Generating interactions between schemata and text (gist) strategy and reading comprehension

Abstract

The GIST strategy is a technique used to improve reading comprehension, which focuses on identifying and summarizing the most important information in a text. The present study analyzed students' perspectives on the Generating interactions between schemata and text (GIST) strategy in reading comprehension. A total of 63 university students from the Language Center of the Technical University of Ambato, 25 men and 38 women, participated in the descriptive research. The data collection was done through a survey with 19 items using a Likert scale, and three open-ended questions, which were validated by experts and demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's coefficient α = 0.951). Furthermore, the research was based on three research questions based on the objectives. The results revealed that schema activation and analogical reasoning are the most commonly used by students and teachers. Moreover, survey data indicated that students predominantly used visualization and summarization as preferred reading comprehension strategies, with prediction being the least used. This preference was attributed to the effectiveness of summarizing and visualization in enhancing comprehension. On the other hand, most students preferred note-taking and previewing text as useful activities for their learning. Although the GIST strategy was not directly applied, students were informed of the potential benefits it could offer, as they identified well with the techniques and activities of the strategy.