The use of Facebook as a pedagogical tool to improve reading comprehension in university education

Abstract

Before the pandemic, reading was developed through printed texts; however, when virtual education was established, especially at the University level, it required a change in the teaching learning process. This situation raised new expectations regarding the reading of multimodal texts and the interaction of a social network: Facebook. The purpose of this research was to identify the levels of reading comprehension, in the exit exam with the application of multimodal texts in a social network. The research was developed with a qualitative approach, with an exploratory quasi-experimental and descriptive scope. The method used was inductive. The sample consisted of 186 students distributed in three sections (A, B and C) of the first cycle of a private university. They were subjected to two reading comprehension evaluations: beginning (traditional objective test) and exit (test with multimodal texts uploaded on a social network). The findings showed that the exit test with multimodal texts in digital support (Facebook) showed that the students reached a satisfactory level in the three levels of reading comprehension. In conclusion, the use of multimodal texts in a social network facilitated a new way of student interaction with reading.