READING COMPREHENSION OF GRADE NINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN POSAVLE AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS

POVZETEK Magistrsko delo obravnava bralno razumevanje posavskih devetošolcev in predloge za izboljšanje tega. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 193 učencev devetega razreda in 20 učiteljev razrednega pouka ter učiteljev slovenščine iz devetih posavskih osnovnih šol. Glavni namen je bil ugotoviti stališče učencev do bralnega razumevanja, katerim dejavnikom učenci pripisujejo največ pomena, bralno razumevanje učencev in predlogi učiteljev, kako bi lahko na izboljšanje bralnega razumevanja vplivali v šoli. V teoretičnem delu naloge smo opredelili pojme branje, bralno razumevanje in bralna pismenost. Nadalje smo opisali vrste branja in dejavnike branja. Razložili smo še dejavnike, ki prispevajo k boljši bralni pismenosti. V empiričnem delu smo najprej analizirali lestvico stališč, da bi ugotovili, ali učenci mislijo, da lahko bralno razumevanje izboljšamo ali ne. Nato smo analizirali ocenjevalno lestvico, da bi ugotovili, za katere dejavnike učenci ocenjujejo, da so najpomembnejši pri bralnem razumevanju, in za katere ocenjujejo, da niso pomembni. Zatem smo analizirali dva preizkusa znanja, kje smo ocenjevali vsebinsko pravilnost odgovorov ter slovnično pravilnost zapisa odgvorov. Na koncu je sledila analiza odgovorov učiteljev, ki so podali predloge za izboljšanje bralnega razumevanja. Rezultati kažejo, da učenci mislijo, da lahko izboljšamo bralno razumevanje. Dejavniki, ki se učencem zdijo najpomembnejši, so branje različnih knjig, glasno branje, pisanje povzetkov in domače naloge. Kot manj pomembne dejavnike ocenjujejo vsebinsko razlago pri pouku književnosti, kjer razlaga samo učitelj, reševanje logičnih nalog in strožji kriteriji za ocenjevanje. Pri preizkusih bralnega razumevanja se je izkazalo, da učenci vsebino prebranega razumejo, večje težave se pojavijo s slovničnim zapisom odgovora. Učitelji kot predloge za izboljšanje bralnega razumevanja navajajo uporabo bralnih učnih strategij pri pouku, več branja pri pouku, več svobode za učitelja, da lahko prilagodi vsebine.ABSTRACT This paper deals with reading comprehension of nine grade students in Posavje and suggestions for improvement. Research included 193 nine grade students and 20 elementary school and Slovenian language teachers from nine elementary schools in Posavje. The main intention was to determine the standpoint of students towards reading comprehension, what factors they believe to be the most important, the degree of their reading comprehension and the suggestions of teachers regarding what the schools could do to improve reading comprehension. The theoretical part of the paper presents the main terms: reading, reading comprehension, and reading literacy. We described different types of reading and reading factors. We explained those factors that contribute to better reading comprehension. In the empirical part, we first analysed the scale of opinions to determine whether students believe that reading comprehension can or cannot be improved. Then we analysed the scale of grades to determine which factors students believe to be more or less important for reading comprehension. We also analysed two school tests, where we evaluated the contextual and grammatical correctness of students’ answers. At the end, we also analysed the suggestions for improving reading comprehension made by teachers. The results show that students believe that their reading comprehension can be improved. The Factors that the students believe are the most important are reading different kinds of books, reading aloud, writing abstracts and homework. The factors that have been evaluated as less important are a good explanation made by the literature class teacher, solving logical assignments and more strict grading criteria. The reading comprehension tests showed that students understand what they have read, but they have some difficulties with writing grammatically correct answers. The suggestions that were made by teachers were to use reading learning strategies in class, more reading in class and to have more freedom to adjust the teaching contents