Níveis de letramento em leitura: um estudo do desenvolvimento da competência leitora de ingressantes do Curso Normal

Abstract

The results of large-scale assessments have highlighted the difficulties that Brazilian students face in terms of their reading competence, as their reading proficiency is far below what is expected for their level of schooling. On the other hand, it is known that there has been a great and important advancement in linguistic theories and that reading has been at the center of several discussions and research in recent years. Therefore, the crucial question is: why is there still so much difficulty in relation to teaching and learning reading? In this context, this study aims to analyze the development of the reading competence of students entering the Normal Course at a public state school in Rio de Janeiro. The goal was to describe the levels of literacy in reading of these students, through activities applied before, during, and after the implementation of the intervention proposal mediated by the teacher's actions. The following hypotheses were made: (i) the students were not encouraged to develop a love for reading; (ii) in practice, at the school, there is a focus on decoding and locating information in the text; (iii) the students enter the Normal Course with a low level of reading proficiency; (iv) reading strategies are not taught and levels of literacy in reading are not developed; and (v) the analysis and evaluation of reading competence are more effective when the focus is on the process and not just the results of school assessments. The research is based on the sociocognitive theory (KOCH; CUNHA-LIMA, 2011). It is also grounded on the theoretical assumptions of Solé (1998), Tedesco (2012; 2020), Cosson (2021); among others. Methodologically, a qualitative action research was conducted. The results of the analyses confirmed the hypotheses of this research. It was found, in the analyzed sample, that many students were not encouraged to read during childhood, and that the school, through the teacher, is the main promoter of literary reading. The data revealed that teaching reading strategies enables students to develop their reading capacity, as the participating students entered the course with a low level of literacy in reading, but after the intervention proposal mediated by the teacher's actions, they developed their reading capacity, moving from level 2 to level 4. Therefore, the school needs to develop a reading program, aiming to equip the student so that they can actually read. It is essential that classes are planned based on reading skills, considering the levels of literacy. It is necessary to teach reading strategies, therefore, it is urgent to invest in the training, performance, and updating of teachers. Without this, it becomes difficult for the school to form proficient readers