Comprehensive Learning through Reading

Foreword

Alejandro Tiana Ferrer

When the dictionary¹ defines reading as the ‘action of reading’ (first meaning) or the ‘interpretation of the meaning of a text’ (third meaning), it certainly falls short. Not only any specialist but any person who is fond of reading would add many other additional aspects to that brief definition. The fact is that the act of reading goes beyond these narrow conceptual limits. We experience reading as a privileged way to access knowledge, learning. By reading we expand the limits of our world, we open ourselves to other universes, we integrate new knowledge. Reading also awakens feelings and emotions in us, establishes an interesting dialogue with the author of the literary texts, while at the same time it excites our imagination and our capacity for creation. There is no doubt that reading is one of the most interesting human activities we undertake, even if we are not always aware of its complexity. That is why, before moving on, I would like to welcome this publication, which brings together scholars with different but complementary views on this valuable activity. There is no doubt that this is a relevant work, both for what it communicates and for what it suggests and provokes.

For those of us who work in the world of education, reading is a central element. It would almost be better to say that it has been so since time immemorial, since humanity constructed written linguistic codes and began to disseminate them on an increasingly massive scale. We conceive of reading as a typically school-based task and it is only natural that this should be so, since learning to read has been and is one of the essential tasks of early schooling and the use of reading is intrinsic to learning from childhood to adulthood.

That said, it is easy to understand that the role of reading in school systems has changed over time, as have the methods used to teach it and the use made of it. While learning to read (and, as a corollary, to write) has always been part of the task of the school, the way in which this learning has been carried out has changed considerably. The book reminds us of the role played by syllabic, phonetic, communicative, photosyllabic, and synthetic methods, as well as the discussions that these have generated and the debates that have taken place about their respective results. The fact is that, beyond these methodological differences, learning to read has always been considered fundamental, given the role that reading plays, in itself and in the learning of other subjects. It is not surprising that it has been said that reading has been and continues to be, to a large extent, the backbone of learning in schools.² The importance of the place given to reading in the traditional primary school is easily verified by analyzing the lists of books authorized or recommended (according to the regulations of each period) for use at that stage. In fact, for decades, from the configuration of the Spanish educational system in the nineteenth century until practically the Franco years, the so-called extensive reading books, those dedicated to the practice and mastery of reading, which involved the study of subjects of very diverse subjects, represented around half of the ones approved, which indicates their pre-eminence.

The school has been constructing a canon of recommended (or unavoidable) reading for students, which has tended to include Don Quixote, a work explicitly referred to in the book. Without wishing to enter here into the debates generated about the canon in general and Don Quixote in particular, it should be stressed that throughout history very different positions have been expressed in this respect. Thus, in relation to the declaration of the compulsory reading of Cervantes’s masterpiece in schools on the occasion of the celebration of the third centenary of its publication, it is worth recalling Unamuno’s support for the initiative, in the face of Ortega y Gasset’s reticence. Some articles in the book encourage us to reflect on the meaning of this canon (for example, on the place that less prestigious literature should occupy, such as folk tales or works created explicitly for schools) and the role of reading considered essential, especially today when the concept of reading has been broadening with the incorporation of digital reading. Personally, I consider this publication to be an outstanding contribution, especially considering that this is a subject that has recently been taken up again with the introduction of some changes in the approach to teaching literature in schools.

However, although it is true that the school has been configured as a key environment for the learning and practice of reading, several articles in the book remind us that there are other spaces in which the practice of reading is embodied and can truly extend to society. This is particularly the case of public libraries. In this sense, we cannot forget some historical experiences such as the massive distribution of books carried out by the Pedagogical Missions during the Second Republic, which occupy a place of their own in the publication. And coming closer to our own time, this book includes a convincing vindication of the role played by public libraries in the development of critical literacy in a context of anti-democratic narratives. This formative, not simply scholarly, perspective conceives of public libraries as socio-educational resources that can fulfil complementary functions to formal schooling. This is another relevant contribution.

Having said that, if there is one thing I think this book makes clear, it is the complexity of reading as an activity. I fully agree that it is a multidimensional process involving a broad set of skills and knowledge as well as a variety of general textual and intertextual content processing resources. Reading involves putting into action high-level cognitive skills such as identifying important information, developing inferential comprehension and monitoring one’s own comprehension. Psycho-pedagogical research on these cognitive processes of meaning construction based on written texts has advanced considerably and the presentation in this book is thorough and rigorous.

Reading comprehension has become one of the main objects of assessment in the educational field. It is not in vain that Emilio Sánchez Miguel spoke some years ago of the ‘complejísimo proceso mental que encierra la comprensión de los textos y el largo camino que media hasta llegar a ser un lector competente’ [highly complex mental process involved in the comprehension of texts and the long road it takes to become a competent reader].³ This makes devoting efforts to its empirical study and evaluation necessary. In line with this statement, for several decades studies such as PISA (OECD) or PIRLS (IEA) have been dealing with the assessment of reading comprehension (also referred to as ‘reading literacy’). And the conceptual frameworks of these assessments clearly and pragmatically highlight the complexity of reading literacy. Thus, for PISA, reading comprehension includes five dimensions: obtaining information; developing a general understanding; developing an interpretation; reflecting on and evaluating the content of the text; and reflecting on and evaluating the form of the text. For PIRLS, there are four comprehension processes: locating and obtaining explicit information; making direct inferences; interpreting and integrating ideas and information; and analyzing and evaluating content, language and textual elements. This complexity makes taking into consideration both textual and paratextual elements necessary, which are closely intertwined in comprehension processes, as is made clear in several chapters. And from there, some authors advance suggestions for didactic strategies in accordance with these concepts and with the subsequent analysis of their components, in what turns out to be a valuable contribution to the learning and school practice of reading, for which we must also thank the book’s editors.

Another noteworthy issue in this volume concerns the role of reading in second-language learning. Although this is an element in keeping with the academic and research affiliation of the authors of several of these chapters, its interest and novelty should be emphasized. Without being strictly speaking a book devoted to the study of second languages, we nevertheless find in it valuable analyses of learning them, such as the renunciation of single teaching strategies (as befits the current post-method era), as well as the role that reading continues to play in the learning process. In my view, of particular interest are the reflections on the new perspectives opened up by digitalization and artificial intelligence for second-language teaching and learning, which tie in with an issue that seems to me to be central to the book.

Indeed, the most novel aspect of this publication concerns the analysis of the impact of digital technology on the conception, learning and practice of reading. The impact of digitization on reading is not an unprecedented process, as it has been going on for several decades now. The PISA and PIRLS studies have even begun to pay attention to the differences between reading paper texts and digital reading, which is introducing a series of interesting reflections and analyses in this respect.

Some of the chapters in this publication pay special attention to this hybridization and its effects, focusing, for example, on aspects such as the continuities and discontinuities between the social representations that are constructed on the basis of written and digital texts, as well as the teaching practices to which both give rise. The study of teachers and students’ common digital practices, in confluence with or contrast to the school’s use of digital resources, clearly reveals the ambiguities and contradictions of today. Indeed, while we may agree that there is a profound transformation taking place in the way we read and understand the world through digital reading, we cannot deny that these ambiguities and contradictions exist and are influential.

The book argues that this consideration of the digital inevitably leads to the extension of the concept of literacy to what we should call literacies. And if we are to use the plural, we should also speak of digital literacies. To illustrate this transformation, the authors use the example of Interactive Calleja, a work several of them and their respective teams developed. This enriched text presents the real possibilities for accessing digital reading that go beyond the transformation of the text format into an interactive reading experience. It is particularly welcome that the authors attempt to unravel the technical complexities involved in text enrichment, even if it may be somewhat dry for non-specialists. It is an exercise in transparency that will undoubtedly be of interest and use to those working in the field.

And I found it particularly noteworthy that a century-old traditional text has been taken as the starting point for this initiative. It seems to me that this choice, although it poses some difficulties which the authors clearly describe, serves to convince us that enriching texts is a much more complex job than just transforming their format and formal characteristics. Interactive Calleja shows us how an originally passive reading can be transformed into an interactive experience with different multimedia elements and diverse activities. The operation goes far beyond the digital translation of classics and delves into their recycling and reuse, using what has been learned through instruments such as the construction of critical editions of the works, although taking it much further.

And if I spoke earlier about the contributions made with regard to new trends in second-language learning, this is all the more so here, since Interactive Calleja is an enriched and bilingual digital text. The reflections in other chapters are not mere reflections, analyses or suggestions; they are illustrated with a concrete example. I have been particularly interested in the remarks on the use of translation as an important element for the development of multilingualism and multiculturalism, as well as on the role that the first language should play in the learning of the second.

Trying to synthesize the contributions of this book, I would focus on the transformations that digitalization is producing in the learning and practice of reading, above all through the incorporation of new principles of fragmentation, disruption of linearity, multimodality and interaction. Obviously, the transformations go beyond this specific field, but it seems to me particularly relevant today. Indeed, we are witnessing frequent and sometimes tense debates opposing text and digital reading, trying to convince opponents of the predominance of one over the other. In this, my opinion is in line with what is expressed by the majority of the authors of this volume, who advocate for a confluence of experiences. I fully agree with the editors when they consider that there is a temptation to develop a hostile and vacuous position against digital reading (or in text form, for that matter, in the opposite direction). It is true that reading has been the backbone of access to knowledge, but now it faces a multiplicity of formats and modalities. I believe that its educational function continues to be valid, but that the way it is developed must be transformed. As the book says, science accepts these changes more naturally than didactic practice, which remains stubbornly stable. The entrenched school culture hinders what should be a smoother transition process.

In short, we live in complex times in which a practice that we have internalized and made as much our own as reading is changing vertiginously. There may be some people who find the transformation easier than others (and I am not referring to the cliché of digital natives versus digital immigrants, which I think also needs revision). But I think that practically no one can remain on the sidelines of these transformations. And the education system cannot remain indifferent in these circumstances either. Although there may be militant campaigners against the digitalization of education, it seems to me a mistake to ignore it or to try to fight it outright, since its social, intellectual and economic impact is already a reality that has no signs of disappearing. Another thing is to develop critical attitudes towards certain consequences of these processes, such as the instrumentalization they may entail, the ideologization they may produce or the new mechanisms of domination they may generate. Being aware of these risks and learning (and also teaching) to address them is very different from denying them. For all these reasons, I am convinced that the reader will find solid reasons to delve into this book and extract the richness contained in its pages.

Madrid, June 2026

Introduction: On Comprehensive Learning Through Reading: From Paper to Screen

María Goicoechea de Jorge and Elena Bárcena Madera

For centuries, learning to read has been the threshold that opens onto the world of education and that allows the young mind to progressively absorb information of all kinds, manage tools, automate processes, and understand abstractions. The brain begins to weave a complex network of associations between graphs, sounds and meanings that introduces a new dimension for asynchronous communication for which we, humans, are not naturally designed. This process is difficult and time-consuming, but it has the power to exponentially increase the knowledge of the person who masters it. But what does it mean to be literate in the twenty-first century? Has the very concept of ‘reading’ changed with the advent of electronic textuality? Are we losing our ability to concentrate or just enjoy reading in a media ecology dominated by screens and audio-visual content? Will this new context affect our intellectual capacity and learning development?

These are crucial questions to which a series of writers from a variety of disciplines, such as literary studies, linguistics, second-language teaching, anthropology, psychology, pedagogy, computer science and history of education, have attempted to answer by offering their insights into the reading process in a variety of cultural contexts and time periods. Their contributions reflect the evolving nature of the very concept of literacy, which has changed to fit the needs of each set of circumstances and social requirements. In the midst of a technological revolution, these authors revisit past strategies for the teaching and promotion of reading, identifying those that could be recycled and adapted to new settings, offering an ethnographic approach that has become a necessary complement to the quantitative studies carried out by policy-makers and educational institutions. Conversely, some of these authors also integrate electronic textuality into the long chain of reading formats, designing new tools that make use of digital technology to create bridges between different types of texts and reading traditions, advocating for a transliteracy education that acknowledges the contemporary need to be able to read and write across a range of platforms, tools and media.