This document presents a proposal to improve the reading skills of 7th grade students at CINDEA San Antonio through the use of memory games. It begins with an introduction and background on the problem of students struggling with reading comprehension. The general and specific objectives are outlined, which aim to establish the effects of memory games on reading skills. Variables, scope, limitations and frameworks are discussed. Analysis of observations, interviews and questionnaires provide data on students' reading abilities and teachers' strategies. Conclusions note that students would benefit from activities to improve English skills. Recommendations include understanding students' needs and focusing on all language skills. A proposal is presented to implement memory games to enhance vocabulary and comprehension.

1. UNIVERSIDAD MAGISTER
FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN
CARRERA DE LICENCIATURA EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÉS
A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF USING MEMORY GAMES ON THE
READING SKILLS OF 7TH GRADERS OF CINDEA SAN ANTONIO, 2018
EMILY R. CARRILLO MORALES

2. INTRODUCTION

3. BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
•Struggle in reading comprehension.
•Lack of English background .
•jobs and other responsibilities.
•Pedagogical strategies.

4. PROBLEM STATEMENT
How to improve the reading skills through
the application of Memory Games in 7th
graders at CINDEA San Antonio?

5. GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To establish the effects of using Memory
Games on the reading skills in 7th graders
aiming the development of a proposal that
improves the performance students at
CINDEA San Antonio, 2018.

6. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
• To determine the deficiencies of the curricular program of CINDEA in the
application of effective use of English for reading lessons.
• To analyze the strategies used by teachers in the improvement of reading
skills among students in the application of methodologies.
• To identify a set of games which are suitable for the population of CINDEA
in the enhancement of reading comprehension.
• To analyze the influence of andragogy in the improvement of reading skills
among students at CINDEA.
• To develop a proposal of strategies for 7th graders for aiming an
improvement in the English performance

7. VARIABLES
• Deficiencies of the curricular program at CINDEA
• Strategies used by teachers in the improvement of
reading skills
• The objective of the use of games for students from
CINDEA
• Influence of andragogy in the improvement of reading
skills

8. SCOPE
•This investigation intends to be developed
among the 7th graders in order to
understand deeper the status of the
reading performance in CINDEA San
Antonio 2018 since these students have a
hard time trying to understand English
and it is needed to know if there is any
possibility encoring to develop reading
habits.

9. LIMITATIONS
The high absenteeism of the population,
the large number of extra-curricular
activities (such as science fair, Student
Arts Festival, among others) that may
limits the time of our investigation.

10. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

11. HISTORICAL REVIEW
San Antonio is a community originated in 1939 with farmers
from Turrialba, Heredia, San José and Puriscal.
• The population increased considerably with the arrival of the
banana Company Standar Fruit Company.
• With the arrival of the banana disease called Sigatoka,
production is dramatically affected by producing large-scale
workers ' cutbacks at that time a decrease in population.
• CINDEA San Antonio was founded in 2015.

12. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
BRIEF HISTORY OF COSTA RICAN EDUCATION
The colonial life is characterized in the educational field by a
close influence of the learning of the Christian doctrine, in
addition it was taught to read and write, and the elements of
grammar and arithmetic were given. At that time education was
a growing teaching of religious doctrine was the greatest boom,
however, as it was commented, they also learned basic elements
such as grammar and arithmetic to foster those areas.

13. • THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION
According to the Basic Law of Education of the Republic of Costa Rica,
are established as purposes:
• The formation of citizens who love the country, aware of their duties,
their rights and their Fundamental freedoms, with a deep sense of
responsibility and respect for human dignity. It is common to observe
in the civic acts or in the work in the classroom the lack of interest and
apathy of the students before the important dates established in the
school calendar.
• Contribute to the development of the human personality. The Costa
Rican educational system is shipwrecked among content-saturated
curricula, many extra-curricular activities and the enormous amount
of paperwork.

14. • ANDRAGOGY OR ADULT EDUCATION
In its basic meaning, includes the reference or conduction, of a
grouping of pedagogical strategies in which those who learn are
adults. In a sense it is the counterpart of pedagogy, more focused
on childhood and adolescence. The educational paradigm of
Corte Andragógico is based on the demands of the adult, who
has the power of decision on what to study and what he wants
to do, this according to his requirement for learning. From the
work Andragógico is required more than the teacher makes
known, being autonomous in his learning, which can vary
depending on the way of teaching, experience and group
interaction. In this discipline it is applied immediately what is
learned making it more didactic and easy.

15. INTEGRATED YOUTH AND ADULT EDUCATION CENTERS (CINDEA)
• The MEP offers the possibility of study to adults and young
people, hence the reason for the integrated centers of
education of youth and Adults (CINDEA). These are born with
the aim of incorporating different educational modalities
(academic and technical) whose central characteristic is
flexibility.

16. DESCRIPTIVE INVESTIGATION
• This investigation, it tries to quantify and describe the factors
affecting the English teaching- learning process in the students,
with the aim to propuse strategies to an improvement. In this way,
to establish the level of sensitivity teachers regarding the necessity
of learning improvement.
EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION
• In terms of the contextualization of the educative process at the
Region of Roxana-Pococí, there are economic and social situations.
So, it is proposed to make an exploratory investigation to
widespread and compare the existing information.

17. QUALITATIVE APPROACH
• The qualitative approach is based on the hypothetical deductive method, but
in this specific case it can also work with research question. It defines
theories, initial questions and research objectives, of which throughout the
project will be tested through appropriate investigative designs. It analyzes
the variables as part of an established context, analyzes measurements and of
them comes the conclusions of the work.
QUANTITATIVE APPROACH
• Quantitative analysis involves scientific or mathematical data to understand a
problem, such as analyzing surveys to predict consumer demand. This
approach contrasts with the qualitative approach which uses a more
socialistic methodology such as interviewing people. The quantitative
approach focuses on the results from many people, instead of focusing on
individuals. Often a combination of the two approaches is used to solve a
problem, taking advantage of the approaches.

18. Population and sample
The sample consisted of 15 students from 7th grade
These students are mature enough; aspect to take into
account at the time of the application of the instruments.
All students at this level have difficulties with reading
skills.
-Technical instruments to collect data
-Questionnaire
-Interview
-Observation

19. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS

20. ANALYSIS OF THE OBSERVATIONS
• The teacher starts explaining a pre reading activity develop in the
class, she provides the steps to follow, some of them ask if she can
repeat the instructions because they did understand very well;
before she introduce us to the class and what we are doing there.
• Through some slashes teacher introduces a new topic called
greetings, leave takings and introductions providing basic
vocabulary and expressions like hello, how are you? this is Tracy,
nice to meet you; after she provides this new set of phrases, she
asks to the students repeat the words after her to get the right
pronunciation of the words, after three times of repetition of the
words, the teacher considers that was right to continue with the
rest of the material.

21. • The class included students from different ages some of them from ages to
15 to 45 years, the teacher told us that sometimes was very difficult to
develop the class because of the learning level of the students.

22. ANALISIS OF THE INTERVIEW
• According with the information provided by the teacher she has been
working for the CINDEA San Antonio for two years, but she says that she
never received a feedback or previous information about the curriculum,
she confesses that she must to searched information to start working and
planning for them because the system is very different from the rest of the
syllabus and planning format.
• Talking about the strategies, she mentioned that she must apply a variety
of activities and strategies because of the program of CINDEA , the average
of ages plays a very important role in the development of the class, the
economic situation too, sometimes the students do not have the enough
money or the ways to go to the High School building, so they lost many
classes during the week and then go back the information next week, this
situation increases the risk of the desertion of the students

23. • She mentioned some of the activities that she use in the classes to
students learn in a funny way and acquire better the knowledge of the
skills applied in classes such as puzzles, soup letter, diagrams, and other
activities but she expresses that sometimes those strategies do not work
because the students feel ashamed of practice them or feel like are things
for kids; son she says that she must create new activities or strategies to
improve the language acquisition.
• Regarding to the programs of CINDEA she feels that sometimes cannot
apply them in the correct way because there are many external factors that
interfere in the learning process of the students, in most of the classes he
can develop them and applying but she and all of her partners have
difficulties with the process, also she mentioned that Public Minister of
Education do not take into consideration the programs of CINDEA when
they add new modifications to the programs, syllabus and evaluation rules
it means that they want they continue applying the same system but the
new modifications.

24. ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES
NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO RECOGNIZE BASIC
PARAMETERS RELATED TO THE EDUCATIVE
CURRICULUM OF CINDEA
Source: Chart 1

25. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM
WITH RESPECT TO THE TYPE OF EDUCATION
Source: Chart 2

26. THE ROLE OF THE STUDENT IN RELATION TO THE EDUCATIVE
PROGRAM AT CINDEA
Source: Chart 3

27. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN RELATION TO THE
EDUCATIVE PROGRAM AT CINDEA
Source: Chart 4

28. ABOUT THE TRAININGS RECEIVED BY TEACHERS ON THE
PROGRAM OF THE CINDEA
Source: Chart 5

29. IN RELATIONSHIP TO KNOWLEDGE OF THE STUDENTS
ABOUT THE EDUCATIVE PROGRAMS IN THE CINDEA
.
Source: Chart 6

30. ABOUT THE INFORMATION RECEIVED WITH RESPECT OF
THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS USED IN CINDEA
Source: Chart 7

31. PERCEPTION ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
EDUCATIVE PROGRAM AT CINDEA
Source: Chart 8

32. FREQUENCY OF THE APPLICATION OF READING
ACTIVITIES IN THE CLASS
Source: Chart 10

33. EXPERIENCE OF THE STUDENTS IN THE USE OF
STRATEGIES RELATED TO READING
Source: Chart 11

34. WITH RESPECT TO THE USE THAT IS GIVEN TO
GAMES IN THE ABILITY TO READ DURING CLASS
Source: Chart 15

35. ABOUT THE INTEREST OF THE STUDENTS WHEN THE
TEACHER USES GAMES IN CLASS
Source: Chart 18

36. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

37. • The educational system spends a lot of resources for
teaching a second language, specifically, the English language
however the results are not what is expected.
• According to questionnaire and observation applied, many
students are adults with other responsibilities besides
studying.
• Students were asked if they think in English and the result
was negative, they do not know how to develop this skill.
• The andragogy application, is not been use it in the right
way.
CONCLUSIONS

38. COST OF THE STUDY

39. RECOMMENDATIONS
• Teacher should be aware of their social and
emotional needs. Understanding more about the
families of the students and their needs is the
key.
• Thinking in English to help to write with
congruency but also can help in reading
vocabulary outside of class.

40. • The program of English provided by the Ministry of Education is
supposed to focus in speaking, reading, writing and listening, but
teachers prepare them for the bachillerato exam which focuses in
reading comprehension. integrates activities that strengthen the
listening area.
• It would be good if teacher change their mind and focus to teach English
where the four skills can be developed.

41. PROPOSAL OF A SET OF READING TECHNIQUES FOR
A CREATING BETTER READING COMPREHENSION
ON 7TH GRADERS

42. PREFACE
This proposal aims to equip students with tools to
improve their quality of life in the world of work,
education and home. The student who normally
faces enormous difficulties in learning and
understanding a new language and in addition to
achieving his goals that is to gain the bachillerato
tests, is important to him as in most cases as a
conscious adult who is, to learn a new language but
in most cases, it is very difficult.

43. GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To implement games on aspects that improve the quality
of learning of the adult students of home related to the
work and educational field that encourage the
participation of the same students and teachers.

44. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
• To develop a set of games that help and improve the
reading comprehension skill of the students for
developing communicative skills that allow them to
be adequately developed in the educational and
work field.
• To train the students in the knowledge of new basic
vocabularies and strategies for reaching the optimum
level according to the national tests.

45. SCOPE
There were found issues with the time during
the process, being that this is a time-
consuming work to develop this task,
furthermore, the process of learning for the
students considering their previous lack of
knowledge.

46. PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT
• PHASE 1: CHOOSE A SET OF MEMORY GAMES THAT CAN BE
SUITABLE FOR THE SCHOOL POPULATION IN ORDER TO ENCREASE
THEIR VOCABULARY.
• PHASE 2: DEVELOPMENT OF THE GUIDELINE OF MEMORY GAMES IN
READING SKILL.
• PHASE 3: PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT TO THE
ADMINISTRATION

47. COST OF THE PROPOSAL

48. SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSAL
• STHRENGTHS
An important strength of this proposal is that there is a high probability
to find varied examples of suitable games for development of reading
comprehension skills.
• WEAKNESSES
 Students are not accustomed to reading in their native language or they
do not like reading at all and this will probably cast an extra effort in the
target language.

49. • OPPORTUNITIES
Mostly of our students like to listen to music, somehow, they may like
different genres. A way to promote or encourage learners is through their
favorite music lyrics and create a proper game for that task.
• THREATS
Lack of time is one of the biggest threats the teacher will face to achieve the
goal, also the possibility that the games or activities might not be of the like
of the students or not obtaining the result desired.

50. IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSAL

51. • INSTITUTIONAL IMPACT: Considering that, the high school does not
present a specific structure for teaching through memory games. It would
become a helpful aspect to have a specific point of reference that facilitates
the use of these techniques as part of their management.
• COMMUNITARY IMPACT: The program of CINDEA covers a large population
of students from many communities that are benefited by the
improvement in the reading levels.
• STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IMPACT It is a fact that students and teachers
are the main beneficiaries of this type of educational proposals that
encourage changes in traditional paradigms within the subject of formal
education.

52. THANK YOU