Abstract
In the Czech Republic there are two teaching methods of reading: the analytic-synthetic (conventional) and genetic (created in the 1990s). They are based on different theoretical foundations and they also differ in methodology.
The aim of this paper is to introduce theoretical approaches and present the results of research that followed the differences in the development of reading skills of pupils in these two methods in the first and second class of the elementary school. A total of 452 of children (age 6-8) were given a battery of reading tests respecting the diagnostic principles of reading assessment in the Czech Republic.
Children were tested at the beginning and at the end of the first grade and at the beginning of the second grade. 350 pupils participated all three times. Based on data analysis the developmental dynamics of reading skills in both methods and the main differences in the individual parameters of reading abilities (the speed of reading, reading technique, error rate in reading) are described, but the main attention is paid to the reading comprehension development.
Results show that pupils instructed using genetic approach score significantly better on used reading comprehension tests, especially in the first grade but there appeared also statistically significant differences between classes independently of each method. It opens the debate about the role of other factors such as for example the role of a teacher and class composition.
At the end the paper introduces the design of the follow up study at the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic: Reading comprehension - current development and its risks (2013-2015), which aim is to analyze in more details the development in reading comprehension in both methods.