Abstract:

The paper addresses the importance of developing reading literacy in foreign language education, emphasizing the need to integrate strategies that support not only text comprehension but also information recognition and its critical processing. In today's information-rich social environment, learners are required to demonstrate advanced skills such as critical thinking, inferential reasoning and the ability to distinguish between reliable and misleading sources. The theoretical framework of the paper outlines key reading strategies and core predictors supporting the development of reading literacy, including attention, memory, language awareness and cognitive structuring.

The core of the paper focuses on the analysis of a teacher training workshop held in Durrës, Albania, within the international Visegrad+ project ID 22510243 Developing Reading Literacy Through Integrated Information Recognition and Processing. The aim of the workshop was to make the participating trainees aware about the new approaches and strategies to developing reading literacy in foreign languages and to train them how to implement them in their teaching through integrated text information recognition and processing. The workshop was organized in cooperation with partner European universities and attended by 54 in-service and pre-service foreign language teachers. The training program consisted of six sessions combining theoretical input with practical activities, and introduced participants to an innovative Intervention Program designed to enhance reading strategies and critical thinking skills.

The research survey uses a mixed-method approach for evaluation of satisfaction with both, the content and organization of the workshop. Data were collected through a post-training questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of open-ended responses. The findings indicate a very high level of participants’ satisfaction. Most participants expressed readiness to implement the Intervention Program in their teaching practice, though some of them identified potential contextual constraints.

The discussion highlights the effectiveness of combining theory and practice in teacher professional development, as well as the potential for establishing networks of teacher-trainers at the local level. The workshop met its objectives and contributed to the development of teachers innovative teaching practices in foreign language teaching despite the fact that some participants expressed their need for continued support through follow-up mentoring in order to successfully implement the Intervention Program in their educational settings.

Keywords:

Reading literacy, teacher training, workshop, intervention program, innovative teaching practices in foreign language teaching.