READING AND COMPREHENSION OF A TEXT IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: THE DIFFERENCE

Abstract

Text comprehension in a foreign language can hardly be
taught. It is necessary to create opportunities to the student’s
development, in a way to improve the reading practice and his/her interest
in the general understanding of a text and not in a disconnected
translation. The process of teaching a modern foreign language should
focus on the student’s previous knowledge, his/her ability to infer,
interpret and to think about his/her reality. Student cannot be removed
out of the process, as if the text interpretation was a mechanical act and
not a movement of thinking and a sense production. It would be a
misunderstanding between showing the linguistics structures that the
language uses and, properly, discussing and reading the texts. The teacher
cannot use the text as a pretext to teach grammar and say that is to interpret
texts. It is important to know the didactic book or the teacher’s vision
about a text is not only the right one; the teacher needs to notice him/
herself as an ideological subject, who produces meanings. There is not
an only sense in the reading and that is what makes it so important in the
learning and teaching process.