Elementary Children

1
Elementary Childrens Aesthetic and Efferent
Responses to Reading Information Books

• Ray Doiron, Ph.D.
• University of Prince Edward Island
• Canada

2
The C.R.I.B. Project

• A three-year study that examined
• Elementary childrens independent reading
  choices.
• Elementary childrens written responses to
  reading information books.

3
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.

4
Theoretical Framework

• Bruners Ways of Knowing
• Narrative/Paradigmatic
• Each order experience, construct reality
• Each requires different forms, different uses of
  language
• Dont reduce one to the other or favor one over
  the other.
• Not two distinct world views but both make a
  complete picture

5
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.

6
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.

7
The Research Focus

• Would elementary students generate written
  response to reading information books?
• Would elementary students generate aesthetic and
  efferent responses?

8
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).

9
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.

10
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)

11
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.

12
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.

13
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

14
Figure 1
15
Aesthetic Responses to Information Books

• Cat. 1 It reminds me of
• Cat. 2 I wonder why
• Cat. 3 I didnt know that
• Cat 4 I liked it when
• Cat. 5 Text triggered a personal narrative.

16
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.

17
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.

18
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.