TEACHING READING IN GUINEA-BISSAU: ANALYSIS OF TEXTUAL COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES IN 4TH AND 6TH GRADE BOOKS

Abstract

In this work we analyze reading texts and their comprehension activities in the textbooks of the 4th and 6th grades of Bissau-Guinean basic education, in order to verify the aspects of the development of reading skills and competences in the two reading proposals. For the materialization of the research, we adopted a quantitative-qualitative approach in this documentary research, through which, in addition to the quantification of texts in textual genres and required levels of comprehension, we weighed the microstructures and activities of textual comprehension qualitatively, to observe the aspects of development required for the formation of a competent reader in the two stages of schooling. In the analysis, we found that, unlike the 4th grade book, which contains only narrative texts (tales and fables), the 6th grade book is composed of texts in their various genres. However, in both didactic materials, the reading activities demand a superficial level of comprehension, in addition to the fact that there are no post-reading questions aimed at understanding the textual structure, which highlights the need to improve these two reading proposals for the formation of the reader.