Browsing by Author "Romero Castro, Walter Roberto"

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The effectiveness of sustained silent reading in the EFL classroom
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2020-02-26) Romero Castro, Walter Roberto; Rodas Pacheco, Fabián Darío
Reading is one of the most important skills students need in order to succeed in school and in life. A shared hypothesis about reading is that students improve their reading competence by reading in great amounts. The present study is a research synthesis, which reviews recent research into the overall effectiveness of an in-class extensive reading program known as Sustained Silent Reading in the English as a Foreign Language context. The study includes experimental and quasi-experimental studies conducted in diverse educational institutions around the world where English is taught as a foreign language among students whose ages ranged from 13 to adulthood. After a thorough literature search and by defining an inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total number of 15 primary studies (one PhD dissertation and 14 research articles) from 2000 to 2018 involving a total of 1,264 participants were gathered. The research synthesis aimed to explore whether sustained silent reading was effective in improving students’ cognitive skills such as reading comprehension. It also explored the affective benefits on students such as shifting their attitude towards reading. Findings revealed that (1) sustained silent reading plays a significant role on improving EFL students’ reading comprehension, and (2) sustained silent reading has a substantial effect in increasing EFL students’ reading attitudes. At the end of this synthesis, the results and conclusions in the current research are discussed and the possible recommendations are suggested.
Reading attitudes, habits and classroom practices among ecuadorian master’s students
(2022) Argudo Serrano, Juanita Catalina; Romero Castro, Walter Roberto
The purpose of this study is to determine how master's students' personal reading attitudes and habits impact their classroom instructional practices. An online questionnaire was used to collect data on participants' habits and attitudes toward reading in English. Only 24% read between 30 minutes and more than an hour, a small number of teachers (8) consider themselves to be "devoted" readers, teachers who value reading more are more likely to use best practice strategies. However, teachers who value reading less tend to share their own perceptions related to reading and also recommend reading material to students, and teachers who read for pleasure more than 30 minutes a day use a greater number of instructional practices considered to be among the best.