The reading competence in a foreign language (FL): a metacognitive perspective

El objetivo de este trabajo de investigación consistió en proponer criterios metodológicos para el desarrollo de la competencia lectora en estudiantes de lenguas extranjeras desde una perspectiva metacognitiva. Para alcanzar este propósito se partió de la indagación teórica en torno a cuatro ejes fundamentales: competencia de lectura, modelos y etapas del proceso lector, cognición y metacognición, así como estrategias metacognitivas. La propuesta se centra en el reconocimiento, control, regulación y dirección del aprendizaje de cada lector por lo que enfatiza el desarrollo de la competencia para discriminar y seleccionar las estrategias pertinentes que permitan abordar eficientemente el contenido textual, así como planificar la aplicación de aquellas que han sido seleccionadas, monitorearlas y evaluarlas. Se concluye que la implementación de los criterios propuestos se constituirá en una acción concreta que viabilizará la toma de consciencia acerca de las fases inherentes al proceso lector, la adopción de una actitud crítica ante el procesamiento del discurso escrito en LE y la ejecución del control metacognitivo en aras de formar lectores autónomos.The purpose of this research was to propose methodological guidelines aimed at developing the reading competence among foreign language students from a metacognitive perspective. In order to fulfill this objective four fundamental areas were explored: reading compertence, models and stages of the reading process, cognition and metacognition, as well as metacognitive strategies. The proposal focuses on recognizing, controlling, regulating and directing the reader’s learning process therefore it emphasizes on building the competence for discriminating and selecting appropriate strategies that enable readers to efficiently process the reading content and to carefully plan, select, monitor and assess the use of strategies. One of the main conclusions is that the implementation of the set of methodological guidelines will represent a concrete action that will contribute to increase the reader’s awareness regarding the stages involved in reading, the adoption of a critical attitude towards L2 written discourse processing, and the application of metacognitive control so as to foster learner’s autonomy

Estrategias de comprensión lectora en el marco de una metodología cognitiva para la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera

El presente estudio estuvo orientado a proponer un conjunto de estrategias que contribuyan a mejorar el procesamiento del discurso escrito en inglés, durante las diferentes fases de lectura, en el marco de una metodología cognitiva. La investigación estuvo dirigida a estudiantes de Lectura y composición inglesa de Idiomas Modernos de la Escuela de Educación de la Facultad de Humanidades y Educación de la Universidad del Zulia, durante los periodos lectivos de 2013 y 2014. La presente es una investigación cuali- cuantitativa, de tipo investigación-acción, documental, descriptiva y aplicada, con un diseño bibliográfico, pre-experimental, transeccional de Campo. Como instrumento de recolección de datos se aplicó un pre test, un programa de intervención pedagógica y un post test a una muestra poblacional de 27 alumnos de la mencionada asignatura, para identificar las estrategias de comprensión lectora empleadas por los estudiantes. Procesada la información estadísticamente, los resultados fueron analizados, interpretados y discutidos en relación con las bases teóricas establecidas. Con el análisis de los datos se concluyó que el diseño de una intervención educativa facilitará la puesta en marcha de la propuesta de estrategias cognitivas y metacognitivas desarrollada para tratar de resolver los problemas de comprensión lectora en estudiantes universitarios que estudian el idioma inglés como una lengua extranjera.This study was oriented to propose a group of strategies that can contribute to ameliorate the processing of the written speech in English, during the different reading steps, through a cognitive methodology. The research was delimited to English Reading and Writing students from the Modern Language Department at the University of Zulia during 2013 and 2014. The research was quail- quantitative, action-investigation, documental, applied and descriptive, with a pre experimental, field- transactional, bibliographical design. As data collecting instruments a pre test, a pedagogical intervention program, and a post test were applied to 27 students from the courses to identify the reading comprehension strategies used by them. After processing the information statistically, the results were analyzed, interpreted and discussed in relation to the theoretical bases. According to the data analysis it was concluded that the design of an educational intervention will lead in an ongoing cognitive and metacognitive strategy proposal in order to bring a solution to reading comprehension problems in university students who study English as a foreign language

A comparative study on the enzymatic biodegradability of covalently functionalized double- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes

The assessment of the biodegradability potential of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is a fundamental point towards their applications in materials science and biomedicine. Due to the continuous concerns about the fate of such type of nanomaterials, it is very important to understand if they can undergo degradation under certain conditions and if the morphology and structure of the nanotubes play a role in this process. For this purpose we have decided to undertake a comparative study on the enzymatic degradation of CNTs with concentric multilayers. Double-walled (DW) and multi-walled (MW) CNTs of various lengths, degrees of oxidation and functionalizations using different methods were treated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). While all tested DWCNTs resulted resistant to the biodegradation, some of the MWCNTs were partially degraded by the enzyme. We have found that short oxidized multi-walled CNTs functionalized by amidation were reduced in length and presented a high amount of defects at the end of the period of treatment with HRP. This comparative study holds its importance in the understanding of the structural changes of different types of nanotubes towards the catalytic enzymatic degradation and will help to design safer CNTs for future applications

Design of Cationic Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Efficient siRNA Vectors for Lung Cancer Xenograft Eradication

Polo-Like Kinase (PLK1) has been identified as a potential target in cancer gene therapy via chemical or genetic inhibitory approaches. The biomedical applications of chemically functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) in cancer therapy have been studied due to their ability to efficiently deliver siRNA intracellularly. In this study, we established the capacity of cationic MWNT-NH3+ to deliver the apoptotic siRNA against PLK1 (siPLK1) in Calu6 tumor xenografts by direct intratumoural injections. A direct comparison with cationic liposomes was made. This study validates the PLK1 gene as a potential target in cancer gene therapy including lung cancer, as demonstrated by the therapeutic efficacy of siPLK1:MWNT-NH3+ complexes and their ability to significantly improve animal survival. Biological analysis of the siPLK1:MWNT-NH3+ treated tumors by RT-PCR and Western blot, in addition to TUNEL staining confirmed the biological functionality of the siRNA intratumourally, suggesting that tumor eradication was due to PLK1 knockdown. Furthermore, by using a fluorescently labelled, non-coding siRNA sequence complexed with MWNT-NH3+, we established for the first time that the improved therapeutic efficacy observed in f-CNT-based siRNA delivery is directly proportional to the enhanced siRNA retention in the solid tumor and subsequent uptake by tumor cells after local administration in vivo

Narratives of Space in the Writing of Five Contemporary Canadian Women Writers of Italian Origin

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the English writing of five Canadian authors of Italian origin – Darlene Madott, Maria Ardizzi, Licia Canton, Rosanna Battigelli and Dorina Michelutti – in terms of how they represent personal and inner spaces as a meaningful focal point for interpreting and reflecting on the dislocated subject’s quest for identity. I will show how they use the idea of compensatory spaces as a literary strategy to portray personal, private or inner spaces to articulate their characters’ processes of accepting or resisting cultural hybridity and multiplicity. The works of fiction I consider here embody the shifting perception of inner or personal spaces in the characters’ lives, and how this defines their spatial relationships with the new country in different terms and at different stages of the migrant’s process of accepting his or her new country. My reading is based on Homi Bhabha’s notions of third space and cultural translation and Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopic spaces; I define these as compensatory spaces, an idea also rooted in Foucault’s view that heterotopies of compensation represent differences that transcend dichotomies and are open to fluidity. In this paper, the idea of third space addresses the process of cultural translation – understood not only as the positive and dialogic creation of a hybridized subject, but also as a narrative of conflicting personal spaces that gives voice to experiences of cultural dislocation.This work was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation between 2010 and 2014 (FFI2010–20989FILO)