Prior research has concerned the school as a cultural system and the early development of children's concepts about reading and about print. This descriptive research study explored concepts which bridged these two areas by investigating the defining, categorizing and labeling of the cognitive domain of books by sixth-grade children. The specific purpose of this study was to identify the nature of the concept of "book," the categories applied to the cognitive domain of books, the labels subsumed under these categories, and the attributes of these categories. It was assumed that books comprised a cognitive domain for sixth-grade children and that this cognitive domain was accessed via the vocabulary employed to categorize and label it. The data were elicited by an interview schedule which included questions concerning words associated with the term "book," criteria for selecting books, important features of and similarities among books, explanations of the concept of "book," and the various kinds of books known to each respondent. Additional data, relative to the hierarchical organizations of the kinds of books named by the subjects, were elicited by a card sort procedure; subjects grouped and regrouped cards with the kinds of books elcited by the interview schedule until all of the cards were in one group. Two samples of upper middle class sixth-grade children, who had not yet entered the seventh grade, were the subjects (N = 23 and N = 18, respectively). One sample completed the interview schedule and the card sort procedure; the other cross-validating sample completed the card sort procedure only. In addition to myriad findings, the following were the most appropriate generalizations from findings. (1) Sixth-grade children view reading as an active and responsive process, in which the reader engages in a dialog with the author which begins with reader expectancies and purposes. (2) Although sixth-grade children participate in the same culture, the school, it cannot be inferred that they share similar cognitive maps for the domain of books. Their categorizing, defining and labeling of books do not reflect a shared meaning system. Rather, quite individualistic systems of rules for the organization of this domain are apparent. Studies of children's reading interests may reflect general predispositions of particular groups, rather than strong preferences. (3) The definitions of books formulated by sixth-grade children are descriptive rather than generic or synonomous in character. (4) Sixth-grade children have salient individual taxonomies of the cognitive domain of books. However, it appears that they do not have one, shared, salient folk taxonomy of the cognitive domain of books. The only salient, shared categories of books were fiction, non-fiction and mystery, along with their subsumed labels. (5) The methodology of ethnoscience demonstrates potential for the study of readers and reading in cultural contexts. One implication for reading instruction arising from the findings of this study is the following: Because sixth-grade children categorize the cognitive domain of books in quite an individualistic manner, it is suggested that the selection and recommendation of reading material should be guided by a child's individual interests rather than by lists generated by reading interests research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Completed at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-293).

Habilitationsschrift--Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [254]-260) and index.

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 173-179.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1928. / Vita. Published also as Teachers college, Columbia university, Contributions to education, no. 312.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1939. / Facsimile of letter (reproduced in print, p. 161-162) laid in. Vita. Published also without thesis note. "Source material and authorities quoted or used in this study": p. 163-168; "List of writings mentioned in Bayle's correspondence, 1670-1684, and referred to in this study": p. 169-216.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1928. / Vita. Published also as Teachers college, Columbia university, Contributions to education, no. 312.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1939. / Facsimile of letter (reproduced in print, p. 161-162) laid in. Vita. Published also without thesis note. "Source material and authorities quoted or used in this study": p. 163-168; "List of writings mentioned in Bayle's correspondence, 1670-1684, and referred to in this study": p. 169-216.

Habilitationsschrift--Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [254]-260) and index.

Using literary texts in the EFL classroom has been widely practised in the field of EFL teaching and learning. Many scholars ascertain that English literary texts provide language learners with a kind of authentic language used by native speakers in real contexts. Research studies in the EFL field illustrate that EFL learners' problems in reading English literary texts are due to two main reasons. Firstly, the complex structure of literary texts. Secondly, lack of familiarity with the cultural content of English literary texts. However, the present study sets out to suggest that collaborative work in the classroom can bridge learners' difficulties in constructing the meaning of literary texts. In Libyan universities, learners in the Department of English Language and Linguistics study literature for a considerable period of their university program. The present research suggests a new model to improve the teaching of literary short fiction in one of the English departments in Libyan universities. The new model emphasizes three main tenets: 1. The role of background knowledge in processing literary short fiction. The background knowledge includes not only knowledge of English language but also familiarity with cultural content of the literary text as well as the formal organization of the literary texts. 2. Since language and culture are intertwined, the approach focuses on developing Libyan learners' cultural and intercultural awareness. 3. The approach suggests the use of Learning Conversations as a scaffolding procedure that allows more interaction and negotiation for co-constructing the meaning of the text. The study adopts a qualitative research approach. The investigation is carried out across three phases. Phase 1 focuses on the assessment of the Libyan EFL participant problems in reading literary texts by interviewing the ten participants and using a diagnostic test. The second phase is interventional. It seeks to investigate learners' development in constructing the meaning of literary text through the suggested scaffolding procedure (i.e. Learning Conversations). The third phase of the investigation explores learners' reflections on the effectiveness of interactive work in reading literature. The study aims at providing evidence of Libyan EFL learners' perspective of the new model and the development of their understanding.