reading aloud, reading silently, metacognitve strategies, reading comprehension

This research general aim is to investigate the use of reading aloud method as a metacognitive strategy in reading comprehension among students of the final years in middle public schools. The specific aims of the project are: (1) to investigate students’ metacognitive experiences while reading aloud and silently. (2) to compare reading comprehension and cognitive experience while reading aloud and silently, (3) to propose a didatic-pegagogic approach to the teaching of reading through a metalinguistic perspective. Two hypothesis were tested (A) most students in the final years of Middle School recognize reading aloud as an important metacognitive strategy, (B) students with reading comprehension problems resort to reading aloud as a metacognitive strategy. For this purpose, it was adopted a qualitative multi-method approach. This methodology is composed by a Likert scale reading comprehension test, a verbal protocol and an interview. A group of 17 students from a public school in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, participated in this research. Hypothesis A could not be refuted, however, the second one could. This result is supported by the students’ narratives, which highlight the contribution of reading aloud as a significant metacognitive strategy, especially, during the early stages of their reading development. Finally, we highlight the use of verbal protocols to understand students’ cognitive processes to reading comprehension, for teaching and research purposes.