Compreensão em leitura nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental: habilidades, competências e repercussões no período pós-pandemia da Covid-19

Abstract

This thesis investigated reading comprehension skills and competencies among students from the 2nd to the 5th grades of Elementary School in the post-COVID-19 pandemic context, considering the (psycho)linguistic and cognitive aspects involved in reading processing. It is grounded in the premise that reading comprehension, understood as the central goal of reading, does not emerge automatically from decoding but rather depends on the integration of linguistic knowledge and higher-order cognitive processes. When these processes are not adequately stimulated and mediated, not only reading but also subsequent academic learning may be compromised. In this regard, the present study sought to contribute to a better understanding of reading development in the post-pandemic period by providing empirical evidence that may inform assessment and pedagogical practices that are more responsive to the needs of students in the early years of Elementary School. The study was conducted within the scope of the Learning Observatory (Observatório da Aprendizagem – OBA), a program created to assess learning difficulties in school-aged children in the post-pandemic period. With the expansion of the program’s initial scope, the research came to include not only children with formal learning complaints, but also students with no history of referrals, allowing the investigation of average reading comprehension performance. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was adopted, with a sample of 555 students from the 2nd to the 5th grade of Elementary School, drawn from six public schools in a medium- sized municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Data collection took place between May and July 2025, collectively in classroom settings during regular school activities. The instruments included a previously validated word dictation test to assess literacy level and an ad hoc reading comprehension assessment, grounded in principles of linguistics, psycholinguistics, and the science of reading. Theoretically, the research is supported by contemporary models of reading, such as the Simple View of Reading, the Reading Rope Model, and the Construction–Integration Model, which conceive reading comprehension as the result of the interaction between lower- level processes related to word recognition and higher-level processes such as inferencing, comprehension monitoring, and global text integration. The influence of cognitive skills such as attention, working memory, processing speed, and executive functions on reading performance was also considered. The results indicated progressive improvement in overall performance and in more basic comprehension skills as a function of increasing grade level and age, with statistically significant differences in Total TCL and TCL 1a3. However, more complex skills, assessed by TCL 4a7, did not show significant progression across grade levels, indicating persistent weaknesses in inferential and integrative processes. In addition, word spelling performance showed a moderate positive correlation with overall reading comprehension (ρ = 0.431; p < 0.001) and with performance on TCL 1a3 (ρ = 0.504; p < 0.001), highlighting the relationship between mastery of the written language system and more basic levels of comprehension. The findings reveal a non-uniform development of reading comprehension in the early years of Elementary School, characterized by improvement in more basic skills alongside persistent difficulties in inferential and integrative processes, and provide empirical support for assessment and pedagogical practices that are more responsive to students’ needs.