Using written imaginary dialogues to assess the effects of dialogic literature lessons on students’ insights in self and others
Submitted by:
Marloes Schrijvers
Abstract:
Background
Reading fictional and/or literary texts may impact readers’ insights in themselves and others. For example, it may change their views on their own personalities, their lives and their place in the world, as well as their perspectives on others (for overviews, see Koopman & Hakemulder, 2015; Hakemulder, Fialho & Bal, 2016). Recent research has conceptualized this impact as ‘transformative reading’ and has shown that it entails various reading experiences such as vividly picturing the setting and characters of a story, identification with characters, and feeling sympathy for them (Fialho, in preparation).
The transformative impact of reading is often described as one of the merits of literature teaching. However, research into instructional approaches that may foster students insights in themselves and others is scarce. A systematic review of intervention studies that attempted to foster such insights among adolescent students indicated that these effects are achieved when three design principles are met, concerning the choice of texts, activation of and reflection on personal life and reading experiences in writing activities, and verbally sharing these experiences with others in exploratory dialogic activities (Schrijvers, Janssen, Fialho & Rijlaarsdam, under review). Based on these design principles, in an iterative design cycle two interventions were developed. The outcomes of these interventions were empirically assessed. In this paper, we will focus on the application of a newly developed qualitative instrument, which was used in the second intervention study.
Method
In the second intervention study, 332 students from twelve 10th grade classes participated (M = 15.5 years old). In a quasi-experimental design, six classes (n = 166) participated in the experimental condition, and six other classes (n = 166) participated in the control condition. In the experimental condition, students attended six dialogic literature lessons that centered around the theme of ‘injustice’. They were taught by their own teachers, who were either involved in designing the intervention or had attended a preparatory workshop during which they were trained to teach the intervention. Students read six short literary stories and engaged in activities in which they activated relevant personal experiences before reading a story (e.g., by a short writing task), reflected on their reading experiences directly after reading the story (e.g., by indicating which part of the story stood out most to them), and talked in pairs or small groups about the story and how it related to their own lives and the outer-textual world. Particular attention was paid to developing techniques to deepen dialogues about stories, such as listening attentively, postponing a first judgment and asking each other follow-up questions. In the control condition, teachers followed their regular literature teaching program, mostly focusing on applying literary terms in structural analyses of literary texts.
In addition to questionnaires that were administered as pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test, students completed an individual assignment. For the students in the experimental condition, this was the final task of the intervention. In the control condition, teachers implemented the assignment at the end of a series of regular literature lessons. The task was to write an imaginary dialogue between oneself and a classmate, in the form of a comic, about a story that students had selected themselves. They could choose from four stories, of which they all read a couple of sentences and a short characterization of what to expect in terms of difficulty. After reading, they were asked to indicate how much they liked the story and how difficult it was, both on a scale of 1 to 5, and to write at least two and maximum three pages of the dialogue. The opening of this imaginary dialogue was given: ‘Which part of the story stood out to you?’ Students were instructed to try to write an authentic conversation, instead of a ‘question-and-answer’ interview.
Data analysis: questions to be discussed
The imaginary dialogues are typed out by research assistants. Currently, data analysis procedures are being developed to compare the tasks completed by students in the experimental condition to those completed by students in the control condition. Data analysis will focus on extensiveness (number of turns; number of words) and on content, including topics, self-references, social-moral considerations, references to transformative reading. During the seminar, I will present the coding schemes and ask the audience for their feedback. I would also like to discuss the possibility to code for the ‘form’ or ‘quality’ of the dialogues as well, and if so, how. Additionally, advantages and pitfalls of this task as a methodological instrument will be discussed as well.
References
Fialho, O. (in preparation). Walking Along the Paths of Transformative Reading Experiences: A Theoretical-Empirical Model (manuscript in preparation).
Hakemulder, F., Fialho, O., & Bal, P.M. (2016). Learning From Literature: Empirical Research on Readers in Schools and at the Workplace. In M. Burke, O. Fialho & S. Zyngier (Eds.), Scientific Approaches to Literature in Learning Environments (pp. 19-38). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Koopman, E. M., & Hakemulder, F. (2015). Effects of Literature on Empathy and Self-Reflection: A Theoretical-Empirical Framework. Journal of Literary Theory, 9(1), 79-111.
Schrijvers, M., Janssen, T., Fialho, O. & Rijlaarsdam, G. (under review). Learning about Self and Others in the Literature Classroom: A Review of Intervention Studies (submitted manuscript).