Teaching Figurative Language

Annotated Research

Question: What effect did instruction in figurative language have on comprehension of figurative language?

Answer: “Found that special instruction in figurative language and participation in creative verbal games were associated with improved figurative language comprehension.” A Octony, et al. 1985. P. 417.

Comment: If you teach it, they might learn it. RayS.

 Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Note: Taking a week or so off. Will rejoin you on Monday, January 2, 2012 for more research reviews that have something to say about teaching English. RayS.

Retelling and Comprehension

Annotated Research

Question: What effect did practice in retelling have on recall and comprehension?

Answer: “Found significant differences on measures of comprehension and recall among 8^th-graders who had received practice in retelling.” L Gambrell, et al. 19985. Pp. 416-417.

Comment: An interesting finding. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Discourse Types

Annotated Research

Question: What are five discourse types in writing?

Answer: Description, narration, exposition, persuasion, and poetry. J Harned. 1985. 415.

Comment: In my experience, narration is found in both exposition and persuasion, and I applied instruction in narrative to exposition and persuasion accordingly. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Audience

Annotated Research

Question: What are the effects of knowledge of audience on writing?

Answer: “When more information about audience was given,  proficient writers took advantage of it.” BA Rafoth. 1984. 413.

Comment: More evidence that knowledge and use of audience improves writing effectiveness. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Prior Knowledge and Writing

Annotated Research

Question: What are the effects of extensive prior knowledge of the topic on students’ writing?

Answer: “High school juniors who wrote with a high level of prior knowledge wrote more, wrote better and were more involved in their writing.” JA Chesky. 1984. 412.

Comment: The more you know about a topic, the better you write and read on a topic. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Pre-writing

Annotated Research

Question: What are the effects of pre-writing activities on students who are preparing to write?

Answer: “Concludes that pre-writing discussion can be a useful activity for stimulating invention and relieving anxiety in 12^th-graders as they prepare to write.” FJ Barry. 1984. 408.

Comment: Another study revealing the value of pre-writing activities in preparing student to write. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Elementary School Writing

Annotated Research

 Question: What types of writing occur in elementary school classrooms?

 Answer: “Found that writing in elementary classrooms concentrates on imaginative writing and responses to literature with relatively little exposition.” P. Perrin. 19984. 407.

Comment; The same was true of reading at that time, i.e., mostly narratives with little reading of expository materials. Has the situation changed (2011)? RayS. 

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English, (December 1985), 405-424.

Interpretation of Literary Characters

Research

Question: How does the complexity of the reader affect interpreting literary characters?

Answer/Quote: “In the past, studies of complex perceivers have shown that they are more able than noncomplex perceivers to take social perspectives, to empathize, to account for multiple dimensions of people, to avoid stereotyping ,simplifying, or projecting their own idiosyncrasies into their perceptions of others. For years, it has been suggested that literature is the great educator, capable of expanding horizons and transporting readers to strange and distant places. The reading of literature, then, demands a flexibility, an openness, and a willingness to perceive strange people and novel events in all their multiplicity and dimensionality.” P. 390.

Comment: I’m not sure what this finding means. It can mean that teachers urge students to deal with complex characters in literature in an open-minded way. And that could lead to dealing with people in an open-minded way. That might be a stretch. RayS.

Title: “Interpersonal Cognitive Complexity and the Literary Response Processes of Adolescent Readers.” SD Hynds. Research in the Teaching of English (December 19985), 386-402,

Writing Groups

Research

Question: What can we learn from studying writing groups?

Answer: Writing groups consist of students reading their writing to the members of the group who respond to the writing. One conclusion drawn by the authors of this study is that students in writing groups reveal a great deal about their own writing processes.

Comment: It would seem that using writing groups to respond to students’ writing results in their becoming conscious of themselves as writers, and more conscious of their writing processes. I think that is a valuable insight. RayS.

Title: “Talking about Writing: The Language of Writing Groups.” AR Gere and RD Abbott. Research in the Teaching of English (December 1985), 362-385.

Learning Defined

Question: What is the meaning of the following sentence?

Answer/Quote: Judith A. Langer, co-editor of Research in the Teaching of English, often “muses” in putting together the quarterly publication. Her musings are often quite thought-provoking. In this particular “musing,” she suggests a definition for language learning. What does it mean?

“Thus I am led to a sociocognitive view of language learning that asserts that all learning is socially based, that teaching is ultimately an interactive process, that cognitive behaviors are influenced by context, and that such behaviors, in turn, affect the meanings that learners produce.” P. 327.

Comment: Ideas to think about. RayS.

Title: “Musings…A Sociocognitive View of Language Learning.” Judith A. Langer, Co-editor of Research in the Teaching of English (December 1985), 325-327.

Reading and Science

Research

Question: What types of science lend itself to reading?

Answer: While reading and science have been replaced by hands-on science for many years, a new approach to reading and science is suggesting refutation texts to change one’s preconceived notions about the natural world. “As evidenced by the recent publication of the first International Handbook of Conceptual Change (Vosniadou, 2008), it has been well established that learning in science is a matter of changing one’s preconceived notions about the natural world.” P. 374. The world might look flat, but it isn’t. Here’s why.

Comment: This approach to reading science is win-win-win for science and literacy and critical thinking. I don’t know much about this approach to science, but it sounds fascinating. I’ll keep my eyes open for more information on this intriguing approach to reading science. RayS.

Title: “Bridging Reading Comprehension and Conceptual Change in Science Education: the Promise of Refutation Text.” GM Sinatra and SM Broughton. Reading Research Quarterly (October/ November/ December 2011), 374-393.

Vocabulary and Morphology [Word Roots]

Research

Question: Can students identify meanings of unfamiliar words because of their roots?

Answer: 88 fifth-grade students and 74 eight-grade students. Suggests that student can use morphological analysis to infer word meanings. Sample item: The verbose teacher made us late for recess: a. disorganized b. talkative* c. stern. *= correct choice.

Comment: IF the students pause long enough to analyze the unfamiliar word, they can apparently use the word root to infer the meaning of the word when three possible meanings are given. I’m not sure how helpful this finding is. A test in which the sentences are presented in isolation and not in a running text is not the same thing as reading normal pages in which students might pass over the unfamiliar word. Still, if students are taught to try to unlock the unfamiliar word when reading, they might do so. That’s what this finding would mean to me: teach the students to analyze an unfamiliar word, looking for a clue in the word’s root. RayS.

Title: “Inside Incidental Word Learning: Children’s Strategic Use of Morphological Information to Infer Word Meanings.” D McCutchen and B Logan. Reading Research Quarterly (October/ November/ December, 2011), pp. 334-349.

Obstacles to Integration of Technology

Research

Question: What are perceived obstacles to teachers’ integrating technologies into the curriculum?

Answer:

> Lack of time within a class period (Bauer & Kenton, 2005).

> Lack of access to technology (Bauer & Kenton, 2005; Honan, 2008; Stolle, 2008; Zhao et al., 2002).

> Lack of technical support (Bauer & Kenton, 2005; Ertmer et al, 1999); Stolle, 2008; Zhao et al, 2002).

> Lack of time to plan for integrating ICTs into instruction (Ertner et al., 1999).

> Lack of time to teach basic computing skills (Bauer & Kenton, 2005); Warschauer et al., 2004).

 > Lack of incentives to integrate technology (Zhao et al., 2002).

Two other problems in integrating technology into the classroom: professional development on how to integrate technology and lack of time to integrate ICTs because of high stakes testing.

Comment: The latter two problems are especially important. RayS.

Title: “Teachers’ Perceptions of Integrating Information and Communication Technologies [ICTs], into Literacy Instruction: A National Survey in the United States;.” A Hutchison and D Reinking. Reading Research Quarterly (October/November/December 2011), 312-33.

Technology and the Classroom

Research

Question: How well are teachers integrating technology into the classroom?

Answer: A national survey. Introducing a new abbreviation to the jargon of edu-speak: ICTs or “information communication technologies. “Results reveal relatively low levels of curricular integration, consistent perceptions about obstacles to integration and technological rather than curricular definitions of ICTs and of integration.” P. 312. [Comment: I take it that the latter means a focus on technology rather than integration of the technologies in the classroom. RayS.]

Note: “The International Reading Association (IRA) has adopted a position statement on the matter that takes the following stance: To become fully literate in today’s world students must become proficient in the new literacies of 21^st century technologies. As a result, literacy educators have a responsibility to effectively integrate these new technologies into the curriculum, preparing students for the literacy future they deserve (IFA, 2009, n.p.).”

Comment: This study suggests that there is relatively little integration of technologies into the curriculum. RayS.

Title: “Teachers’ Perceptions of Integrating Information and Communication Technologies [ICTs], into Literacy Instruction: A National Survey in the United States;.” A Hutchison and D Reinking. Reading Research Quarterly (October/November/December 2011), 312-33.

Reading Aloud and Third-Graders' Writing

Research

Question: What do third-graders learn about writing from teachers’ read-alouds of children’s literature?

Answer: The authors become “mentors” for the children. They  absorb the structure of the book and the learning is enhanced by judicious questioning by the teacher.

Comment: My wife, a first-grade teacher, used to provide paperback books for the children to write in by folding several pages length-wise and stapling them. The children, writing the books, used their own experiences, wrote text on one-half of each page and drew pictures on the other half. They wrote in pencil and my wife took the time with each finished book to have them correct the spelling. The results were amazing. The children wrote and published their own books, “mentored” by the authors of children’s books she had read to them. She encouraged this writing in the 1980s. RayS.

 Title: “The Social Construction of Intertextuality and Literary Understanding: The Impact of Interactive Read-alouds on the Writing of Third-Graders During Writing Workshop.” J Manak. Reading Research Quarterly (October/November/December 2011), pp. 309-311.

Author Visits to Schools

Annotated Research

Question: What are the effects of children’s authors’ visits to schools?

Answer: “Visits stimulate interest in creative writing as well as in reading.” GI Staas. 1987. P. 226.

Comment: FYI. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Literature As Active Reading

Annotated Research

Question: How is literature in British elementary schools responded to?

Answer: “In British elementary schools, reading literature is often presented as undemanding or relaxing rather than as an activity that may offer an opportunity for active teaching and learning.” R Poole. 1987. P. 226.

Comment: Is the attitude much different in American elementary schools where children’s literature is viewed as an opportunity for enjoyment and fun? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Reading in Basals II

Annotated Research

Question: How are reading and writing portrayed in basal readers?

Answer: “In basals, few characters are shown reading or writing, and when shown, characters are generally using literacy for pragmatic rather than for recreational or intellectual reading.” BK Grady. 1986. P. 225.

Comment: How are reading and writing portrayed in children’s literature and in trade books? Still true today? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Real Reading in Basals I

Annotated Research

Question: How often does reading occur in children’s basal readers?

 Answer: “Acts of reading portrayed in [basal] stories comprise less than 10 percent of content, and usually show the reading of signs.” S Davis. 1987. P. 225.

Comment: FYI. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Vocabulary in Context

Annotated Research

Question: In what context do students learn new words best?

Answer: “Young children learned new words best when the words were embedded in a narrative context.” R Watson. 1987. P. 225.

Comment: FYI. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Writing in Reading Classes

Annotated Research

Question: How much time is spent in reading classes on writing?

Answer: “Little or no reading class time was spent on writing or writing instruction.” KC Howard. 1987. P. 224.

Comment: I don’t know if this is still true (2011), but if so, it’s a huge mistake. Reading  to learn activities help with comprehension among other reading skills. I wonder if this finding involved literature classes? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

NOTE: Four-day vacation from this blog for the Thanksgiving Holiday. RayS.

Reading Interest in Families

Annotated Research

Question: What is the effect of parents who enjoy and demonstrate reading on their families?

Answer: ‘Parents who enjoy and encourage reading produce families that do.” A Lockledge and S Matheny. 19989. 223.

Comment: This may be a more complex issue than it appears. What about a parent who enjoys reading books and the other doesn’t? I don’t think the issue is that simple. What does “enjoy” mean? What does “encourage” mean? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Learning

Annotated Research

Question: What helps students learn new content?

Answer: “Students’ ability to integrate new information with existing knowledge was more likely to help them learn new content than were their vocabularies or reading skills.” MF Shaughnessy and R Evan. 1986. P. 223.

Comment: A skill not easily taught. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Retelling and Young Children

Annotated Research

Question: What is the effect of retelling what they have read on young students?

Answer: “The effects of practice in retelling upon the reading comprehension of proficient and less proficient readers.” Both groups improved their reading. BA Kapinus. 1986. P. 222.

Comment: Retelling stories effectively is also an opportunity for teaching good oral summarizing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Reading Process

Annotated Research

Question: How do successful graduate students read?

Answer: “Successful graduate student readers spend about 69% of reading time off the page, making connections, recasting what they had read in light of prior knowledge, critiquing themselves or extrapolating.” JC Harste. 19896. P. 222.

Comment: Someone once said that a good reader moves from  80% of the time reading the page to 20% of the time reading the page. I think that is true. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Biology and Summarizing

Annotated Research

Question: Does summarizing biology content help students learn ad remember the content?

Answer: “Expressive summary writing seems to help students learn biology better initially and to sustain this learning advantage over  students who do not summarize expressively.” JE Sharp. 1987. P. 221.

Comment: I’m not sure I understand the meaning of “expressive summary.” But I think summarizing content will help anyone learn content better. RayS.

 Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Teacher Comments on Writing

Annotated Research

Question: How well do students understand their teachers’ comments on writing?

 Answer: “Shows how one students’ background knowledge, attitudes and literacy skills led her to misunderstand teacher comments.” M Sperling and S Freedman. 1987. P. 221.

Comment: In general, students do not understand teachers’ comments on writing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Objective vs. Essay Writing Tests

Annotated Research

Question: What is the relationship between objective and essay writing tests?

Answer: “In a direct comparison of results from essay and objective assessments of writing skills, found little meaningful relationship between the two.” Y Sabban and PM Kay. 1987. P. 221.

Comment: No conclusive evidence between studies of objective vs. essay writing tests. One study says there is a relationship. Another says there is no relationship. No accumulation of result on this question. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Audience

Annotated Research

Question: What is the effect of audience awareness on writing?

Answer: “Found a significant correlation between audience awareness and overall writing effectiveness.” H. Walker. 1987. P. 219.

Comment: The accumulation of evidence in studies indicates that awareness of audience is one key to writing effectiveness. However, exactly how that awareness is used to adapt one’s writing to the audience is not clearly defined, in my opinion. What seems to be clear is that adapting to audience comes best in the revision stage of writing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Poets and Revision

Annotated Research

Question: Why do poets revise?

Answer: “Poets revise not only to discover what they know, or to communicate this to an audience, but also to experiment with language.” G Armstrong. 1986. P. 218.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Pre-Writing

Annotated Research

Question: What happens when students draw as a pre-writing activity?

Answer: “When students drew before writing they wrote more than when they were told to begin writing immediately.” KA Leathers. 1987. P. 216.

Comment: Since this is an annotated finding, it does not describe the type of drawing or how it’s related to the forthcoming essay. Interesting to test whether any type of pre-writing brings the same result—brainstorming, for example. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Revision

Annotated Research

Question: What happens when students receive instruction in revision?

 Answer: “Students receiving instruction about revision improved their rough drafts better than students not receiving such instruction.” J Fitzgerald and LR Markham. 1987. P. 215.

Comment: Since this finding was an annotation, it does not reveal the nature of the instruction in revision. Still, I think it’s an important finding. You have to teach students how to revise. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Pre-selected Vocabulary and Writing

Annotated Research

Question: What happens when students are given pre-selected vocabulary to use when writing?

Answer: “Found that teaching a related set of words to students before they write an essay in which the words must be used can improve the quality of the essay.” AH Duin and MR Graves. 1987. P. 215.

Comment: This idea reminds me of the absolutely worst writing assignment I have ever experienced: Given fifty vocabulary words, students must use them in a composition—in order! I’m sorry, this idea smacks of the same thing. I hate it. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Letters to Legislators

Annotated Research

Question: How do legislators regard letters from constituents?

Answer: ‘Interviews with legislators showed the importance they attach to letters from constituents.” S Stotsky. 1987. P. 215.

Comment: I wonder if this finding holds with e-mail? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Professional and Student Writers: Purposes

Annotated Research

Question: What is the motivation for writing by professionals and students?

 Answer: “Professional often write to resolve personal conflicts, while students write mainly to report experience or summarize others’ ideas.” D. Gallow. 1987. 214.

Comment: That’s a generalization painted with a very large brush. Still, it’s something to think about. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Women and Publishing

Annotated Research

Question: How do women feel about publishing their writing?

Answer: “Women experience more discomfort about pressure to publish, feel more adversely affected by harsh reviewers, and report less confidence about their writing than do men.” R Boice and AK Kelly. 1987. P. 214.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Writing, Architects and Engineers: Audience

Annotated Research

Question: How well do architects and engineers understand the technical expertise of their audience?

Answer: “Architects and engineers reported they often did not know their audiences’ levels of technical expertise, and even if they did, rarely based stylistic decisions in writing on this knowledge.” JS Bocchi. 1987. P. 214.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.