This study is concerned with the social production of adolescent readers of fiction and with the formation of their responses to the fiction they read. It was conceived from within the mainstream "progressive" tradition of secondary English teaching, but is written from a perspective informed by more recent developments in literary theory. The overall problem addressed is: how do adolescents become confirmed readers of fiction? It is investigated in two ways. The first seeks to identify those working practices and social relations in secondary schools most likely to promote adolescent fiction reading. The second seeks to understand the perceptions that adolescents have of the fiction that they read. The report is based upon a longitudinal study of six teaching groups in three comprehensive schools. A combination of ethnographic and survey methods was employed. In two of the schools fiction reading was found to decline sharply over the two year period. Readership patterns were closely associated with social class origins, gender and school ability grouping. In the third school, however, which had the highest proportion of working class students, fiction reading did not decline, nor was it influenced by ability grouping, gender or social class. These different reading outcomes are shown to relate closely to the working practices and the exercise of power within the schools. One school functions as a reaing community; the other two do not. The significance of the findings is discussed in relation to contemporary theories of cultural and social reproduction. Schools, it is concluded, have the capacity to do very much more than reproduce and legitimate existing socio-economic differences at and by the cultural level. As for the individual response to literature, the original intention was to present case studies of representative readers from the sample. All three schools sought to initiate their students,ith varying degrees of success, into a particular discourse, the discourse of personal growth, in which fiction reading is held to contribute to the reader's enhanced understanding of the self, others and the world. This view, however, rests upon assumptions about language and texts, the reading process and subjectivity which the intervention of structuralism and later developments in literary theory have rendered untenable. In order to understand the theoretical limitations of this discourse, its disabling classroom consequences and the possibilities for its transformation to more radical and liberating approaches to texts, the case study presented here is of the discourse itself, rather than of those readers who sought access to it.

"The purpose of this paper is to develop a list of printed books on China, in the fields of fiction and non-fiction, suitable for use with junior and senior high school students. Since the writer of this paper is a Chinese girl who has appreciated the opportunity to live and study in America for the past six years, she is especially interested in suggesting adequate materials for use in America in motivating a better understanding of China. The compilation of such a bibliography has been undertaken as a step in achieving the good will and better understanding of English-speaking peoples in relation to China. As a result of discussion with Mrs. Sara K. Srygley, formerly Consultant in Library Service, Florida State Department of Education, and an examination of an available bibliography of books for high school libraries, it has been ascertained that there is a need for such a list"--Introduction. / "June, 1953." / At head of title: Florida State University. / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Sara K. Srygley, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-45).

"Do high school students read? And do the ones who read have a well-balanced reading program, or is the reading done haphazardly? Sometimes these, and similar questions, result in answers subjective in character being framed in such sweeping generalizations as today's youth does little or no personal reading. Such statements have been the motive for numerous investigative surveys. These studies have revealed the value of a permanent interest in reading as an essential aid to personal development and social culture. They have pointed out the increasing demands made by society for greater proficiency in reading. Also, they have shown the importance of the reading program in the curriculum as a medium for establishing in youth a permanent interest in reading both for information and for recreation. Thus far, however, surveys have not established the fact that reading interests and habits differ between rural and urban pupils. This study, therefore, is an attempt to discover what differences, if any, exist in the reading interests and habits between a group of rural and urban children. The pupils considered are those enrolled during the 1950-51 session in the tenth grade in Walton High School DeFuniak Springs, Florida. In the course of this paper, pupils who ride school busses a distance of two miles or more are to be identified as 'transported' pupils; those who live within a radius of two miles of the school center and who do not ride school busses are to be referred to as 'non-transported' pupils"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-48).

No description available.

This study determined the instructional approaches and teaching techniques and materials reading specialists perceived to be the most effective for the seventh and eighth grade remedial reading courses mandated by Texas House Bill 246. It also determined the most effective inservice procedures for training teachers assigned to teach these courses. Fifty-four Texas reading specialists, representing school districts, service centers, and colleges and universities, participated as panelists in the Delphi, completing three rounds of questionnaires. Perceived recommendations were rated by panelists according to levels of effectiveness.

This study investigates the effect of access to a visual outline of the text structure of a Talmudic passage on comprehension of that passage. A system for defining the text structure of Talmudic passages was designed by merging and simplifying earlier text structure systems described for Talmudic passages, following principles taken from research on text structure. Comprehension of two passages were compared for students who did traditional reading of a Talmudic passage (the passages had punctuation added, and a list of difficult words and their meanings was appended) (the control condition), and students who read the passage with these same materials as well as with an outline of the text structure of that passage (the experimental condition). Seventy-two 10th and 11th graders participated. After a brief training on text structure, students were randomly assigned to the control or experimental condition for Passage 1. All students took a comprehension exam on Passage 1. In the next session, all students who read Passage 1 in the control condition read Passage 2 in the experimental condition, and all students who read Passage 2 in the experimental condition read Passage 2 in the control condition. Students then took a comprehension exam for Passage 2. The text structure outline improved students’ ability to comprehend Passage 2, but no benefits were seen on Passage 1. The results provide evidence that awareness of the text structure of a Talmudic passage helps readers when the passage is concrete and somewhat well organized.

The reading of literature is rarely practiced in our high schools today yet many studies have shown that voracious, free, voluntary reading improves students' grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and composition. The demands of our present day economy require higher literacy rates of our citizens if businesses are to compete successfully in the international marketplace. However, the majority of high school students do not or cannot make time to read for pleasure. The purpose of this study is to ascertain if English 9 students and transitional English students would welcome a reading program as part of their course work. I selected School District # 43 (Coquitlam's) A Literature Based Individualized Reading Program because it has been used successfully in the district's elementary and middle schools and because it allows teacher-librarians to actively promote the reading of literature, beyond their more traditional role of book displays and booktalks. A questionnaire was administered by the teacher-librarian/researcher to three classes at the end of the six week program asking students to give their opinions on those aspects they liked and disliked about the program. Two teachers who also took part give their opinions as well. Major findings indicate that a reading program is acceptable to most students i f some alterations are made to the design of the unit. English 9 students educated in Canadian classrooms prefer more choice in reading materials and fewer written assignments that interfere with their readings. Entry level English as a Second Language, or transitional English students, need more support than our modified program gave them. The more advanced transitional English (TRAN) students handled the demands of the program quite well. A reading unit at the secondary level, then, must be simplified and tailored to the needs of specific groups before it is accepted by a majority of teachers and their students.

The reading of literature is rarely practiced in our high schools today yet many studies have shown that voracious, free, voluntary reading improves students' grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and composition. The demands of our present day economy require higher literacy rates of our citizens if businesses are to compete successfully in the international marketplace. However, the majority of high school students do not or cannot make time to read for pleasure. The purpose of this study is to ascertain if English 9 students and transitional English students would welcome a reading program as part of their course work. I selected School District # 43 (Coquitlam's) A Literature Based Individualized Reading Program because it has been used successfully in the district's elementary and middle schools and because it allows teacher-librarians to actively promote the reading of literature, beyond their more traditional role of book displays and booktalks. A questionnaire was administered by the teacher-librarian/researcher to three classes at the end of the six week program asking students to give their opinions on those aspects they liked and disliked about the program. Two teachers who also took part give their opinions as well. Major findings indicate that a reading program is acceptable to most students i f some alterations are made to the design of the unit. English 9 students educated in Canadian classrooms prefer more choice in reading materials and fewer written assignments that interfere with their readings. Entry level English as a Second Language, or transitional English students, need more support than our modified program gave them. The more advanced transitional English (TRAN) students handled the demands of the program quite well. A reading unit at the secondary level, then, must be simplified and tailored to the needs of specific groups before it is accepted by a majority of teachers and their students. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

The problem undertaken in this study was that of making an effort to determine, in so far as was possible, the reading interests of the students enrolled in the high school at Nocona, Texas, during the 1954-1955 school session. A secondary phase of the problem was to compare these reading interests with those of students enrolled in nine other typical high schools of comparable size in other sections of Texas, as determined by means of a questionnaire survey.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine and summarize the various facts concerning the reading interests and library habits of the second, third, and fourth year students enrolled in the Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School of Gainesville, Texas, for the school year of 1944-1945 as revealed through data collected by questionnaires and from library records.