Table Of ContentTRANSACTIONAL CONTEXTS OF LITERATURE-BASED READING:
SELECTION, READABILITY, RESPONSE
BY
JUDITH LEE AYMOND
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1993
Copyright 1993
by
Judith Lee Aymond
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Several people have been an integral part of not only my
doctoral program but also my entire graduate studies at the
University of Florida. First of all, I amdeeply appreciative
of the support and direction that Dr. William R. Powell has
provided me throughout the dissertation process. Without his
help, I have no doubt that I would have been able to undertake
and successfully complete such a massive project.
Second, I want to thank Dr. Ginger Weade for the many
hours that she has spent reading my rough drafts and offering
guidance in how to integrate the data into a complex but
harmonious blend of the methodologies and findings. I have
learned from her much in the way of writing which I can, in
turn, pass on to my future students.
Third, I want to thank Dr. Clemens Hallman for his faith
in me that I will sincerely work to help educate all people in
our pluralistic society. I am very grateful for his
endorsement of me as a recipient of a Multicultural/Bilingual
Fellowship during my doctoral program.
Fourth, I want to thank Dr. Mary Kantowski for her
continued belief that I would indeed complete my doctoral
program. She has always been there in subtle and supportive
ways.
iii
Last, but certainly not least, is my first graduate
advisor. Dr. Haig Der-Houssikian. He encouraged me to enter
graduate school at the University of Florida in the very
beginning of my master's degree program. It has been through
his guidance that I have had a very rich program in linguistic
and cultural diversity, something in which I believe very
deeply.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
ABSTRACT vii
CHAPTERS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
Statement of the Problem 7
Research Questions 8
Definition of Terms 11
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 14
Self-Selection Factors in Reading ... 16
Adult Viewpoints 16
CChhiillddrreenn''ss RPeraedfienrgencAebsiliitnyCon.t.en.t.. 2139
Contextual Influences 25
Perception of Difficulty Level 29
Text Readability 29
ResponTseexttoFoRremaadtiinogn and Organization . 4371
Reader Response Theory 42
Reader Response and Human
Development 44
Reader Response and Comprehension . 47
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 52
Context of the Study 52
Participants 52
Entry and Access 53
Research Procedures 55
Data Collection 56
Data Analysis 61
4 RESEARCH FINDINGS 63
StatemDeonmtainofOnteh:e PSreolbelcetmion........ 6637
DDoommaaiinn TTwhor:ee:DifRefaidceurltyResLpeovnelse. 8849
V
Domain Four: Algorithm for
Selection 99
Summary 104
5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS . . 110
Introduction 110
Summary of the Findings 117
Selection 117
Difficulty Level 120
Reader Response 121
Algorithm for Selection 125
Conclusions 128
Implications 129
APPENDICES
A LETTER OF CONSENT 133
B CHILDREN'S BOOK SELECTIONS 135
REFERENCES 154
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 161
Vi
Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
TRANSACTIONAL CONTEXTS OF LITERATURE-BASED READING:
SELECTION, READABILITY, RESPONSE
By
Judith Lee Aymond
December, 1993
Chairperson: Dr. William R. Powell
Major Department: Instruction and Curriculum
The purpose of this study was to examine elementary
school children's choices of and responsiveness to self-
selected reading materials. Within these parameters, four
areas were investigated. The domains involved the ways
children select readings and the types of readings they
select, the difficulty level of the material selected, the
student's responsiveness to those selections, and an
algorithm to aid students in the selection process.
Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used in
an effort to yield accurate, authentic descriptions of
readers as they engage in the selection and response
processes. Data sources included school cumulative records
for demographic and standardized test information; classroom
records for informal reading inventory scores, reading logs
for specific selections and responses, and reader response
vii
.
rating forms; difficulty level of each book selected;
student and teacher interviews; fieldnotes; and video and
audiotaping.
The following conclusions were derived from findings
based on book selections having no genre or source specified
beforehand. First, children tend to choose materials much
in keeping with the interests of their gender and age group.
Second, the expansion-contraction ratio bears evidence that,
in selecting materials at their independent and
instructional reading ability levels, children do strive to
read at higher levels, that is, in a more expansive way when
given freedom of choice. Third, the self-selection factor
of this program encourages participants to self-regulate the
reading process resulting in an expansion-contraction rhythm
of growth in independent and instructional reading ability
levels. Fourth, selection, reading, and response are
cyclical in nature. Fifth, instructional cues play an
integral role in leading students into meaningful ways of
participation, even in this supportive framework. Sixth,
higher ability readers serve as role models in reader
response activities for less capable readers. Seventh, the
nature of the algorithm enables the reader to engage in the
expansion-contraction process at a conscious level of
awareness
viii
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Literature-based reading and whole language programs
have become a viable alternative to the use of traditional
basal reader series for helping children learn to read.
Although the more recent programs have been hailed for their
appeal by students and teachers alike, little follow-up has
been done to determine their actual effectiveness. For
instance, scant research exists in matters such as how
children make reading selections or what their response has
been to those materials; needless to say, there has been
little inquiry into how these two areas are related. Added
to the factors of reader and text is context, in particular,
that which bears both curricular and teacher influences
(Beach and Hynds, 1991). The success of such programs,
then, is contingent upon the dynamics of student self-
selection of and responsiveness to reading materials within
a supportive environment.
Self-selection of reading materials has been advocated
through the use of individualized reading programs since the
1950s (Veatch, 1959); however, little follow-up research has
been conducted on the impact of this approach. Among the
few early studies, some have investigated whether children
select reading materials within a range of reading levels
appropriate to their abilities (Fleming, 1967; Mork, 1973)
or have compared students' recreational reading levels with
reading levels of varying difficulty as identified by an
informal reading inventory (Smith & Joyner, 1990). Since
these studies primarily employed quantitative methodology,
they yielded almost no information about the readers
themselves other than their selection of materials for the
task at hand.
Reader choice and response to any printed text are
influenced by motivation and by highly complex cognitive
mechanisms of human behavior. A model of human behavior
proposed to explore such mechanisms is transgressionism, a
type of behavior in which a person engages in any purposeful
action leading to an outcome that exceeds the boundaries of
her or his past achievements (Kozielecki, 1986, p. 89).
This model is predicated upon psychological decision theory
described as "a system of general propositions on the
resolution of decision tasks" (Kozielecki, 1981, p. 13).
Another use for this model of human behavior is the
identification of various types of transgressive action.
One type of transgressive behavior is symbolic expansion in
which the individual widens her or his knowledge of the
world or of self through the assimilation and accommodation
of information (Kozielecki, 1986, p. 91). In addition, this
model can identify the underlying environmental and
