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Elementary Children’s Aesthetic and Efferent Responses to Reading Information Books. Ray Doiron, Ph.D. University of Prince Edward Island Canada. The C.R.I.B. Project. A three-year study that examined: Elementary children’s independent reading choices.
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Elementary Children’s Aesthetic and Efferent Responses to Reading Information Books Ray Doiron, Ph.D. University of Prince Edward Island Canada
The C.R.I.B. Project • A three-year study that examined: • Elementary children’s independent reading choices. • Elementary children’s written responses to reading information books.
Factors that Warrant this Study • Most previous research before literature-based programs. • Few Canadian studies in this area. • Trade book market has exploded with a wealth of information books. • Large population (1200) followed for three years. • Construct was examined within the literacy instruction context. • Variety of data-gathering tools used.
Theoretical Framework • Bruner’s “Ways of Knowing” • Narrative/Paradigmatic • Each order experience, construct reality • Each requires different forms, different uses of language • Don’t reduce one to the other or favor one over the other. • Not two distinct world views but both make a complete picture
A Dichotomy exists … • One for science – one for art • One for knowledge – one for understanding • One narrative – one exposition • Work of language – play of language • One for pleasurable reading – one for reading for information.
Collapse the Dichotomy • Focus on the source of the texts; • Focus on the aesthetic value of each, both in their form and in the process that led to their creation. • Both text forms can develop literacy skills and • Both text forms can motivate students to read.
The Research Focus • Would elementary students generate written response to reading information books? • Would elementary students generate aesthetic and efferent responses?
Rosenblatt as Foundation • Transactive nature of reading – two stances – aesthetic & efferent. • Reader may adopt either stance for either text type. • Forget the “either-or habit” where one text is for aesthetic - other for efferent. • Advises teachers to develop students’ ability to read either text from either stance (1991).
Population and Location • 1 urban school & 2 suburban/rural schools. • Grades 1thru 3 and grades 4 thru 6 followed for three years. • Teachers – use literature-based programs – commercially available and supplemented with their own materials and themes. • Well-developed school library programs with full-time teacher-librarian; also open book exchanges.
Collecting Written Responses • Sets of 50+ pre-selected information books in classrooms for 3 weeks. • Book talk by researcher; books set up in display. • Children read books for independent reading and completed a written response. • Prompt: Write anything you want about the book you just read. (Many & Cox studies)
Many & Cox Studies • Grade five students written responses to reading fiction. • Aesthetic response – focus is on the “lived-through experience” of the reader who relates personnel feelings, ideas, emotions and story extensions. • Efferent response – focus is on an analysis of the text and tell little of what the reader experienced while reading. • Many & Cox – 2 efferent, 4 aesthetic categories plus many “mingled” responses.
Analysis of Written Responses • Over 1500 responses collected from grades 1-6. • Holistic framework used to comb responses and find similarities. • Ten categories of response emerged; 331 responses identified as ”mingled” • Two research assistants gave very high – inter-rater reliability. • 5 aesthetic and 5 efferent categories named and described. • Exemplars chosen for each of 10 categories.
Distribution of Responses • After mingled pulled out – 1178 left. • Table 1: shows total number of responses by grade and gender. • Table 2: Response Categories by Grade and Gender • Not much variance by gender • Figure 1: Responses by Category & Grade
Aesthetic Responses to Information Books • Cat. 1: It reminds me of … • Cat. 2: I wonder why … • Cat. 3: I didn’t know that … • Cat 4: I liked it when … • Cat. 5: Text triggered a personal narrative.
Efferent Responses to Information Books • Cat. 6: Reader gives a “review” or recommendation for the book. • Cat. 7: Attraction to a special feature of the book. • Cat. 8: Simple retelling of things remembered – This book is about … • Cat. 9: Rates the difficulty of the reading level for them or for others. • Cat. 10: Simple like/dislike for the book – almost a non-response.
Summary of Results • Elementary children can respond to information books from either an aesthetic or efferent stance. • Purpose set for the reading influences response (Rosenblatt). • Responses are as varied as when they read fiction • Analysis of written responses by gender showed no difference in response types or frequency of completing a response.
Implications • Literacy educators need to “let” children read information books for other purposes that just fact-finding; i.e. pleasurable reading. • Residual data indicated these students were excited about being free to read information books during silent reading time. • Literacy educators need to teach students to read different texts for different purposes, i.e. information books have an aesthetic role in developing literacy. • Literacy educators need to help children develop a complete picture of the world by using both text types to represent the world.