Discourse Practices During Middle School Students' Close Readings of Texts: A Multiple-Case Study

• In Event: 16.053 - Research in Reading and Literacy SIG II

Abstract

This study examined the discourse practices of middle-school students and teachers as they engaged in the instructional routine of close reading. A multiple case study, including a content analysis of approximately 20 hours of discussion transcripts, was used to examine how participants co-constructed text meaning. Results revealed that (1) Increasing text complexity inhibited readers’ ability to reason about the text and co-construct knowledge. (2) Instructional discourse neglected flexible thinking about the text; (3) Readers constructed meaning through a consensual but not competing interpretive process. The results of this study have implications for how the CCSS are mediating literary discourse and thinking around a text and providing equitable access to all learners.

Author

• Colleen Pennell