NON-FICTION IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL YEARS: A STUDY OF SOME FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SUCCESS IN HELPING CHILDREN TO READ NON-L11hRARY TEXTS AND TO REFLECT ON IDEAS AND INFORMATION WHICH THEY ENCOUNTER. MARGARET MALLETT Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of English, Media Studies and Drama, University of London, Institute of Education. EDUCATION March 1994. 1 i BIBL LONDON UNIV ABSTRACT In this dissertation I argue the case for placing children's reading of non-fiction in the context of the whole language and learning programme. The emphasis is on supporting reflective reading rather than only on the acquisition of study skills. An action inquiry, involving a whole class of 9 year olds using non-fiction in the context of project work, is described and evaluated by the writer as teacher-researcher. The study is in three parts. Part 1 begins with a short analysis of the present state of affairs, then proceeds to an examination of different theoretical approaches to learning and particularly the role of language in learning. Out of this analysis four principles are suggested as a framework for learning and this general model underpins the planning of the practical example in Part 3. The study moves into Part 2 by offering a taxonomy of children's non-fiction texts. It is argued that while many children's books are 'transitional' and cannot easily be assigned to a particular kind of adult non-fiction, it is possible and helpful to recognise some broad categories. Part 3 examines evidence from surveys and classroom studies illuminating the major question - what is reading comprehension? Some problems involved in reading non- fiction are considered. The main study describes and evaluates a classroom example, the planning and carrying 2 out of which aims to embody some of the pointers to good practice indicated in the whole work. While it is not possible to generalize from one example it is argued, following Bassey (1981), that the description and evaluation are 'relatable', that other practitioners will be able to relate to the challenges and partial solutions achieved. Finally, drawing on all parts of the study, a framework for reflective reading of non-fiction is set out in seven principles. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to recognise the contribution of a number of people in making it possible for me to complete this work. My first supervisor, the late Keith Kimberley, helped me think through the design of the practical example, and shared his considerable knowledge about language and learning at many tutorials. Margaret Spencer generously made available to me her great knowledge of books for children. I owe much to Dr Tony Burgess who encouraged me to complete the work and who supervised the important later stages offering essential critical support. I warmly thank Mr P, class teacher, and Mrs H, headteacher, and the children who worked with me for their kindness and enthusiasm. Beverley Kanuga deserves a mention for carrying out the word processing of the study and making many amendments quickly and efficiently. Finally I thank my husband, David, for making it possible for me to devote to my study the large amounts of time work of this kind demands. 4 CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 14 PART ONE LANGUAGE AND LEARNING: THE WIDER CONTEXT OF NON-FICTION READING. 20 INTRODUCTION TO PART ONE. 21 CHAPTER ONE. READING NON-FICTION IN THE 22 PRIMARY YEARS: THE PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS. Introduction. 22 1.1 A brief history of Reading in Britain with special attention to reading to learn. 23 1.2 Traditional contexts for reading to learn. 31 1.3 Non-fiction books. 37 1.4 Summary of present state of affairs. 39 1.5 Research approaches to reading non-fiction. 41 1.6 A way forward: rationale for the approaches adopted in this study. 42 Summary and conclusion. 43 CHAPTER TWO. THE BROADER CONTEXT FOR 45 NON-FICTION READING: TOWARDS A MODEL OF LANGUAGE AND LEARNING. Introduction 45 2.1 Behavioursim. 47 2.2 Chomsky's view. 49 5 Page 2.3 Piaget's adaptive model of 51 learning. 2.4 Vygotsky's linguistic model. 62 2.5 The later cognitive theorists: Bruner, 72 Macnamara, Donaldson and the importance of context and collaboration in learning. 2.6 Towards a model of learning. 79 Summary and conclusions. 82 PART II. CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION IN THE 85 PRIMARY YEARS: AN ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT KINDS. INTRODUCTION TO PART TWO. 86 CHAPTER THREE. TOWARDS A 90 TAXONOMY OF CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION TEXTS. Introduction. 90 3.1 Defining genre. 90 3.2 Genre as a social category. 93 3.3 Criticisms of genre theory. 94 3.4 Implications of the genre debate 95 for this study. 3.5 Kinds of non-fiction in the primary 96 years: towards a taxonomy. Summary and conclusions. 99 6 Page CHAPTER FOUR. A CONSIDERATION OF CHILDREN'S 101 NARRATIVE NON-FICTION. Introduction. 101 4.1 Narrative, story and learning. 102 4.2 Information stories. 110 4.3 Biography. 115 4.4 Procedural texts. 116 Summary and conclusions. 116 CHAPTER FIVE. NON-NARRATIVE KINDS OF 118 NON-FICTION: REFERENCE AND EXPOSITION. Introduction. 118 5.1 Reference materials: dictionaries: encyclopedias; 119 thesauruses; atlases. 5.2 Introduction to non story picture books and 128 information books (exposition). 5.3 Non story picture books. 128 5.4 Information books: global structure, language, 132 illustrations, retrieval devices. 5.5 Research studies of children's non-fiction 145 texts. 5.6 Resources other than books. 150 5.1.7 Questions of bias. 150 5.1.8 Texts that make facts matter. 151 Summary and conclusions. 154 7 Page PART III. BECOMING A READER OF THE KINDS OF TEXTS 156 IN THE GENERAL CATEGORY - CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION. INTRODUCTION TO PART THREE 157 CHAPTER SIX. BECOMING A READER OF NON-FICTION. Introduction. 161 6.1 Learning from written language. 162 6.2 Introduction to review of the literature. 179 6.3 What is reading comprehension? 181 6.4 Research studies. 190 6.5 Classroom studies: action inquiries. 199 6.6 Some problems in reading non-fiction. 206 6.7 Evaluation of strategies to support 214 non-fiction reading. 6.8 A framework for reading non-fiction. 221 Summary and conclusions. 227 CHAPTER SEVEN. METHODOLOGY IN EDUCATIONAL 229 RESEARCH: THE CHOICE OF DESIGN IN THIS STUDY. Introduction. 229 7.1 Summary of propositions of preceding chapters. 230 7.2 Aims of the present study. 234 7.3 Quantitative and qualitative research. 236 7.4 Kinds of quantitative research. 236 7.5 Kinds of qualitative research. 239 7.6 Choice of approach for the present study. 253 8 Page 7.7 Methods of data collection in the present 256 study. Summary and conclusions. 263 CHAPTER EIGHT. THE ACTION INQUIRY CASE STUDY. 266 Introduction. 266 8.1 Background to school, children and 267 negotiation of the work. 8.2 Pre-reading activities. 276 8.3 Researching the questions. 291 8.4 Planning their own books. 296 8.5 A sense of audience. 301 8.6 The books and resources. 302 8.7 The role of talk in assimilating new ideas. 304 8.8 Concepts. 306 8.9 Sharing their knowledge with younger children. 310 Summary and conclusions. 315 CHAPTER NINE. BECOMING CRITICAL READERS: 316 AN EVALUATION OF THE WORK. Introduction. 316 9.1 Learning through talk. 317 9.2 The children's writing. 342 9.3 Evaluation of the classroom example. 365 9.4 Evaluation of the classroom example as 379 action research. Summary and conclusions. 381 9 Page CONCLUSION. 383 END NOTES. 387 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS 574 MENTIONED IN THE STUDY. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 578 APPENDICES. Appendix la. Mr P's class of twenty four 3rd year juniors: 401 some background information. lb. Plan of the Squirrel Project. (Table 20) 402 lc. Table of 'Scientific' Concepts. (Table 21) 405 ld. Foodchain diagram. (Table 22) 406 l e. Language about Reading. (Table 23) 407 Appendix 2 Transcripts 1-9 of Children's Talk. 409 Appendix 3 The Children's Written Response. 481 b. Tables 24 and 25. 495 Comments on Narrative Writing. 500 Appendix 4 Class teacher's evaluative comments on the 515 Squirrel Project. Appendix 5 Table 29: Information Retrieval strategies. 518 Appendix 6 Table 27: Christine Pappas' Obligatory and Optional 519 Features applied to Children's Questions. (Pappas, 1986). Appendix 7a. Approaches to the analysis of spoken language. 522 b. Table 26: Transcription Symbols used in the study. 525 c. Advantages and Limitations of the Cassette Tape 526 Recorder. Appendix 8 Summaries of studies of non-fiction reading. 527 a.) Chapman b.) Neville and Pugh. 530 Appendix 9 Table 28: Kinds of non-fiction in the 533 National Curriculum English Statutory Documentation until 1995. 10 Page Appendix 10 Children's difficulties in Reading Non-Fiction. 537 Appendix 11 Langer's work on children's control over different 538 kinds of writing. Appendix 12 Using books to learn about Whales. 539 Appendix 13 Darts. 544 Appendix 14 Table 17: Books and Resources for the Squirrel Project. 547 Appendix 15 Features of Non-Fiction Texts. 550 Appendix 16 Biography. 552 Appendix 17 Paice's study of information Books for Infants. 553 Appendix 18 Table 1 National Curriculum English. (Non-Fiction reading). 556 Appendix 19 Ethical Issues. 559 Appendix 20 Genre as a Social Category. 564 Appendix 21 Retrieval Devices. 566 Appendix 22 The History of Action Research. 569 Appendix 23 Ethnomethodology. 571 11 LIST OF TABLES CONTENTS Table number Title Page 1. Non-fiction reading National Curriculum English. Appendix 18 556 Key Stages 1 and 2. 2. Categories of Children's Non-fiction. 98 3.