Assessment of verbal reasoning domains in high school students

Evaluación de dominios de razonamiento verbal en estudiantes de bachillerato

María Yanet Gómez

Master in Education, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla. yanet.gomez@corre.buap.mx, Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4278-9084

...........................................

SUMMAR

The present study evaluates the levels of mastery of verbal reasoning in fifth semester students of the General High School of the Tepeaca-Tepexi region in the State of Puebla during the 2023-2024 school year. The purpose of the research is to measure the students' performance levels in the processes of reading comprehension, sentence complements, handling of antonyms and use of analogies. The quantitative research with cross-sectional design and descriptive scope, evidences in the findings the students' mastery of verbal reasoning from the application of an aptitude test where the overall average score obtained was 49 out of 100. According to the analysis for the area of Language and Communication, the students show an insufficient result, being an unfavorable data for the learning expected to be acquired in the formative stage of high school, therefore, a significant difference is identified between the acquisition of verbal mastery of the students and the levels of communicative achievement. The evaluation of verbal reasoning provides information to adjust pedagogical approaches and propose strategies to strengthen language learning in high school students.

Key words: Assessment, domains, verbal reasoning, high school.

RESUMEN

El presente estudio evalúa los niveles de dominio del razonamiento verbal en estudiantes de quinto semestre de Bachillerato General de la región Tepeaca-Tepexi en el Estado de Puebla durante el Ciclo Escolar 2023-2024. El propósito de la investigación es medir los niveles de rendimiento de los alumnos en los procesos de comprensión lectora, complemento de oraciones, manejo de antónimos y uso de analogías. La investigación cuantitativa con diseño transversal y alcance descriptivo, evidencia en los hallazgos el dominio del razonamiento verbal de los estudiantes a partir de la aplicación de una prueba de aptitud donde el puntaje promedio general obtenido fue de 49 sobre 100. De acuerdo con el análisis para el área de Lenguaje y Comunicación, los estudiantes muestran un resultado insuficiente, siendo un dato poco favorable para los aprendizajes que se espera adquieran en la etapa formativa del bachillerato, por lo que, se identifica una diferencia significativa entre la adquisición del dominio verbal de los alumnos y los niveles de logro comunicativo. La evaluación del razonamiento verbal proporciona información para ajustar los enfoques pedagógicos y proponer estrategias que fortalezcan el aprendizaje del lenguaje en los estudiantes de Educación Media Superior.

Palabras clave: Evaluación, dominios, razonamiento verbal, bachillerato .

Introduction

The assessment of the basic knowledge of high school students through reasoning tests is a topic that has been studied in recent decades, the purpose has been to identify how students demonstrate that they have the knowledge, skills and attitudes for the practice of oral and written language, comprehension and analysis of texts, as well as expressive and informative narration derived from the semantic field.

The acquisition of language should evolve in the formative phase of the student from childhood to adolescence, however, for the case of the Mexican Educational System (SEM) there are a series of limitations that are presented for the development of verbal reasoning in the area of Language and Communication, where a series of specific sub-processes are required so that the student has the ability to plan the purpose of the text, its content and the potential reader; write the type of text taking into consideration the use of lexis, normative morphosyntax, cohesion, spelling and punctuation marks; as well as revise the written text to evaluate and correct it (Benítez and García, 2010, p. 68).

In the State of Puebla, it is important that both students and high school graduates have verbal reasoning skills, because the educational offer that exists to enter Higher Education (HE) establishes as a requirement that linguistic and mathematical knowledge be demonstrated. In the case of the subsystem called General Baccalaureate, one of the necessary tasks is to develop the verbal reasoning domains by diagnosing learning and implementing a series of strategies for students to reinforce their knowledge of language and communication.

Towards a definition of the concept of verbal reasoning domain in the baccalaureate.

One of the recurring themes in contemporary educational discourse is to ensure the development of verbal reasoning in students, theoretical discussions point out that the knowledge derived from the appropriation of language is conditioned by the context, thus learning verbal reasoning is conceived as: the faculty of understanding knowledge through the direct application of the processes required by language and its evaluation to improve actions and thoughts involving direct and indirect observation of situations belonging to the category that seeks to define. It seeks to strengthen "verbal reasoning through the review of concepts, learning poems and rhymes, as well as reading and writing sentences" (Cuesta, Aguiar and Marchena, 2015, p. 42).

The mastery of learning by verbal reasoning requires the appropriation of a sequence of stages ranging from knowledge and understanding of the oral and written reading process, to the evaluation and continuous improvement of the communicative procedure. Effectiveness in the acquisition of language performance domains requires constant practice so that they become daily habits in students that are applicable to diverse situations and contexts required by the linguistic task (Sánchez, 1998, p. 8).

The development of the verbal domain is related to the purpose of achieving reading comprehension, problem solving and decision making that contribute to the organization and exercise of critical and reflective thinking. Therefore, the term verbal domain is represented as a skill where intellectual knowledge is applied for comprehension, problem solving and decision making that lead to the organization and development of thinking that value specific events, which are identified as the ability to abstract, generalize and establish relationships between concepts or ideas that are present in a problem, premises or sentences, linked to reasoning and the ability to build a mental representation that is consistent with the meaning of the use of language (Barreyro, Injoque-Ricle and Formoso, 2019, p. 64).

Margarita A. de Sánchez (1998) defines the levels of mastery in the verbal dimension as the application of processes that facilitate the appropriation of new knowledge, the acquisition of learning and the verification of the learner's intellectual progress. He points out that the appropriation of verbal reasoning may be limited by the lack of understanding on the part of the learner to process information, which results in a limited development in the organization of thought to store, retrieve and use knowledge in a meaningful way (Sánchez, 1998, p. 5). The verbal domain focuses on learning and motivates the student from reflection to elaborate his own ideas, because the purpose is to generate a conscious attitude in the search and construction of knowledge by interpreting knowledge as an action of unity in its social dimension of language that allows reasoning, self-learning, critical and reflective thinking, problem solving, creativity, autonomous learning, as well as the application of knowledge with sense and meaning (Torres, 1991, p. 65).

It is important to consider that for the development of verbal reasoning in students, the analysis of situations should be incorporated as processes of communicative acquisition, which are generated from the communicative strategies associated with the dimensions of reasoning that are related to the construction of thought that occurs in a certain time and place determined by the social category of learning. It is necessary to point out that the development of strategies represents a relevant function in the student, who from communication accesses the knowledge of others (and increases and transforms his own) through the reading of multiple texts, which are read by and for oneself, in a silence conducive to reflection. This modern reader, who chooses, processes, dialogues with the text and questions it; this reader that we all propose in our educational institutions to form free and enlightened citizens (Solé, 2012, p. 48).

Thus, students should be given the opportunity to strengthen the domains of thinking, metacognition and self-regulation that provide them with cognitive autonomy and the exercise of learning for life, questioning different points of view or approaches in the solution of problems derived from the formulation of ideas, the understanding and interpretation of knowledge, and the response to situations of the social context in a critical and reflective way, as areas of opportunity in the application of the knowledge learned (Lozano, 2003, p. 11).

In the present study, the verbal reasoning domain in students from the Tepeaca-Tepexi school region, in the fifth semester of high school, is defined as the procedural approach in which students are enabled to develop communicative knowledge represented in the construction of ideas and the understanding of knowledge based on the analysis of situations that allow them to redefine knowledge through reading, writing and argumentative dialogue from the social context in which they are immersed.

Mastery of verbal reasoning as a linguistic resource for incorporation into higher education and/or productive life.

At present, the cultural baggage associated with the language domain is determined by continuous changes over time. The changes identified from culture can be analyzed in two dimensions: the social one that describes a human group or even the whole of humanity in a specific period of time, and the personal one that determines each human being in a particular way. Thus, when the power of culture is confirmed as the key factor in the change of humanity, it is determined by the management of language where one of the processes of social interaction is associated with the domains of verbal reasoning as oral and written skills that people use to communicate effectively through the practice of reading, writing, speaking and listening. The verbal domains are an essential resource for accessing academic content, where students acquire knowledge through their participation in oral presentations, the elaboration of written texts, reading and argumentative interventions (Aste, 2004, p. 4).

The need to integrate the domains of reasoning in the verbal language of students during their school formative stage is increasingly evident so that they are ready for their transition to university education or incorporation into the labor market. Therefore, the communicative approach to verbal reasoning should ensure that students achieve reflective thinking that allows them to solve problems and find solutions to different challenges in the context of their daily lives (Mauri, 2000, p. 71).

In this scenario, the studies conducted in high school need to adapt to the current situation and time, considering the theories and methods that are relevant where students create their own understanding of what they learn in school, using their way of representing information and making it meaningful, it is about expanding the student's linguistic culture as "internal context of semantic networks, organized knowledge of the world that are partially reflected in the vocabulary" (Ferreiro and Gomez, 2002, p. 213).

Teachers in high school have the academic responsibility to develop basic communication skills in students, so linguistic action must be adapted to current processes, considering that education is conceived as the basis for individual and social progress. The subjects in formation must improve their communicative domains from the interaction and participation in the construction of their environment, therefore, the verbal reasoning skills must be multifunctional to propitiate in the students the capacity to solve problems by means of the identification, management and combination of applicable information, management and combination of information applicable to the social reality in order to raise communicative learning procedures that move towards a particular cognitive complexity (Alonso and Mateos, 1985) and that derive from reading, writing, language and logical thinking, so that students can face with opportunity the cognitive and communicative challenges they will encounter in their transition to higher education or their incorporation into the labor market.

Materials and methods

The research uses a quantitative approach with a non-experimental, cross-sectional, descriptive design (McMillan and Schumacer, 2011), the study is aimed at the high school student population in the 2023-2024 school year, in particular, students who attended the fifth semester between the months of August 2023 and January 2024 are considered as study subjects. A non-probabilistic criterion was used to select the sample, choosing 450 students who were about to graduate in July 2024 and who met a series of characteristics to carry out the research. For the conformation of the sample, 9 students per school were selected from the 50 institutions identified in the Tepeaca-Tepexi region, forming a total universe of 450 informants of the 4,258 students who were enrolled in the third year of their studies (PLANEA, 2023), so this sample is equivalent to 10.6%. The type of selection by grade point average of the informants was to have a significant representation of the student population, in order to have a more punctual assessment of the aspects analyzed of the verbal reasoning domains, thus per school three students were chosen with an average of 8.5 to 9.4, three with an average of 7.5 to 8.4 and three more with an average of 6.5 to 7.4 (see Table 1)

Table 1.

General high school students (total sample surveyed).

Period	2023 - 2024 School Year
Students per school	3	3	3
Average	8.5 a 9.4	7.5 a 8.4	6.5 a 7.4
Schools	50
Total students	450

The selected population consisted of 285 females (63%) and 165 males (37%), the average age range was 17.The 50 high schools selected for the application of the test are located in the Tepeaca-Tepexi region in the municipalities of Acajete, Acatzingo, Amozoc, Atoyatempan, Cuesta Blanca, Chigmecatitlán, General Felipe Ángeles, Huatlatauca, Huitziltepec, Los Reyes de Juárez, Mixtla, Molcaxac, Palmar de Bravo, Quecholac, San Salvador Huixcolotla, Santo Tomás Hueyotlipan, Santa Inés Ahuatempan, Tecali de Herrera, Tecamachalco, Tepatlaxco de Hidalgo, Tepeaca, Tepexi de Rodríguez, Tepeyahualco de Cuauhtémoc, Tlacotepec de Benito Juárez, Tochtepec, Tzicatlacoyan, Yehualtepec, and Zamarilla de Álvaro Obregón.

Instruments

In the field research phase, the academic aptitude test was applied as an instrument to evaluate the mastery of verbal reasoning with the purpose of recovering key information on the communicative knowledge presented by the students. The test consists of 50 items and is divided into four study variables: reading comprehension, sentence completion, antonyms and analogies, which together make it possible to measure the acquisition of linguistic knowledge acquired by students during their high school education.

Reading comprehension

It is conceived as the use of language to express or interpret ideas in different ways, because before entering, for example, into the reading of a book, it is relevant to connect it with something that has been read previously, so that from the narrative of the text the student reader assumes the meanings that allow him/her to understand the message with more opportunity. It is important to know how to read quickly and accurately, and it is also useful to know the main ideas and the details of the structure of the text. You should dig deeper and ask questions about the content, considering what it is about, how it works, when it happens, and why it is important. By locating the author's intention, comprehension of the text is promoted in the student to establish connections with the thoughts and experiences of the reading (Trasi, Oliviera, & Inácio, 2019, p. 616). The purpose of reading is reading comprehension, that this should be the basic objective of teaching and involves three dimensions: the reader, the text and the activity, they are performed in a sociocultural context that articulates them because there is a constant interaction of the reader with the text (Garcia, 2006).

Reading comprehension goes beyond the literal meaning of words; it involves active interaction with the content, because by connecting the ideas in the text to personal experiences, the student reader not only integrates the information but also interprets it within a deeper context. The ability to distinguish between critical and secondary ideas is important because it provides an understanding of the structure and organization of ideas, and reflective questioning during reading enhances comprehension processes and allows student readers to anticipate and answer questions that may arise in the text. Reading comprehension is defined as the cognitive ability in which the student makes lexical, syntactic and semantic processes interact, to express meanings from the recognition of the important ideas of a text, with the purpose of establishing relationships between these and previously acquired experiences (Gómez, 2020, p. 10).

Reading comprehension is a multidisciplinary skill that combines speed, accuracy, context and analytical knowledge to understand an author's intention and correctly answer the questions of a text. The reading comprehension variable in the present study is made up of two indicators denominated as: inference or conclusion and response as part of the text, in the research instrument 15 questions are proposed.
Sentence completion

It is defined as the ability to identify the words or phrases that complement and articulate the logical sense of the sentence, completing sentences in a text evidences the ability of student readers to understand the relationships that are established between the different elements of the sentence and the knowledge of the words they possess. This type of items assess the understanding and use of the meaning of the words given as options and their correct use in the context of a sentence (Granvik, 2017).

The action of completing sentences implies the level of vocabulary available and refers to the general knowledge that evaluates the breadth and precision of the words used by the student, as a consequence of a broader understanding of the context in which the sentences are placed. The study variable sentence completion measures the indicators of sentence logic, lexical proficiency and general knowledge; sentence logic is evaluated by its coherence once completed.

The instrument presents 10 questions to measure the student reader's ability to choose the most appropriate parts to complete the logical meaning of a sentence, to assess the comprehension of words and sentences, as well as the effective use of this knowledge in a specific grammatical and lexical context.

Antonyms

They are the level of appropriation and management of vocabulary, as well as the linguistic skills that the reader possesses and that is related to what is acquired over time to be able to express themselves by establishing the opposition features of words. The problems that arise with the handling of antonyms have to do with the words that are used from the everyday context that high school students must know. As a result, we seek to know if students have learned the conceptualizations of words and their meanings, so that they identify antonyms as a simple procedure.

The key to understanding antonyms lies in recognizing their opposition, which means exploring the different ways in which a word can be expressed, because each term integrates a wealth of knowledge that is waiting to be explored and understood (Roméu-Escobar, 2013). To measure the variable of antonyms, the basic meaning indicator is used, through the formulation of ten questions that have the purpose of assessing the understanding and management of words in a linguistic context. In this sense, it is necessary to carry out a punctual analysis of the words and their meanings in order to be able to correctly organize the mastery of antonyms in the reading of the text.

Analogies

They are an important factor in the evaluation of cognitive abilities, which emphasizes the ability to relate similarity connections between two words, this type of process evaluates the understanding of elementary relationships, as well as the ability to identify similar or parallel relationships of words (Godoy, 2002), because it is not only a matter of looking for synonyms, but of locating two words that exhibit the same type of relationship. In the test, students were asked to answer the 15 questions that make up the variable called: analogies, through two indicators: 1. Identify equivalences or semantic oppositions between portions of a statement and the correct answer; and 2. Identify the synthesis of the information exposed in the text in a proposition or discover a common element between the meanings of words, phrases or sentences (Brizuela, Jiménez, Pérez, Rojas, 2016, p. 25).

The test was administered in September 2023, students had 60 minutes to answer the instrument with the purpose of evaluating the verbal reasoning domains acquired up to the fifth semester in the General Baccalaureate.

Results

The test of verbal reasoning domains is structured in four variables, so the following lines present the results obtained, considering the following criteria for analysis and interpretation, from 100 to 95 excellent (E); 94-85 very good (MB); 84-75 good (B); 74-65 regular (R); 64-60 sufficient (S) and 59-0 not sufficient (NS).

Reading comprehension

The reading comprehension variable, in the verbal reasoning domain test, seeks that the student grasps and expresses the ideas presented in the text, allowing reflection and analysis of the information; therefore, the questions provided two types of answers: the first, where reflection is part of the text, and the second, when the student arrives at the answer by inference or conclusion (see graph 1).

Graph 1.

Ways of capturing and expressing ideas. Inferences.

Graph 2 shows the results of the reading comprehension section of the test, finding that out of 15 questions, 11 correspond to the answer where the student has to infer. The questions that were answered correctly and that present a passing grade are visualized with the answer to question 11, others that are passing, but not so favorable to be considered as regular due to the percentage they present are the answers to questions 4, 6, 12, because the percentage of correct answers that they show goes from 68% to 72%. In this part of the test -inference in text comprehension- the total number of questions asked to the sample of 450 students was 4,950, finding that 2,845 were answered correctly, which corresponds to 57%. In the case of questions 1, 3, 9, 13, 14 and 15, the result is flunking, presenting an average percentage between 22% and 58%.

Within the unsatisfactory range are the answers to questions 2, 5, 8 and 10 that correspond to the indicator: Part of the text; their percentage ranges between 42 and 51% (see graph 2).

Graph 2.

Ways of capturing and expressing ideas: part of the text.

As can be seen in Graph 2, the students had greater difficulty in answering the questions where the answer was a part of the text, because of the four questions that were presented, none of these were answered correctly, with a percentage of correct answers between 42% and 52%. In this part of the test, the total number of questions asked to the 450 students was 1,800, finding that 851 were answered correctly, presenting a percentage of 47%.

Complete sentences

With respect to the second part of the verbal reasoning domain test, which corresponds to the variable: sentence completion, it was sought that the student could identify the logical sense of the sentence, the command of the lexicon used and the general knowledge to answer the questions. The percentages shown in graph 3 correspond to the logical sense of the statement as a whole and show that questions 19 and 22 are the ones that reach the highest percentage of correct answers, 76% and 81% respectively.

Graph 3.

Sentence completion. Logical sense of the statement as a whole.

The answers with deficient results represent half of the indicators formulated for this part, among which questions 20 (53%), 21 (38%), 23 (35%), 24 (46%) and 25 (55%) reach the criterion of not sufficient and, therefore, the student obtains a failing grade. The results show that the action of completing sentences contributed the highest percentage in the answers provided by the students, because of the 4,500 questions asked, 2,615 were correct, which represented a percentage of 58% of correct answers.

Antonyms

The third part of the test corresponds to the variable of antonyms, the results were unsatisfactory, because out of 10 questions that were asked, only two of them were answered correctly, as can be seen with question 30 with a percentage of 74% and 28 with 70%. This variable has to do with the lexical level of the language that the student handles, and according to the results shown by the students, the percentage of correct answers was very low, ranging from 23% with answer 33, where out of 450 students only 105 answered correctly; to 56% with question 32, where out of 450 students only 254 answered correctly (see graph 4).

Graph 4.

Antonyms. Oppositional features in words.

The total number of questions that correspond to the topic of antonyms is 4,500 and only 2,057 were answered correctly, which in percentage shows a 46% of achievement, in this part were found the lowest results of the test (questions 29, 33 and 34) and, therefore, the most critical point that is identified because it evidences the absence of the lack of verbal domains represented in the use and management of the lexicon. The vocabulary that was used in the topic of antonyms is the one that the student learns and acquires at the high school level through the readings, so the study subjects had greater difficulty in finding and relating words with features of opposition and significance, so it can be said that the students lack a certain capacity for total mastery of the lexicon.

Analogies

The last part of the test corresponds to the use of analogies derived from the reading of the texts, the results indicate that the answers are again unsatisfactory, because of the 15 questions asked, none had a percentage higher than 60%, the data shown in graph 5 are located in a range of 25% to 59%, so the students did not achieve a sufficient percentage according to the measurement scale.

Graph 5.

Analogies. Relationships that are established in a pair of words.

Of the 15 questions corresponding to this part of the test, the highest percentage of correct answers was given in question 42 with 59%, which shows that 266 students out of 450 answered correctly. Of 6,750 questions, only 2,400,663 answered the analogies section satisfactorily, which is equivalent to 39%, so it is in this part where the lowest percentage of achievement of high school students is presented (see graph 5). Analogies, as the results show, was the one that caused the most problems to the student, despite the fact that previously it had been said that antonymy had a low percentage in terms of successes, in the answers to the topic of analogies there was an unsatisfactory result, because all of them are placed as failed. Analogies measure the domains that the student has to establish relationships in a pair of words, understand the ideas expressed in those relationships and recognize a similar or parallel idea; therefore, this variable is the one that should be worked on in greater detail with young high school students.

The results presented with the application of the aptitude test show that of the four variables that make up the verbal reasoning domains: reading comprehension, sentence completion, antonyms and analogies, high school students had greater difficulty in answering the parts that correspond to the handling of antonyms (46%) and analogies (39%), where the lowest percentages of correct answers were presented. In general terms, the percentage of academic achievement by the informants is 49%, represented by 11,031 questions answered correctly out of the 22,500 questions asked (see Graph 6).

Graph 6.

Performance presented by high school students

The antonymy exercises have to do with the meaning of words and it is where students must show the capacity and mastery of the lexicon they handle, as well as the words they incorporate as a linguistic competence during the course of their lives. Each word contains an important amount of information and it is necessary for the reader to analyze and understand it in order to be able to apply it in certain contexts.

With respect to the variable of analogies, students had difficulties in recognizing the differences and similarities between a pair of words, because as mentioned in the antonyms it is important to recognize the meanings and nuances that a word can have and depending on the meaning given to the word, the corresponding relationship can be established in the analogies.

For the aspects related to reading comprehension, there was a better performance of students, the percentage obtained was 57% in the indicator of inferences; and 47% in the indicator part of the text, where students had to demonstrate the ability to reflect, analyze and express the ideas presented in the text, use experiences and previous knowledge to make inferences and make judgments in order to recognize the arguments and grasp the meaning of what the text says. Likewise, mastery of the language lexicon is required to understand the discourse and recognize the logical relationships that give coherence to the written text.

The highest percentage obtained in the application of the test is found in the variable: completing sentences, with 58% of correct answers; in this part the student presented a greater ability to find the logical sense of the sentence, taking into account the reasoning relationships established in the sentence and the missing word or words, and as in the previous topics, the mastery and ability of the lexicon, as well as the general knowledge of the prevailing social context and the experiences lived, all this will be fundamental in the development of the verbal reasoning domains.

When comparing the results of all the variables considered in the test, it is identified that the overall score of 49% with respect to the communicative performance presented by the students is located on the scale of not sufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to develop all these variables in high school classrooms, where teachers implement a series of didactic strategies that delimit teaching and learning activities and based on reflection and analysis, which outline in students the achievement of communicative knowledge based on the domains of verbal reasoning. Strategies should be focused on the academic environment, with special attention to the development of the reading domain in order to achieve the communicative function. For Navarro (2008) "learning strategies are identified with procedural contents considered as functional learning that aim at action, at knowing how to do [...] they contain within them a plan of action or a sequence of perfectly organized activities" (p. 25).

Conclusions

The analysis derived from the application of the test indicates that the sample of students was in the range of 2 to 5.9, resulting in an insufficient performance, where the variables that were measured report 59% of correct answers. Although the Plan and the study programs for the area of knowledge of Language and Communication register the knowledge that must be learned in this field, a series of deficiencies are evident in the resolution of problems that the students were asked to solve within the framework of the test questions to demonstrate the levels of achievement they have in verbal reasoning.

It is important that authorities, directors and teachers of the General Baccalaureate subsystem keep in mind the context of needs -to access the higher level or the labor market- manifested by the local, regional and national scenario, so that students have the skills that allow them to develop the process of verbal reasoning as a daily communicative practice.

It is pertinent to consider in classroom work the implementation of a set of actions to provide students with the communicative knowledge that ensures a training based on comprehension, reflection, analysis and problem solving skills.

As aspects that should be promoted for the development of the domains related to verbal reasoning in students, they include fostering interest in the acquisition of linguistic knowledge derived from reading and writing, as well as, participation in cultural events in the form of oratory contests, declamation, forums, study circles and debates with social impact.

In the case of high school teachers who teach the subjects of Language and Communication, it is recommended that they motivate students to plan their entrance to the university. They should reinforce the teaching of their courses by demonstrating pedagogical knowledge and the use of didactic materials that make the class more enjoyable and generate student participation, encouraging openness to dialogue and criticism from the communicative field, as well as working on the totality of the contents and the purposes set forth in the programs of the subjects.

In this scenario it is important to emphasize that, together with the teachers of Language and Communication, the teachers of Mathematics, Experimental Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities should also favor verbal reasoning through classroom activities that outline the processes of synthesis, paraphrasing, summarizing, elaboration of concept maps, mind maps, diagrams, synoptic charts, etc., that facilitate the comprehension of different types of texts and, thus, the development of vocabulary, which is an elementary basis for the integral formation of the high school student, that facilitate the comprehension of texts of different types and, with this, the development of vocabulary, which is an elemental basis for the integral formation of the high school student.

Reference

Alonso, J. and Mateos, M. (1985). Reading comprehension: models, training and assessment. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 1 (31-32), 5-19.

Aste, M. (2004). Multiple Intelligences. Parents: The Technology of Teaching, 8 (2), 1-27.

Barreyro, J., Injoque-Ricle, I., Formoso, J. (2019). Computerized Working Memory Battery (BIMeT-V): Studying the Relation between Working Memory, Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Trends in Psychology, 27 (1), 53-67.

Benítez, R. and García, G. (2010) Verbal analogical reasoning: an essential cognitive skill of written production. Onomázein, 22 (1), 165-194.

Brizuela, A., Jiménez, K., Pérez, Nelson, Rojas, G. (2016). Verbal self-reports aloud for the identification of reasoning processes in standardized tests. Costa Rican Journal of Psychology, 35 (1), 17-30.

Cuesta, H., Aguiar, M., Victoria; Marchena, M. (2015). Development of mathematical and verbal reasoning through ICT: description of a Pixel-Bit educational experience. Journal of Media and Education, 46 (1), 39-50.

Ferreiro, E. and Gómez, M. (2002). Nuevas perspectivas sobre los procesos de lectura y escritura. Mexico: Siglo XXI.

García, J.A. (2006). Reading and knowledge. Cognition and human development. Barcelona-Buenos Aires-Mexico: Paidós.

Godoy, L. (2002). On the structure of analogies in science. Interciencia, 27 (8), 422-429.

Gómez, M. Y. (2020). Analysis of reading proficiency in the training of high school students. A study on the levels of development achieved. RIDE. Revista Iberoamericana en Investigación y Desarrollo Educativo 10 (20), 1-29.

Granvik, A. (2017). Noun completive sentences in Spanish and Portuguese: infinitive or finite sentence? Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México, 4 (1), 103-180.

Lozano, L. (2003). Didactics of Spanish Language and Literature. Mexico: Libris.

Mauri, Teresa (2000). The active and constructive nature of knowledge. In I. Solé i Gallart (coord.), Constructivism in the classroom (pp. 65-100). Barcelona: Graó.

McMillan, J., Schumacer, S. (2011). Educational research. A conceptual introduction. Madrid: Pearson-Addison Wesley

Navarro, J. (2008). Reading comprehension strategies and written expression in narrative texts. Buenos Aries, Argentina: LUMEN.

PLANEA (2023). Planea 2023 Higher Secondary Education. Language and communication. Mexico: Secretaría de Educación Pública.

Roméu-Escobar, A. (2013). Let's talk about language. Varona, 56 (1), 82-83.

Sánchez, Margarita A. de (1998). Desarrollo del Pensamiento. Mexico: Trillas.

Solé, I. (2012). Reading competence and learning. Revista Iberoamericana, 59 (1), 43-61.

Torres, R. (1991). Basic learning needs. Estrategias de acción. Santiago de Chile: OREAL-UNESCO-IDCR.

Trassi, Ai; Oliveira, K; Inácio, A. (2019). Reading Comprehension, Learning Strategies and verbal reasoning: Possible Relationships. Psico-USF, 24 (4), 615-624.