Activities and interactions in classes to promote reading comprehension

Abstract

This study focuses on reading comprehension instruction by analysing classroom activities and interactions. Mixed methods of a qualitative nature were used to analyse 38 basic education classes that were recorded as part of the Chilean national teacher evaluation for the years 2009 and 2013, and where the lesson focus was specifically text comprehension. These classes were categorised according to the stages of reading (pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading), and interaction cycles between the teacher and students as a function of reading. The results indicate that there are recurring activities that may constitute patterns in both the 2009 and 2013 classes, which, despite promoting dialogue initially, are teacher-led by means of a monologic discourse, with small changes in interpretation in the samples corresponding to the year 2013.