Skimming and Scanning reading strategies through the implementation of flipped learning for the development of reading comprehension in English as a foreign language

Abstract

Reading comprehension plays a significant role in foreign language learning and in the academic and professional life of some people according their careers. Previous research has been conducted on how to improve reading comprehension through different strategies and in different contexts, but little attention has been given to the teaching of scanning and skimming reading strategies through the implementation of flipped learning approach. Furthermore, this study focuses on populations mainly in Colombia and little or no research has been previously published. This paper reports on an action research project with fifth grade students in a private school in Bogotá, Colombia. The participants are nineteen female Colombian students, aged 9 to 11. Data collection instruments included a teachers’ journal and three focus groups, reading tests and participants’ artifacts to collect information on the contribution of the teaching of scanning and skimming reading strategies through flipped learning on the improvement of reading comprehension. The results revealed that scanning and skimming reading strategies through flipped learning had a positive influence on the learners’ reading comprehension; specifically, they could understand the main idea and extract specific information from a text.