A study investigated the phenomenon "response to literature" through the window of language to determine how different researchers assigned meaning to this central concept in twentieth century research. The benchmark conceptions of the terms "literature" and "response" (with which the research conceptions could be…

This paper recognizes that critics of the "plain language movement" point out that what is "plain" to one audience may mystify and confuse another. It adds that questions such as "Plain language for whom?" and "How can we know whether a text is written in plain language?" raise legitimate concerns about the…

A pilot case study addressed how a reader engages aesthetically with text. The main thrust theoretically is from the notion that "there are possible worlds other than the one we inhabit." Four subjects were chosen out of a total of 63 subjects in grades four through six in an elementary school in Western Canada. Out of the four subjects,…

A study examined the utility of latent partition analysis for describing the structure of emotional responses in reading. Subjects in the first experiment, 40 undergraduate university students, read a 2,100-word story and then immediately reported any scenes or events that evoked an emotional response and any mental images they recalled from…

A study examined the retelling performance of the novice compared with that of the expert and the effect of retelling practice on comprehension for both proficient and less proficient readers. Thirty-six fourth graders (20 proficient and 16 less proficient readers) were randomly assigned to one of four story sessions. Across the four sessions all…

Examines the relationship between current concepts of reading processes and contemporary theories of literary response. Argues that text-based reading theories are isomorphic with the New Criticism, and that reader-based theories of reading are isomorphic with reader-response criticism. Maintains that literary theory ignores interactive…

Discusses a reader-response approach to teaching Nathaniel Hawthorne's RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER. (MM)

Argues that, in their roles as responding audiences for student writers, teachers need to be clear as to whether they are taking the perspective of writer or reader. (FL)

Discusses the connections between the study of literary texts, language, and composition and the impact of these connections on English instruction and English programs. (SRT)

Argues that though college examiners seem to desire candidates' personal responses to literature, the examination questions require students to reply to the opinions of others rather than explain their own opinions. (SRT)

Argues that coping with the complex demands of a story not only increases readers' enjoyment of literature, but also aids in intellectual and interpretive enjoyment. (HOD)

Efferent teaching asks the student to read for a predetermined answer, focusing on another person's ideas of the text's meaning. Aesthetic teaching allows for literature to be read and experienced as art through the reader's personal transaction with the text which focuses on one's own interest to create and understand the meaning. This paper…

Jeffrey Wilhelm extrapolated 10 different dimensions of response to reading, which he grouped under the headings of "evocative,""connective," and "reflective" dimensions. A study used these dimensions of response to measure some of the activities set by a group of teachers and some of the written and oral work…

Examines persuasive text, first describing it and discussing it with reference to relevant philosophy and rhetoric, and then asking whether it is successful: do written texts change the minds of their readers? Notes that research on designing text to disabuse students of scientific misconceptions points to text features that authors could use to…

Reports on a study of what children actually bring to the act of reading picture books in terms of their expectations, their reading or life experience, or their understanding of artistic styles. (TB)