An ethnographic study examined and compared schooled and non-schooled uses of literacy and literature in a small, rural, all white, Adirondack Mountain community in upstate New York to explicate the way in which low social class and economic status constrain school achievement. More than 75 interviews were conducted over a 3-year period with…

A study investigated Swedish students' attitudes about the point of being able to read. Subjects were 53 Swedish students in grades 5 and 8. Their answers were distributed into three categories: a survival and participation perspective; a dynamic-instrumental perspective; and a personal experience perspective. Regardless of performance level, most…

To examine the effects of traditional reading programs on children's attitudes toward reading and what influence children's literature might have on such attitudes, a study proposed a possible rationale for incorporating children's literature into the curriculum to provide a more balanced reading program for students. The study compiled 60…

Reports that librarians in Nebraska find the Golden Sower Award program to be a positive force in influencing children's reading habits and awareness of literature. (FL)

Discusses whether reading in a second language is different than reading in one's first language. Examines recent case studies of adult English as a Second Language readers who are literate in their native language that illustrate the varying degrees to which readers access their primary language knowledge when reading in a second language. Finds…

Chronicles significant changes in an elementary school teacher's perception of herself as a reader as revealed through her journal entries and contributions to class discussions while taking a graduate course in children's literature. Suggests that personal beliefs and habits of reading can influence how teachers teach children. (RS)

Examines Gary Crew's novel written for a young adult audience, called "Strange Objects," a story containing verifiable historical fact interwoven with elements of fiction and the supernatural. Shows how the numerous genres and viewpoints in the book challenge and contradict one another, forcing young readers to perform resistant readings…

Describes how "remaking" successfully occurred in one classroom in which general readers were remade as gifted and talented readers. Analyzes ethnographically collected classroom discussions and student work to provide telling cases of the conditions that support the remaking of a reader. Illustrates the central relationship between individual…

Explores whether first-grade students' concepts about reading differed as a function of their teachers' theoretical orientations to reading instruction. Finds that whole language students verbalized more reading strategies than other students, valued and used phonics as much as other teachers and students, and viewed reading books as the central…

Describes an innovative approach to the familiar structure of readers' workshop in which troubled adolescent males reexamined their early literacy experiences through the process of reading, listening to, and reacting to children's books. Notes that many of these readers came to see reading as a valuable life activity, a form of enjoyment, and…

Theorizes about what the notions of personhood and intertextuality contribute to the conception of literacy teaching and learning. Presents an analytical framework for understanding interrelationships among personhood, literacy practices, and intertextuality. Elaborates on the theoretical ideas presented by drawing on data from a study of a female…

Students in sixth and ninth grades were surveyed to determine attitudes toward reading and identify factors in the lives of older children and teens associated with the development of a love of reading. A group of 14 students who love to read, as well as an equal number of students who prefer not to read, were then interviewed about their reading…

A study explored how adolescents' negotiations and interpretations of out-of-school reading discussions were shaped by larger institutional and societal contexts that regularly influence young people's actions and interactions with peers and adults. Drawing from a theoretical framework that conceives of discourse as social practice, such discourse…

In a public hearing to decide which plan of reading instruction should be emphasized in a school district, six university professors with expertise in reading took turns presenting their philosophies and plans of reading instruction. Professor A was a strong advocate of a thorough program of phonics instruction for primary grades pupils in…

Motivation is a rather persistent problem in guiding students to read well. If a student lacks motivation, a low energy level will be available for learning to read. Through motivation, a learner is encouraged to achieve definite goals in reading. Attention and retention by the student are important in recognizing new words whether the approach is…