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ERIC Number: EJ1205186
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1050-8406
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Using Everyday Language to Support Students in Constructing Thematic Interpretations
Levine, Sarah
Journal of the Learning Sciences, v28 n1 p1-31 2019
Research in literary response indicates that in classroom contexts, high school students have difficulty constructing thematic interpretations of literary texts, tending instead to summarize or build happiness-bound morals that ignore a text's potentially negative tones. However, studies in out-of-school contexts show students building thematic interpretations that include positive and negative elements. These conflicting findings suggest that some challenges of thematic interpretation lie not in students' interpretive limitations but in school-based discourses that define thematic interpretation. In this study, students constructed thematic interpretations with sentence stems using everyday interpretive language, such as "Reading this story suggests the world can be a place where _____." With no additional instruction, experimental groups constructed more thematic interpretations and made fewer happiness-bound interpretations than a comparison group. Results suggest that students are more capable of thematic interpretation than some research indicates and that everyday interpretive language may help disrupt students' school-based framing of thematic interpretation.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Department of Education (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305F100007
Author Affiliations: N/A