(EFE). Cuban students know how to write texts according to previous guidelines, but they need to improve their spelling, according to a UNESCO study published this Tuesday.
The Comparative and Explanatory Regional Study (ERCE 2019) writing test shows that third and sixth graders in Cuba know how to structure a text and annotate it with the appropriate gender characteristics according to a given motto and purpose.
It is also noted that they are sufficient in the textual area, ranging from the vocabulary to the internal cohesion of the writing, going through the concordance of the sentences.
90% of the thirdyear students followed the instructions and wrote a text according to the instructions, and 80% structured the first text correctly
However, the report believes that there needs to be more emphasis on spelling: ‘They need to improve the phoneticletter association’ and ‘They need to improve some aspects of legibility conventions’.
90% of the thirdyear students followed the instructions and wrote a text according to the guidelines, and 80% structured the first text (a letter) correctly, although the second (a description) was more difficult.
The vast majority complied with the requirements they set and 60% achieved consistent and coherent texts. 40% managed to write words in which phoneme (sound) and grapheme (writing) were associated (regardless of orthographic norm).
Among Cuban sixth graders, only half complied with the gender instructions (a story and a letter) and 70% stuck to the agreement.
In terms of readability, only about 40% met spelling standards, while 70% got it right.
The report assessed the ‘discursive domain’ (communicative purpose and adaptation to slogan, genre and index), the ‘textual domain’ (vocabulary, coherence, concordance and cohesion) and ‘readability’ (spelling and punctuation).
The Regional Office for Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (Orealc/Unesco Santiago) published the results of fifteen countries with the aim of assessing the writing performance of students in the region.
In terms of readability, only around 40% matched the spelling rules, while 70% got it right
The head of the office, Claudia Uribe, emphasized that writing must be taught “from the earliest stage and “continued to be consciously practiced throughout the school career.
Writing is a “critical” skill in the work environment, he continued, because “it helps to think, to organize and transmit ideas, to interact with others indirectly and asynchronously, to communicate and capture thoughts sustainably.”
“Developing high literacy skills is a must for all education systems,” he added.
The study involved minors from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
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