Habilidade de leitura e letramentos: o desempenho de estudantes no processamento da leitura de infográficos digitais

Abstract

From our study regarding the reading of printed inphographics, there arises the question of up to what point the process of reading digital infographics would differ from the process of printed infographics. For some scholars like Snyder (2009) and Coiro et al (2011), a division exists between the reading abilities of printed and digital mediums, and for Santaella (2004) and Xavier (2005); there is a difference in the cognitive processing promoted by digital medium. Nevertheless, based on the studies of Coscarelli (2002, 2003, 2007), Ribeiro (2008), and Coscarelli and Ribeiro (2005), we believe that there is no difference between ability to read in the digital and printed mediums but rather an amplification of language use with the arrival of the digital medium that demands more of the reader, resulting from three factors: first, new means of placement of information; second, new demands of information relationships; third, differences in the way we use information. We do not conceive of completely new cognitive schemes for a language activity, but preconceived, reformulated schemes, because we understand language as an instrument shaped by Vygotskys (1984) historical socio-interactionism. Based on Perrenouds (1999) concepts of competency and ability, we propose a framework of digital infographics reading analysis, whose reading approach combines cognitive, stimulus, and social factors . We present our theoretical groundwork concerning these three factors, added to the groundwork regarding digital information graphics from which we analyze two digital infographics from the site estadao.com, having as a reference: one of visualization of a technological standard and another one of a naturalistic standard(KRESS, VAN LEEUWEN, 2006) and (MANOVICH, 2011). Based on this reading and production analysis of these two tested digital infographics, we propose that these skills are related to three complex reading abilities: navigation-localization, comparison-evaluation, and understanding-utilization, which in we based on ORCA (Coiro et al, 2011) and digital PISA studies (OCDE, 2012), whose objective is to investigate reading in the digital medium. We also used these studies as a basis for informant selection in our research. There were sixteen students from a federal technical school in their first year of middle school in 2012 who were divided into two groups starting with the performance in reading evaluation criteria, which took place during that school year. In this way, one of the groups of eight students contained four students with adequate performance and four students with low performance in these evaluations. Each group of four students was comprised of two girls and two boys. The data was analyzed in two categories: the first analysis by task and by informants, considering the complex abilities of navigation-localization and comparison-evaluation and the characteristics type of visualization, performance on the reading evaluations, and the gender of the informants. The second analysis was based on correct and incorrect responses of the informants complex understanding-utilization ability, which also considered the analysis of the data in the first category which showed that comparison-evaluation of visual information was the primary difficulty demonstrated by the informants. In relation to the infographic type, the one which contained visualizations of a technological pattern presented greater difficulty for the informants. With relation to reading proficiency, the informants with adequate reading performance in the printed medium showed better results. The male informants obtained better results. Based on the details of the data analysis; we were able to bring together considerations which show to be unnecessary to consider different abilities to read in the printed and digital means and to be improbable the appearance of new cognitive schemes in reason of digital mediums.