Estratégias de leitura para o texto hipermodal em espanhol como língua estrangeira

Abstract

The changes experienced and challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in the current world, combined with the need for studies on language and the use of technologies, particularly on hypermodal text reading, justify the pressing need for research focused on Digital Literacy. Given this context, this thesis aims to investigate strategies for hypermodal text reading in foreign languages, particularly in Spanish. The theoretical framework of this work is based on the Theory of Multiliteracies related to digital technologies proposed by LEMKE (2010) and SELBER (2004), the Principles of meaning construction proposed by LEMKE (2002), the Theory of the Neural Mechanism of Affect by SCHUMANN (1997), as well as the Intersemiotic Coherence Analysis Model by GOMES (2019). Methodologically, it is a quasi-experimental investigation, in which the absence and presence of strategies instruction for hipermodal text reading in Spanish as a Foreign Language were controlled as a means of digital literacy. The experiment was conducted with 16 voluntary students from two companies in Juiz de Fora, at B2 proficiency level, from an online private Spanish course through Skype, taught by the researcher using the LinFE approach (Languages for Specific Purposes). The students were divided into two groups: 8 students in Group A (experimental) and 8 students in Group B (control). The following research instruments were used for data analysis: a proficiency test, an identification and reading habits questionnaire, a guide of reading strategies for hypermodal text, a reading activity on the website http://www.vertaal.com/, and finally, an evaluative questionnaire about the reading experience. The data analysis indicates that the experimental group had a better performance in hypermodal text reading, which suggests that the proposed guide of strategies in this thesis, taught to this group, played a relevant role in text comprehension. This study provides theoretical and practical contributions for foreign language teachers, as well as contributions to Applied Linguistics, particularly by addressing affective and hypermodal components in reading strategies, aligning with their new research agendas.