A Set of Exercises to Develop Reading Comprehension Skills in Eleventh Grade Students at Micaela Riera Oquendo Senior High School in Manzanillo

Abstract

The present research work is intended to offer a practical solution to a problem that has been present in eleventh grade students at Micaela Riera Oquendo Senior High School in Manzanillo, considering the low level of development of the reading skills in English, what really hindered the teaching-learning process of the subject. This work offers some valuable set of exercises and texts to improve the skill under research to contribute to make the learning of this ability more effective and lasting. It has a paramount importance because it offered a solution to a problem that has been latent for courses and though it was attended through the methodological way, it actually did not work at all. At the same time, it propitiates the work with the other communicative skills, bearing in mind the dialectic interaction of the four aspects of the verbal activity in the act of communication. Throughout the process of investigation, different scientific methods were applied: theoretical, empirical and statistical ones. Among the theoretical methods, the induction-deduction and the analysis-synthesis were very useful. The empirical methods, such as the observation, the interview and the pedagogical test yielded interesting data to determine the real state of the problem and to prove its effectiveness. The statistical method was also used considering the descriptive statistics. The application of the set of exercises proved to be a useful tool to contribute to develop the reading skills, especially the predicting, skimming and scanning sub skills which were the most affected ones in the teaching learning process of the English subject. The research work is split into introduction, development and conclusion as well as bibliography and annexes.