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Flexibility in reading literary texts: Differences between weak and strong adolescent readers

Flexibility in reading literary texts: Differences between weak and strong adolescent readers. Tanja Janssen, Martine Braaksma, Gert Rijlaarsdam & Huub van den Bergh University of Amsterdam EARLI Nicosia, August 23-26, 2005.

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Flexibility in reading literary texts: Differences between weak and strong adolescent readers

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  1. Flexibility in reading literary texts:Differences between weak and strongadolescent readers Tanja Janssen, Martine Braaksma, Gert Rijlaarsdam & Huub van den Bergh University of Amsterdam EARLI Nicosia, August 23-26, 2005

  2. e.g., explaining, predicting, analyzing, evaluating, emotional responding flexibility = the ability of readers to change their readingactivities in adaptive response to parts of a literary text and/or in response to different literary texts. flexible within a single text between texts

  3. The Three Friends by Jeanette Winterson

  4. Once upon a time there were two friends who found a third. Liking no one better in the whole world, they vowed to live in one palace, sail in one ship, and fight one fight with equal arms.

  5. After three months they decided to go on a quest. ‘What shall we seek?’ they asked each other. The first said, ‘Gold.’ The second said, ‘Wives.’ The third said, ‘That which cannot be found.’ They all agreed that this last was best and so they set off in fine array.

  6. They heard a noise behind them like a scythe cutting the water and when they looked they saw a ship thin as a blade gaining towards them. The figure rowed it standing up, with one oar that was not an oar. They saw the curve of the metal flashing, first this side and then that. They saw the rower throw back his hood. They saw him beckon to them and the world tilted. The sea poured away. Who are they with fish and starfish in their hair?

  7. Mark’s think aloud comments Story fragment 1 I think something strange is going to happen. 2 I don’t think it will be fun, because what is written here is just nonsense. 3 Perhaps it’s going to be thrilling. Let’s see what happens in the next fragment. 4 It’s just nonsense. There is nothing special to it. 5 It remains the same. 6 It is really not exciting. 7 It's a bit funny, but not exciting. I thought it would be thrilling. 8 This part is boring. It’s just nonsense. 9 I thought that it would be a little bit more romantic, not just nonsense. 10 It’s just nonsense. I think it has nothing to do with novels.

  8. Julia’s think aloud comments Story fragment 1 The three friends. [Laughs]. The three little pigs. Like those comic figures: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. 2 [Laughs]. It’s really not a nice beginning: two friends who found a third. They must be rich: a palace. […]. 3 So, they were men… If it cannot be found, why should you go and look for it? “Women”. Women would be more fun. No, drugs! They should go look for that. Yes. […]

  9. Research questions • Do adolescents change their reading activities over the course of their reading process and in response to different stories? • Are there differences between weak and strong readers (within a story / between stories)?

  10. Participants • 19 students from 3 schools • 10th grade • 16 years old • boys & girls • different levels of achievement

  11. Think aloud task • 5 short stories (500-1000 words) • Stories may invite multiple interpretations • Presented fragment by fragment • From computer screen (self-paced) • Online thinking aloud (no hints) • About 20 minutes per story

  12. First watching a model

  13. Thinking aloud

  14. Data • 92 think aloud protocols • About 4000 student statements (as individual cases) • One coder, 10% coded by two coders: Cohen’s kappa = .81

  15. Coding scheme • Retelling • Inferencing • Detecting problems • Associating • Analyzing • Evaluating • Responding emotionally • Responding metacognitively • Other activity

  16. Coding example

  17. Analysis • Multilevel models • Occurrence of each activity as a function of time • Hierarchy of data: reader story 1story 2 story 3 story 4 story 5 fragment 1 fragment 2 fragment n activity 1 activity 2 activity n

  18. Results Two examples: • problem detecting (e.g., self-questioning) • responding emotionally (e.g., laughing, sighing)

  19. Individual readers (n = 19)

  20. Mean patterns for weak and strong readers

  21. Individual readers & stories (n=92)

  22. Individual readers (n = 19)

  23. Mean patterns for weak & strong readers

  24. Individual readers & stories (n=92)

  25. Conclusions • Adolescents change the configuration of their reading activities over the course of the reading process • Strong readers change the configuration of their reading activities more often than weak readers • over the course of the reading process • in response to different stories Strong readers appear to be more flexible in their literary reading and response than weak readers.

  26. Implication for literature teaching Weak student-readers should learn to differentiate their literary responses and strategies, depending on: • the phase in the reading process • the particular literary text they are reading

  27. Thank you for your attention E-mail: T.M.Janssen@uva.nl

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