A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of D. Litt. In Communication Science University of Zululand, 2006. / In this dissertation the researcher examines the primary and contributing fac¬tors which can be identified that affect the reading capabilities of learners in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. This research focuses on an investigation to determine whether the inter¬related factors co-determine problems that South African learners are experiencing with spelling and the reading of written texts of non-technical to technical levels of complexity. The researcher reviews academic literature that identifies a theoretical framework that serves as a backdrop to the interpretation of the empirical results, by providing insight into the conceptual, cognitive and neurophysiological basis that make the process of reading possible in humans, by examining the phonological perspective of reading and, by investigating the common reading problems. An em¬pirical survey examining the learners reading habits in correlation with factors from the home and school environment that influence the reading skills of the learners is presented. To this effect the factors affecting the reading skills of learners in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 are correlated with factors such as the existence of a reacting culture in homes, and the learners' entertainment and extracurricular activities. The researcher reports, analyzes, and interprets the results of the data mat were obtained via the questionnaires and that were captured using the statistical computer program SPSS 11.5. The empirical results and the analysis of the fieldwork reveal that the learners' entertainment and extracurricular activities ate affecting their reading skills, and that the role of their parents and the school involvement in promoting the culture of read¬ing has contributed to the poor reading results in our learners.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Monica Uliani Kuchartscik.pdf: 4060178 bytes, checksum: d9baadd19ecf2ee6a8d8d94670f09daf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-26 / This study aims at (1) developing English reading activities for students of Ensino Médio focused on the education of a reader who is able to establish responsive understanding of the texts he reads and (2) analyzing the students interactions with selected website hypertexts in order to understand which aspects of the interaction may enhance meaning construction. The work is based on the concepts of utterances (Bakhtin, 1997, 2002) and responsive understanding (Bakhtin, 1997, 2002); the sociointeractionist view (Vygotsky, 1995, 1998), the development of reading capabilities (Rojo, 2004) and reading in hypertext environment (Burbules & Callister, 1996; Burbules ,1997; Lemke, 2002, 2005, Braga, 2005; Ribeiro, 2005; Marcuschi, 2005). The methodological approach was the case study. The English learning material consisted of a sequence of reading activities. The analysis of the meaning construction considered the students performance in the activities, their interactions with the teacher and with the computer as a technological tool. The results show that the development of reading capabilities focused on responsive understanding, as well as the interaction of the students with the teacher and the technological tool contributed to the education of a reader who is able to establish responsive understanding of the hypertexts he reads. The visually salient information of electronic hypertexts was particularly important in the meaning construction process. Cognate words, symbols, numbers, proper nouns, single images and images associated with verbal language, which were visually salient in the hypertexts segments, were mediational artifacts for meaning construction. Hypertext links were used by the students not only as searching tools, but also as artifacts for meaning construction in the reading process / O presente estudo tem como objetivos: (1) desenvolver atividades de leitura no componente curricular Língua Estrangeira para alunos do Ensino Médio com vistas à formação de um leitor capaz de estabelecer compreensão responsiva com relação aos enunciados lidos e (2) conduzir uma análise da interação dos alunos com os textos escolhidos para a leitura, hipertextos de websites, de modo a verificar quais aspectos dessa interação podem favorecer a construção de sentidos. O trabalho fundamenta-se nos conceitos de enunciado (Bakhtin,1997, 2002) e de compreensão responsiva (Bakhtin, 1997, 2002); na teoria sociointeracionista (Vygotsky, 1995,1998), no desenvolvimento de capacidades de leitura (Rojo, 2004) e nas particularidades da leitura no hipertexto eletrônico (Burbules & Callister, 1996; Burbules ,1997; Lemke, 2002, 2005, Braga, 2005; Ribeiro, 2005; Marcuschi, 2005). A abordagem metodológica foi a de estudo de caso (Robson, 1993; Stake, 1995; Yin, 2005), em que se considerou uma atividade orientada de leitura na forma de uma Unidade Didática (UD). A construção de sentidos realizada pelos participantes foi analisada por meio das respostas dos alunos às questões da UD e as suas interações com a professora e com a ferramenta tecnológica computador. Os resultados demonstram que o desenvolvimento de capacidades de apreciação e réplica do leitor em relação aos hipertextos, assim como a interação dos alunos com a professora e com a ferramenta tecnológica computador contribuíram para a formação de um leitor capaz de estabelecer compreensão responsiva com relação aos hipertextos lidos. A organização das informações no hipertexto de websites foi particularmente relevante no processo de construção de sentidos por apresentar muitas saliências visuais. Foram artefatos mediadores para a construção de sentidos na atividade de leitura: itens lexicais cognatos, índices de interpretação textual, imagens e imagens associadas à linguagem escrita visualmente salientes nos segmentos hipertextuais. O uso de links também se destacou não só como instrumento de busca, mas também de construção de sentidos