Reading comprehension in primary school: textbooks, curriculum and assessment

Araújo, Luísa; Folgado, Célia; Pocinho, Margarida

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/190

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Authors

Araújo, Luísa

Folgado, Célia

Pocinho, Margarida

Abstract(s)

This study describes the reading comprehension processes present in the most widely sold textbooks at the fourth grade level in Portugal and discusses how they compare to international assessments of reading literacy. We adopted the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study framework to categorize the questions in the textbooks. Our analyses revealed that they focus heavily on the retrieval of explicitly stated information to the detriment of higher level comprehension skills. Portuguese fourth grade textbooks rarely challenge students to make connections between their knowledge and the ideas in the texts and to adopt a critical and evaluative reading stance. This is in sharp contrast to what students are asked to do in the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study, conducted every five years since 2001, and it may help explain the poor results Portuguese students have in national assessment and in PISA. The findings are discussed in light of the curriculum frameworks currently adopted in Portugal and suggestions are made as to how we can improve reading literacy achievement.

Keywords

Reading comprehension Literacy Assessment Curriculum Textbook Primary school . Centro de Artes e Humanidades

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/190

Citation

Araújo, L., Folgado., C., & Pocinho, M.(2009). Reading comprehension in primary school: textbooks, curriculum, and assessment. L1 – Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 9(4), 27-43.