The use of graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension in a pre-intermediate efl class at Sagrados Corazones high school, Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

This research focuses on the use of graphic organizers to help improve reading comprehension in a kind of pre-intermediate level of English in a private school in Cuenca, Ecuador. The lack of reading skills can affect academic performance of students making it necessary to provide them with tools that will facilitate improvement. Several benefits obtained by the use of graphic organizers and reading tools have been tested as a positive influence on comprensiónlectora, so it was considered that its application should be extended to teaching English Ysus effects on learning should be studied in systematic. The methodology used was mainly quantitatively by applying a pretest, 14 reading comprehension activities, a subsequent test and a questionnaire applied to experimental and control groups. Data were processed and analyzed by comparing the quantitative results obtained by the participants. Additional information on the experiences, feelings and opinions of students was also included in the experiment. Chapter I presents the basic theoretical context and variables in this study. Chapter II describes the methodology, its application, investigative tools used and data collected. Chapter III presents and interprets the data collected. The results show that the hypothesis was correct: Using Graphic Organizers positively influence reading comprehension. Finally, Chapter IV expresses the conclusions, suggestions and recommendations made based on the results.