Correlation between the comprehensive skills and metacognitive teaching strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for study motivation

Background: In the educational field, more importance has always been given to linguistic production instead of comprehension, considering it an immediate and automatic aspect (Zanetti, Miazza, 2019). Currently, two dimensions of understanding are considered: "vertical" and "horizontal". In the vertical, an interaction with reality is identified through a spiral process. On the other hand, the horizontal dimension is related to the meaning of the statement (De Mauro, 1994). Methods: This research involved children who attended the “G. Bianchi” secondary school of Codroipo (UD, Italy), and it was conducted through a three-year period, overcoming the Covid 19 pandemic. Objectives: The objectives of this study were: a) to verify the presence of a significant correlation between comprehension and metacognitive teaching strategies; b) to verify the existence of a correlation between the decrease in the results obtained at the beginning of the third year and the decrease in motivation to study that occurred after the pandemic period. Results: The results obtained show a significant correlation between comprehension and metacognitive strategies and the effectiveness of the teacher’s role and motivation to study. Conclusions: Despite the smallness of the sample, which does not allow us to give a global view of the school situation in Italy, this study suggests the importance of the metacognitive strategies for the understanding skills, the effectiveness of the teacher's role as a personal teaching promoter and the presence of a significant relationship between profit and motivation to study. In the future, it is expected to involve other classes of the same institute and other Secondary schools in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy).