Reading Comprehension: A Perspective from Higher Education in Ecuador

The objective of this research was to determine the comprehension reading levels of students in the first semesters of Higher Education in Ecuador. This research is circumscribed in the linguistic-cognitive foundations of reading comprehension proposed by Barret in his Taxonomy and in the postulates of Ángel Lázaro. The results are obtained from the descriptive analysis of the different sectors and traits involved in this complex cognitive process. It is found that the students of the three careers of the Faculty of Psychological Sciences present as a rule difficulties in the levels of greater complexity within the reading comprehension process (form of perception, trait details); generating difficulties in the reading comprehension tasks that involve capturing complementary ideas and interpreting certain isolated details within the written text. It is concluded the need to carry out events that allow developing reading comprehension and integrating reading as a fundamental part of the learning process, becoming a transversal axis during the Professional Career.