Análisis lingüístico y didáctico de un texto de ciencias como base para la propuesta de actividades de lectura

Abstract

The need to deal with reading comprehension in disciplinar areas has been pointed out by some researchers. Within the framework of contemporary didactic approaches, this means that the teacher has to play the role of mediator between the student/reader and the texts. Such mediation should be planned for each text having into account the educational aims and the specific contents which, at the same time, frame the selection process of the materials to be used in the classroom. In this work, we present the design and implementation of a proposal for reading a Natural Sciences text taking into account theoretical guidelines within the theory of Systemic-Functional Linguistics whose objective is to promote reading comprehension and disciplinary learning in secondary education. It includes discourse analysis and design of reading activities of a Chemistry text, taken from a school textbook, about the periodic properties of the chemical elements. Firstly, we examined in detail the selected text to identify: (a) the genres used to present the topic; (b) the textual and linguistic elements which can become comprehension facilitators; and (c) the discursive aspects which could become a potential obstacle for approaching the discipline content. From this analysis, we secondly organized the reading activities in three stages: preparing for reading, detailed reading, and elaborating the meaning of the text. Finally, we applied this proposal to a group of high school students. The results obtained, collected from the classes registers and a final questionnaire, let us affirm that this way of approaching the text has been quite novel compared to the usual reading practices in the disciplines and has resulted in the deepening of the chemistry content, highlighting positively the interaction and participation during the classes.