The use of graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension in an EFL classroom of a junior high school

Abstract

"Reading comprehension is a skill that leads the reader to understand what he/she is reading. The same as recognized by Ur (1996), reading means ""reading and understanding"". A foreign language learner who says ""I can read, but I don't know what it means"" is not reading. Thus, the importance of this essay derives from this problem. This investigation exercise was developed with a second and third-grade group at the ""Francisco González Bocanegra"" high school in a virtual context for the COVID-19 pandemic. The process was cyclic analyzing the impact of graphic organizers on reading comprehension through different activities; theorical investigation; research and observation of the context; application of an English diagnostic exam, reading comprehension tests and interviews to teachers and students; design and application of activities; and analysis of the results obtained throughout the teaching practice. The purpose of the investigation was to improve students’ reading comprehension through the three reading stages with the use of graphic organizers as a tool to improve comprehension by organizing the information. Furthermore, the investigation was based on four questions addressing the following: the process of a hybrid methodology creation, the process of graphic organizers selection considering their characteristics and the English lessons, the analysis of the students’ reaction and the results obtained over the practices considering the graphic organizers evaluation. Finally, this research shows the use of graphic organizers and their help in reading comprehension in the focus groups. In addition, it shows the difference between asynchronous lessons and synchronous sessions."