Critical approaches to literature in secondary English require greater attention to narrative discourse. In this conceptual article, I provide interpretative tools from contemporary narratology and demonstrate their critical potential for high school English. In particular, I outline critical literacy's vital but overattentive focus on the…

Among the many factors contributing to the historical lack of reading gains of our Black male students is the absence of texts accurately and authentically representing African American characters in today's schools. In addition, well-meaning educators are not adept in identifying and selecting these types of texts in order to provide African…

Few empirical studies have been conducted to investigate the educational uses of graphic novels. Because of this, misconceptions and stereotypes exist. This article presents findings from a study examining the effects of graphic novels on high school students' (N = 217) reading comprehension. A graphic adaptation of a traditionally taught text…

A number of studies have demonstrated that second/foreign language learners can acquire vocabulary from reading. This study was designed to examine whether advanced EFL learners can acquire vocabulary incidentally from reading an authentic text. Eighteen first year English major students read and listened to the first eight chapters of Pride and…

Graphic novels in the K-12 classroom are most often used to motivate marginalized readers because of the lower text load and assumption of easy reading. This assumption has thus far been unexplored by reading research. This qualitative multiple-case study utilized think-aloud protocols in a new attention-mapping activity to better understand how…