Trayectoria educativa y comprensión lectora de estudiantes de ELE de tercer ciclo en Japón

The present study aims at evaluating the curricular reform of the reading comprehension subject (levels B1-B2) carried out in a Japanese university specializing in teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language in 2019. The study conceptualizes reading comprehension as social activity and not as textual processing, which is the way numerous approaches often characterize it. Social activity is regulated by learners’ education trajectories. The methodology deployed was participatory action research. Two case studies corresponding to the two groups were conducted. The first had 31 participants and the second one 24. After determining learners’ education trajectories by means of coding the results of a questionnaire according to grounded theory, we proceeded to longitudinally analyze the discursive production of students in their responses to reading comprehension questions in three different assessments. The results allowed to conclude that students with intrinsic motivation trajectories, focused on understanding the world, obtained better levels of development and academic performance than those with extrinsic motivation trajectories, based on a pragmatic view of the reading activity (language learning, carrying out a learning task, landing a job). The study also established that the courses allowed most students to undergo significative reading comprehension development, even though, for some students, this was not reflected in their academic performance. For that reason, the introduction of dynamic methods of assessment is recommended. Finally, it was concluded that, by favoring the cultivation or adoption of intrinsic motivation trajectories, the reform was effective and fulfilled its objectives.