Encouraging a Kaleidoscope of Views : Graphic Literature as a Tool for Informative Text Comprehension in the Secondary English Classroom

Over the past decade, graphic literature has fueled the conversations of theory and criticism among scholars and educators alike. With the critical need to teach informative texts and college-ready skills in secondary schools, the debate arises on how these mediums can be further used to extend the capabilities of young readers in a 21st century global community. Thus far, the scholarship on graphic literature in the secondary English classroom proves to be helpful in certain areas, while revealing a gap in others. Missing wholly are discussions about targeted reading comprehension skills particularly related to informative texts and their writer’s purpose, such as being able to understand work that informs, critiques, or proposes solutions necessary to be successful. Thus, teachers need to begin developing and collecting the necessary pedagogical tools needed to help inform the reading of these pivotal texts so that students can successfully practice reading and identifying them in other forms of informational text. My thesis addresses this gap by offering an analysis of how graphic literature can deepen students\u27 understanding of informative texts, no matter the genre. By interacting with three examples of graphic literature that express the range of works available, as well as pedagogical analyses and theories surrounding English education, I argue that graphic literature can be used to better solidify the comprehension of informational texts through its unique construction that relies on the working relationship between words and images, leaving opportunities for deeper inquiry and exploration of the texts as a whole. More specifically, in exploring these works as potential mentor texts, I demonstrate how graphic literature can foster the comprehension of informational text features and writer’s purposes through exploratory, student-centered inquiry and engagement. In developing these arguments, I will offer insight for secondary English teachers to begin considering and integrating graphic literature as a means of offering a kaleidoscope of views through which students can explore new meaning and understanding

Language Learning Activity Paradigm

In this study, I investigate the application of active learning approaches, with the help of call and mall frameworks. These interactive learning solutions emphasize learner-created content, with the goal of improving the vocabulary development of grade 7 students. It is assumed that the use of computer and mobile technologies can increase the capacity for learning vocabulary. With a concept prototype, that demonstrates the translation of a textually based Language Arts lesson plan into a visual paradigm for active learning, I create a more porous and malleable language learning model for the Google Generation. My hypothesis is that this prototype will benefit the learning of Language Arts for 7th grade students. Such an instrument could ultimately provide students with the opportunity to engage in knowledge creation and sharing across formal and informal learning environments. The methodology used for this thesis essay begins with defining a problem by utilising both academic and qualitative studies. This is followed by the collecting of evidence from alternative learning approaches, which are defined by their various strengths and deficiencies through product analysis, case studies and theoretical grounds. The essay concludes with a proposed design and concept prototype testing, which I have called The Language Learning Activity Paradigm (llap)

Literacy as a performing art: a phenomenological study of oral dramatic reading

Based on semiotic, aesthetic response, reader response, and drama in education theories, this phenomenological study seeks to describe the literary experience of text through oral interpretation for middle to high SES, fourth and eighth grade students as compared to Low SES fourth and eighth grade students. Using the research methodology of Moustakas (1994) and data analysis of Teddlie (2000), this study proposes to describe and understand the relation of literary understanding and oral dramatic expression implicit in the descriptive paralinguistic and chronemic patternizations of the oral rendition of text and describe the act of reading as phenomenology. Descriptions of the perceptions and reading experiences of Low Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Middle-High SES dramatic readers was obtained through multiple interviews and recorded readings. Rich descriptions were used as the basis for a reflective structural analysis. Ultimately, the goal was to determine the effect of the voice of interpretation on the perception of the reader and to determine the benefit of dramatization as a tool for comprehension across varied educational and experiential backgrounds. Results reflected an across the board positive correlation between students\u27 perceptions of reading as a significant and meaningful learning experience and students\u27 use of dramatic interpretation through the indices of the voice. For oral dramatic readers, the purpose for reading was the process, not just the product. Dramatic readers see reading as something composed that must be performed. They are able to perform the story much like a musical score, backing for patterns, beats, and rhythms. Literacy then is a performing art, by definition a form of aesthetic response that is autobiographical in essence, constructivist in nature, and a highly personal phenomenon

Evaluating Preschoolers’ Comprehension of Educational Television: The Role of Viewer Characteristics, Stimuli Features, and Contextual Expectations

This study represents the first experimental investigation to simultaneously evaluate the impact of three key areas of a child’s television viewing experience -individual differences (story schema), the stimulus (narrative type), and the environment (perceived demand characteristics). Guided by the capacity model (Fisch, 2000, 2004), preschoolers’ comprehension of an educational television program was evaluated in a 2 (story schema: low, high) x 2 (perceived demand characteristics: fun (low), learning (high)) x 2 (narrative type: participatory cues absent, participatory cues present) between-subjects fully crossed factorial experiment. Comprehension was operationalized as both narrative (i.e. central, incidental, and inferential comprehension) and educational content comprehension. A total of 172 preschoolers (102 females) participated in the study (Mean Age = 4.2 years). Children were randomly assigned to one of four conditions created by crossing the perceived demand characteristic manipulation with the narrative type manipulation. Story schema level was assigned through a median-split procedure based on story schema scores. In addition to program comprehension, data was collected on expressive vocabulary, story schema skills, program familiarity, and engagement with and attention to stimuli. Advanced story schema supported narrative comprehension, and this reduction in narrative processing demands translated to educational content comprehension. Children’s television programmers are advised to design educational television content which conforms to a prototypical story structure while integrating educational content within the narrative. Additionally, while children seemed able to devote greater attention to content when asked to “watch to learn”, they appeared to struggle with how to differentially distribute this attention, resulting in minimally enhanced inferential processing and no additional benefits to educational content comprehension. Finally, the inclusion of participatory cues in children’s television programming was not sufficient to support comprehension. Rather, it seems that engagement with participatory cues is necessary to support comprehension – particularly for children with low story schema and children viewing “for fun”. When integrating the findings for perceived demand characteristics and narrative type, children’s television programmers are advised to use participatory cues strategically to highlight educational content