Implicit theories of text comprehension and metacognitive strategies in first year university students

Abstract

This article presents the results obtained by university freshmen in the application of the questionnaire based on implicit theories of text comprehension and the questionnaire of metacomprehension. The implicit theories of textual understanding correspond to three theories: linear, interactive and literary theory and with respect to three components: notion of comprehension, reader and text. Moreover, the questionnaire of metacomprehension allows us to approach the metacognitive strategies in reading comprehension, in relation to the text, to the reader, and to the task. The objective is to identify the relationship between a particular theory and the strategies applied by the reader, which in turn determine different levels of reading expertise. Both implicit theories and the metacognitive reasoning, constitute a kind of implicit knowledge which skilled readers should activate for the resolution of reading tasks.