Texts and learning tasks to favor the English reading comprehension process of the twelfth grade students at the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School of Holguin

Abstract

The point of departure for the development of this research were some insufficiencies detected through the analysis of the results obtained in tests applied to the twelfth grade students which affects the efficiency of the teaching – learning process at the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School of Holguin. In this school reading comprehension is considered to be a central ability in this grade and English is taught following the communicative approach in direct relation with ESP in order to help the students to consult materials related to fields of military study and their specific terminological vocabulary. The aferesaid insufficiencies were corroborated through pertinent inquiry by means of research methods. Then, with the purpose to contribute a solution to the specific problem, this paper proposes texts and learning tasks related to the military context so as to improve reading comprehension and increase the level of motivation in these estudents. For the accomplishment of this goal the proposal is based on the theoretical study made on the elements involved in an efficient reading comprehension process, namely: phases, reading strategies and abilities, the role of motivation, the requirements for text selection and for planning learning tasks. A validation of the proposal was developed through a pre- experiment. The analysis of the results shows that the implementation of this work favored the development of reading comprehension in the twelfth grade students at the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School of Holguin.