Oog voor diep begrip: Onderzoek naar het tekstbegrip van vwo-leerlingen

Abstract

There are currently many concerns about the declining reading comprehension of Dutch pupils. According to critics, this is partly because teachers often use ‘texts-with-questions’ in reading comprehension lessons. Indeed, these assignments do not teach pupils to read independently. Teachers should use realistic, purposeful reading assignments and reflect with pupils on how to approach these assignments. In the first part of this book, reading comprehension is analysed in pre-university pupils dealing with ‘texts-with-questions’. These relatively skilled readers read superficially; pre-reading and answering questions about a text are, mostly, separate thinking processes. For a correct answer it does not matter if pupils pre-read texts intensively. It does, however, matter if they can consult texts when answering questions. As such, pupils seem to practice how to answer comprehension questions rather than how to study texts independently. In the second part, an alternative lesson series on ‘deep comprehension’ is designed, based on recent international research. This series focuses on reading independently, realistically and purposefully; pre-university pupils reflect extensively on approaching challenging reading tasks. The lesson series is effective, provided that teachers actively manage reflective discussions. Then, pre-university pupils afterwards show a better understanding of texts and self-reportedly have altered their reading behaviour. The dissertation concludes with eleven recommendations to make reading comprehension lessons for the school subject Dutch more meaningful, up to date and reflective.