'n Ondersoek na die waarde en rol van metakognitiewe leesstrategieë vir leesbegrip en moontlike onderrigimplikasies

M.A.In a reading tradition that developed in some schools the concept of reading comprehension was based on the mastery of a hierarchy of individual subskills that the reader had to master. When the reader mastered these skills he/she was regarded as a good reader that could read with comprehension. The reader's role could be described as a passive participant that merely reproduced the information found in the text. The reader wasn't involved in the active construction of the meaning of the text by comparing or integrating the new information to existing background knowledge or schemata. A cognitive perspective on the reading comprehension process reflects the active role that a reader's cognition plays during the process of reading comprehension. Metacognitive awareness of the nature of the reading process, in combination with explicit knowledge in the use of metacognitive reading strategies, enables the reader to monitor and control the comprehension process in order to select and apply appropriate strategies to construct the meaning of the text. Other factors that could also influence the construction of meaning are the nature of the reader's background knowledge and schemata — or the lack thereof. The role that the teacher plays (could play) in the improvement of a reader's comprehension ability, is very important. Readers must be exposed to various metacognitive reading strategies that can be applied to different types of texts. Explicit explanation and modelling as to what, how, where and when strategies can be used, are essential aspects of the teacher's instruction method. The teacher thus needs to employ direct instruction methods to improve the reader's metacognitive awareness of the reading process and reading strategies that can be used. The implication therefore, is that it is essential that teachers be exposed to and trained in the use and application of direct instruction methods and metacognitive strategies. Only then are they well equipped and well trained to be involved in the training of reading and readers