Abstract This research is based on the hypothesis that the cognitive processes that depend upon analog reading are very different from those required by digital, fragmented, and non-hierarchical. It also aims to pay attention to the relationship established with the medium and the support that enables multimedia, rhizomatic, and non-linear structures. The investigation focuses on the study of the personal connection maintaining pupils with reading habits from various sectors, such as playful, academic, and participatory, in order, through consumption, to define the reading practice, emphasizing reading as a cultural fact of the so-called Generation Z – besides currently conducting university studies. The informants of this mixed character investigation are configured as a plural group and with an international character. The analysis shows information on the reading behavior, commitment to the reading of digital visitors or residents and the impact of the nature of the medium on reading comprehension.

Resumo Esta pesquisa parte da hipótese de que os processos cognitivos que demandam a leitura analógica são muito diferentes daqueles exigidos pela digital, fragmentados e não hierárquicos. Atenta também para a relação estabelecida com o meio e os suportes que possibilitam estruturas multimídia, rizomáticas e não lineares. Tem como foco o estudo da ligação pessoal que os alunos mantêm com o hábito leitor de diversos setores como o lúdico, o acadêmico e o participativo, a fim de, por meio do consumo, definir a prática da leitura, enfatizando a leitura como um fato cultural da chamada Geração Z e, atualmente, cursando estudos universitários. Os informantes desta investigação de caráter misto configuram-se como um grupo plural e de caráter internacional. A análise mostra informações sobre o comportamento de leitura, o comprometimento com a leitura de visitantes ou residentes digitais e o impacto da natureza do meio na compreensão da leitura.

Abstract The objective of this work is to determine, empirically, the challenges that foreign language teachers have faced, in different countries of the world, during the health crisis, derived from Covid-19. In this research, the reasons underlying these difficulties are analyzed, evaluating the role of digital teaching competence in the training of this group. This work is defined with a mixed paradigm in which quantitative and qualitative methods are systematically integrated to ensure optimal triangulation of the data obtained. The main quantitative data collection tool is a questionnaire designed to determine the challenges of the foreign language teacher during the pandemic and that has been distributed digitally to informants. An accidental non-probabilistic sampling has been used that has made it possible to obtain information from sixty-four teachers at different educational levels and located in different countries of the world: Spain, USA, France, Ivory Coast, Australia, Latvia, Barbados, Colombia, Hong Kong, England, Madagascar, Italy, Thailand or Trinidad and Tobago, among others. The qualitative component consists of a set of free-response questions, that seek to validate previously obtained data and demonstrate that teacher digital literacy is a pending subject in foreign language teacher training, a deficiency, even more, appreciated during the health crisis.

Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar empíricamente los retos a los que se han enfrentado los docentes de lenguas extranjeras durante la crisis sanitaria derivada de la Covid-19. La investigación analiza las razones que subyacen a esas dificultades, evaluándose el papel de la competencia digital docente en la formación de este colectivo. El trabajo se enmarca en un paradigma mixto en el que se integran de forma sistemática métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos con el fin de asegurar una óptima triangulación de los datos obtenidos. La herramienta cuantitativa principal de obtención de datos es un cuestionario diseñado para determinar los desafíos del docente de lenguas extranjeras durante la pandemia y que se ha distribuido de forma digital entre los informantes. Se ha utilizado un muestreo no probabilístico accidental que ha permitido obtener información de 64 docentes en diferentes niveles formativos y localizados en distintos continentes: Europa, América del Norte, América del Sur, África, Asia y Oceanía. El componente cualitativo consiste en un conjunto de preguntas de respuesta libre que pretenden validar los datos obtenidos previamente y demostrar que la alfabetización digital docente es una asignatura pendiente en la formación del profesor de lenguas extranjeras, carencia que se ha apreciado aún más durante la crisis sanitaria.