o Ensino Médio (Enem) since 2010, and, secondly, the importance of this exam as a form to evaluate the students from the final period of basic education in Brazil; equally important the selection of candidates to the undergraduation courses, as well as the possibility of this exam to serve as the initial base to reconstruct Brazilian high school period curriculums in accordance with Enem syllabus approval established by Conselho Nacional de Secretários de Educação in 2009, we consider important and relevant to research the theme evaluation by focusing on the instrument used to measure Spanish language abilities in this referring Brazilian exam. To do so, initially we construct a brief panorama concerning the Spanish language teaching practice in Brazil in order to understand the ways of this language in the educational context and comprehend the possible reasons that motivate the Spanish language inclusion in Enem. In addition, we present the theoretical review by aiming at discussing the aspects related to evaluation, to reading and to the procedures of evaluating the students reading comprehension abilities. Moreover, we discuss specifically the Matriz de Referência (2009), published by Ministério de Educação and by Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (Inep), which introduces the considered abilities in each area of Brazilian high school period as well as the Matriz de Questões based on Nerys Doctoral Dissertation (2002) which allows to analyze the complexity level of proposed tasks in foreign language questions in final exams like Enem. In the following chapter, we construct a study concerning the texts, the task commands and the alternatives presented in the considered exams versions based on the theoretical review and the methodology explained in the previous chapters. We analyze the Spanish language questions presented in three Enem exam versions: the exams from 2010 the first and the second appliances and from 2011, the third one. In a general view, we comprehend that the questions demanded basically: association between theme and title based on the global comprehension in the proposed message; the identification of expressed information; 22 and the recognition of text intention or the text genre. At the same time that we do not identify questions which are focused on grammar rules or vocabulary forms, it is necessary to reinforce that some items could be answered only based on the comprehension of the task commands written in Portuguese, or just based on the students previous knowledge. In the end of this investigation, we present the bibliographical references, Enem exams analyzed and the other texts referred in this present study.

Self-assessment as a placement measure or accurate assessment of skill has been scrutinized in previous research. Findings have shown a general human tendency towards overconfidence in performance (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). This study looks at performance self-appraisals in an ESL population, with participants from varying cultural backgrounds. Performance self-appraisal calibration is a measure of the relationship between an examinee's perceived skill (or confidence) and their actual skill (or ability) on a given exam item (Phakiti, 2016). Being well-calibrated is an indication that test takers know their strengths and weaknesses and thus the difference between confidence and ability is minimal, whereas poorly calibrated examinees may be oblivious to their weaknesses. While some research has explored self-appraisal calibration in first language (Hassmén & Hunt, 1994; Gutierrez & Schraw, 2015; Stankov & Lee, 2014) and foreign language contexts (Bastola, 2016; Phakiti, 2016), the language research has been limited to the performance of native language speakers on norm-referenced tests. It still needs to be determined how test takers would perform on a criterion-referenced exam with items of differing difficulty parameters administered to examinees from different language backgrounds. To that end, a proficiency-based criterion-referenced reading comprehension test was administered to 96 ESL students with 8 different language backgrounds. To measure confidence, a pre- and post-test questionnaire was administered in addition to a confidence slider bar that was embedded into each test item. We investigated correlations between cultural background and item difficulty on the students' self-appraisal calibrations. Our results showed that ESL students were overconfident in their self-calibrations, and their overconfidence was more pronounced as item difficulty increased. There were significant differences based on native language background. Implications will be discussed.

Language is a reflection of society, so knowing about a language also means knowing about a culture. Therefore, many types of literature have been used as a language education tool representing culture. This thesis proposed folktales as an effective material of not only introducing culture but also learning language. Since folktales are old stories that have passed from generation to generation for a long time, values and morals of a culture are naturally presented in the context of the stories. Furthermore, folktales could enhance students' reading comprehension because the story lines, phrases, and words in a story are used repeatedly. Due to this repeated use of language, students could learn expressions and vocabulary more effectively. This study examined the relationship between using Korean folktales in a foreign language class and learners' reading comprehension and cultural understanding. The participants were the students of Korean 201 at BYU. The experimental group had folktale courses once in every week for 10 weeks while they received usual language class from Monday to Thursday, whereas the control group received usual language class every day. The Test in Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) was administered for observing the students' enhancement in reading proficiency, and the Likert-scale surveys were given for observing their enhancement in cultural understanding. In addition to the quantitative data, qualitative data was gathered from the oral interviews of the experimental group. The interview questions were about their experiences and attitudes towards the use of folktales in Korean class. The results of the study showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups due to the many limitations of the present study, but the participants' interviews revealed that the students felt the use of folktales in language class helped to enhance their reading comprehension and cultural understanding, and they had positive attitudes toward to using folktales.

L'évaluation d'un objet est intrinsèquement liée à la définition que l'on pose de celui-ci. Si à un certain niveau de généralité, ce qu'est comprendre un texte semble aller de soi, une recension des travaux en psychologie cognitive, du développement, en didactique, en sociolinguistique, montre au contraire le caractère polymorphe de cet objet qu'on peine à définir. Dès lors, comment évaluer ce que l'on peine à circonscrire, même par exclusion ? Toujours dans le but de cerner ce qu'on entend par compréhension, nous avons mené quatre enquêtes. La première repose sur des entretiens avec des enseignants autour d'une épreuve (texte + questions), en vue de décrire leur manière de se représenter la compréhension et ses difficultés. La deuxième, centrée sur l'analyse des questions repose sur la constitution et une première analyse d'un corpus d'environ 200 questions proposées lors d'évaluations nationales sur la compréhension de textes narratifs. Analyser les questions ne pouvant se faire sans prendre en compte l'activité de réponse, nous avons proposé ensuite deux expériences. La première procède d'une sorte de raisonnement par « l'absurde »: peut-on répondre à des questionnaires de compréhension sans le texte y afférant ? La seconde a pour but de cerner les spécificités des épreuves, en proposant aux mêmes élèves quatre tâches (rappel, reconnaissance, jugement d'importance et QCM) sur deux textes différents. Ces analyses convergent pour montrer que chaque tâche donne un portrait différent de la compréhension et que l'on passe parfois rapidement d'une compréhension d'un texte à la compréhension de textes. / The evaluation of an object is intrinsically linked to the way one defines it. In seeking to define narrative texts comprehension, we have educed multiple facets of this process: cognitiv psychology, psychology of development, didactics, sociolinguistics, which each in their way clarifies an aspect of texts comprehension. This being the case, how can an object so polymorphous be evaluated? To properly understand the functioning of MCQs, the most common method for evaluating texts comprehension, we have undertaken four separate investigations. The first was based on interviews with teachers about a given examination (text plus questions), with the aim of being able to formulate how one depicts texts comprehension and its difficulties. The second investigation, centered on the analysis of questions, was based on the constitution of a corpus of about 200 questions used in nationwide tests of narrative texts comprehension , and a first-level analysis. Analyzing questions necessitates taking into consideration the activity of replying to questions, so we developed two further experiments. The first proceeded from a sort of "reasoning by the absurd": can one reply to questions without cognizance of the corresponding text? The second aimed to identify the specificities of tests, by proposing to the same students four tasks (recall, recognition, relative importance judgments and QMCs) for two different texts. These analyses converge to demonstrate that each kind of task generates a specific profile view of texts comprehension, and that sometimes one passes rapidly from the comprehension of a given text to the general texts comprehension reading competencies.

This study evaluated the effect of an explicit comprehension read-aloud routine of science content on first grade students’ listening comprehension.The read-aloud routine taught the structures common in the informational text (compare, contrast, and compare-contrast) and found in first grade science big books with the goal of improving understanding of the science content. Students who received the intervention showed improvements in their ability to understand the compare-contrast text structures compared to students who were taught the same content without the routine or students who were taught typical science read-aloud content without the routine. Observations revealed that teachers who were most consistent in implementing high quality comprehension strategies during the read aloud had students who made the best gains in listening comprehension of the content, regardless of whether the teachers used explicit text the compare-contrast text structure routine.The results demonstrated that even though the instruction of the compare-contrast text structures was not necessary to produce listening comprehension of science content, the compare-contrast instruction added value to the high quality comprehension instruction for students assigned to the intervention group. The results of the study are discussed in terms of the available research on instruction of informational text structures in the early grades. Recommendations for future research are provided.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Drawing on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study - PIRLS (Howie, et al., 2008), which highlights the reading literacy crisis in South African schools, this study investigated the literacy crisis in relation to reading literacy in Grade Four of the Intermediate Phase. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the debate about challenges around the reading literacy acquisition of South African school children by investigating the current teaching and assessing of reading comprehension practices of language teachers in multilingual Grade Four classes in disadvantaged contexts, focusing on reading comprehension in English and Afrikaans Home language. This study uses a qualitative research approach. Data was collected in Grade Four Afrikaans and English Home Language classes at two schools in the Western Cape, using observation, interviews and document analysis. To analyze the data, the study aligns itself with a learner-centered model (Wilhelm 2004). This learner-centered model draws on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural and constructivist teaching and learning approaches and will be the foundation to analyze current teaching and assessing of reading comprehension practices of language teachers in the Grade Four Afrikaans and English Home Language classes at two multilingual schools focusing on teachers’ questioning skills. It is hoped that this study will contribute to an understanding of the current reading literacy crisis experienced in South African schools and inform more effective teacher training.

This study deals with reading problems faced by the advanced level students in the Institute of International Relations (I.I.R.) in Hanoi. It seeks to identify ways in which the teachers there can help their students to read authentic texts in English with a high level of comprehension. The study begins with a description of the training of the young diplomats and researchers. It considers the problems faced by the teachers and students, and looks into the role of English in general and English reading comprehension in particular in the I.I.R. Bearing in mind the objectives of the training, the study discusses the goals for teaching reading comprehension at an advanced level and lays emphasis on the importance of using appropriate techniques for teaching reading skills at this level. The writer of the study also looks at the relevant issues in theories of reading comprehension which are discussed in current literature. These theoretical issues are then related to the reality of teaching in the I.I.R. Finally, to illustrate all the techniques and skills for teaching reading comprehension which have been dealt with earlier in the study, the writer presents a sample reading lesson. It is his hope that the presentation, and indeed the whole study, will be of value to his colleagues at the I.I.R., and to others who teach reading in similar situations.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

<p>The dissertation Reading Texts or ”Reality” investigate teachers use of interpretive communities in teaching literature in secondary school. It discusses how different learning outcomes generates from three interpretory frames for reading. Teachers can be looked upon as critics when they show unexperienced readers why and how they read an interprete literary texts. In their teaching,they don´t relate only to their students but also to thier own conception of subject matter and to a broader discourse in society that deals with questions of why and how we read literature. Following voices of the discourse are included in the study: eight teachers, curriculum texts, a journal for the profession and a journal för scholors.</p><p>Teachers combine several aims in their teaching of literature. They use literature to discuss life, gender and problems related to young people, text as faction. But, they also try to teach their students about narrathology and how to understand and interpretate fictional texts, text as fiction and a world of signs. The curriculum, however, means that literature is read only to gain knowledge about the world,oneself and other people. A contradiction is that one of the criterias for assement includes knowledge of texts and methodology from the academic subject. One of the other voices in the discourse, a journal for scholors, talk about the literary texts but very seldom about teaching the texts. Another voice, a journal for teachers in Swedish, follows the curriculum closely and discusses reading literature as a way to get knowledge of the world.</p><p>Research in subject matter didactics can investigate teaching, relate different aims to different outcomes and show possibilities for teaching literature and reading comprehension. If we choose only one interpretive community, we get one kind of reading comprehension.If we combine two in a complex teaching strategy, we extend learning and reading comprehension of our students.</p>