Reviews the use of the ERIC index term "Reader Text Relationship" with a view to deriving a tentative definition of the term. (FL)

Presents annotations of nine journal articles, monographs, and "learning packages" (published between 1989 and 1993) that examine teaching approaches founded upon the insights of reader response theory. (RS)

Although reading and writing exist only in relation to each other, writing plays little or no role in the usual instructional approaches to reading. Mostly, reading is taught as a sequence of discrete skills, which is ineffective since it accommodates the analytic reading style to the exclusion of global, kinesthetic, and auditory styles. Reading…

Although many teachers force-feed the "meaning" of poetry to puzzled students or teach poetry by way of dissecting poetic techniques, more productive approaches to the study of poetry exist, as reflected in the literature in the ERIC database. Units of study can be organized around particular kinds of inquiry instead of around a literary…

Summarizes the knowledge acquired from the reading research reported in "Becoming a Nation of Readers" and draws implications for reading instruction. (HOD)

Noting that it is only within the last decade that schools have begun to identify ways to optimize language use to promote higher level thinking, this ERIC Digest focuses on developing thinking skills in reading. The digest discusses the impetus for critical reading, the use of children's literature as a tool for teaching thinking skills, a…

Presents an annotated bibliography of 12 research articles, all related to reader response theory and its applications to the English classroom. (HB)

This digest provides a historical review of some current literary theories and practices which developed from contemporary philosophy. Structuralism, associated with Ferdinand de Saussure and Claude Levi-Strauss, with a seemingly scientific view of language and culture posited a systemic "center" that organized and sustained an entire…

This annotated bibliography contains 30 references and provides resources to understand the theoretical foundations of reader response--a literary theory that is currently gaining increasing attention in literature instruction. The bibliography ranges from 1982 to 1989 and is divided into four sections. The first section, "Teaching of…

Student journal writing can connect reading, writing, and discussing through activities that accommodate diverse learning styles and that further students' linguistic development. The various uses of journal writing can be incorporated into one compact student notebook. A notebook for an English class might consist of a dialogue journal as a…

This ERIC/RCS Special Collection contains seven ERIC Digests (brief syntheses of the research on a specific topic in contemporary education) and eight FAST Bibs (Focused Access to Selected Topics--annotated bibliographies with selected entries from the ERIC database), providing up-to-date information in an accessible format. The collection focuses…

Intended for literature instructors, this digest explains the relationship of transactional theory (a reciprocal, mutually defining relationship between the reader and the literary text) to the teaching of literature. The importance of the reader's part in literature is first demonstrated, noting that attention must be paid to who the readers are,…

Two basic approaches to teaching children to appreciate literature at any level are the structural (traditional literary analysis) and the reader response approaches. Structural analysis provides the terms and concepts that help readers interpret and discuss literature, while reader response emphasizes the integrated experience an individual has…

The use of literature circles has been discussed in a variety of academic journals, conference papers, and workshops. Teachers at all grade levels use literature circles as a vehicle through which students learn to: think critically about literature; express their thoughts in oral and written forms; and better enjoy their literacy experiences.…

Intended to help secondary school English teachers integrate literature study and composition instruction, this booklet explores the relationship between literature and composition and suggests ways of designing instruction so that students may write effectively about the literature they read. The first portion of the booklet discusses such…