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English for Academic Purposes Related to Dentistry: Analyzing the Reading Comprehension Process
Inglés con fines académicos vinculado a la odontología: análisis del proceso de comprensión lectora
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v23n2.86965Keywords:
Dentistry, English for academic purposes, lexical acquisition, reading comprehension (en)adquisición de léxico, comprensión lectora, inglés con fines académicos, odontología (es)
The Universidad de la República, in Uruguay, offers reading comprehension in English courses within the career of dentistry for students to access information in this language. The study sought to analyze the fulfilment of the course’s aims and to test the hypothesis that the greater the vocabulary that dentistry students possess, the better they will be able to understand written dentistry texts. A mixed approach, based on interviews and a class survey, was used. Data showed that the course’s objectives were achieved. Participants stated that the course is highly meaningful, and they believed that the previously mentioned correlation exists. However, this could not be statistically verified, which indicates that multiple reading comprehension skills are involved when trying to understand academic texts.
La Universidad de la República, en Uruguay, brinda cursos de comprensión lectora en inglés durante la carrera de Odontología para que sus estudiantes accedan a información en esta lengua. En la investigación se analizó el cumplimiento de los objetivos del curso y la hipótesis de que entre más vocabulario poseen los estudiantes de odontología, mejor comprenden los textos académicos sobre odontología. Se utilizó una metodología mixta basada en entrevistas y una encuesta. Con la información recabada se verificó el cumplimiento de los objetivos del curso. Los participantes manifestaron que el curso es muy significativo y que existe la correlación analizada. Sin embargo, esto no pudo ser verificado estadísticamente, lo que indica que para comprender textos académicos son necesarias múltiples habilidades.
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1. Doris Correa, Juan Carlos Montoya. (2025). Academic English Needs and Practices of Faculty and Students at a Public University in Medellín, Colombia. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.358410.
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