Module 1 - So What Kind Of Text Is This?
Complex text verses narrative text
The difference between elementary reading of text and secondary reading of text centers around the activities of learning to read and a concentration on narrative text. Narrative text can be defined as text that basically tells a story from a particular point of view. One of the issues is the preponderance of this kind of text, not only for reading, but also writing at the lower grades. Scholars in the area of reading and literacy have long been calling attention to the fact that there is too much reliance on descriptive means of presentation as is representative in narrative text in the lower grades to the detriment of the use of more analytical means of textual presentation (Applebee, 1984; Maloch & Bomer, 2013). Some people have contributed some of issues with lack of literacy skills in our population with this schism in the way we work with text in our schools – students spend the lower grades working with narrative text and creative writing and then are suddenly expected to leap into analytical thinking, writing, and reading in the secondary grades. This split in the way our students are taught is clear in the results of ACT test scores which have shown through the 2000’s to date that 50% of our students cannot meet the benchmark score in reading (ACT, Inc., 2006, 2009). Research also clearly shows that there is evidence that the current standards and to a large part curriculum, do very little to encourage independent reading of complex text (FDOE, 2013). As can be imagined, this has huge ramifications for those entering college and the workforce in general, as the ability to engage with complex text is the predominant feature in terms of technical reading and writing.
Additionally and maybe more disturbingly, research shows that there has been a steady decline of text difficulty over the last 50 years (Chall, Conrad, & Harris, 1977; Hays, Wolfer, & Wolfe, 1996). Moreover, the fact that typical students today spend less than 7-15% of their time engaging in complex text at the elementary and middle school level, makes it becomes clear why students are not graduating high school with the reading skills necessary to succeed (Moss & Newton, 2002; Yopp & Yopp, 2006). In one of her studies, Duke (2000) found fewer than 10% of complex text in first grade classroom libraries and less than 3% of complex material in the print environment on the wall. More troubling, an average of only 3.6 minutes a day, were spent in activities that were related to these texts. You may perhaps muse that ‘it is just first grade’, but research shows that it continues through elementary school and is exaggerated in the already existing disparity between our low and high socioeconomic schools (Duke, 2006b). Research presented by the CCSS also state that the time that high school students spend in reading difficult, complex text is spent utilizing superficial reading skills such as skimming for details with very little instruction for the students so that they can truly engage with the text at its true cognitive level (FDOE, 2013).
There is so much more in the way of research and statistics – but I think you get the drift. We have issues with students being able to actively engage with complex text and it hurts them in their future. It is up to us as science teachers to teach them how to read these texts. So just what are these texts called and what are their characteristics?
The difference between elementary reading of text and secondary reading of text centers around the activities of learning to read and a concentration on narrative text. Narrative text can be defined as text that basically tells a story from a particular point of view. One of the issues is the preponderance of this kind of text, not only for reading, but also writing at the lower grades. Scholars in the area of reading and literacy have long been calling attention to the fact that there is too much reliance on descriptive means of presentation as is representative in narrative text in the lower grades to the detriment of the use of more analytical means of textual presentation (Applebee, 1984; Maloch & Bomer, 2013). Some people have contributed some of issues with lack of literacy skills in our population with this schism in the way we work with text in our schools – students spend the lower grades working with narrative text and creative writing and then are suddenly expected to leap into analytical thinking, writing, and reading in the secondary grades. This split in the way our students are taught is clear in the results of ACT test scores which have shown through the 2000’s to date that 50% of our students cannot meet the benchmark score in reading (ACT, Inc., 2006, 2009). Research also clearly shows that there is evidence that the current standards and to a large part curriculum, do very little to encourage independent reading of complex text (FDOE, 2013). As can be imagined, this has huge ramifications for those entering college and the workforce in general, as the ability to engage with complex text is the predominant feature in terms of technical reading and writing.
Additionally and maybe more disturbingly, research shows that there has been a steady decline of text difficulty over the last 50 years (Chall, Conrad, & Harris, 1977; Hays, Wolfer, & Wolfe, 1996). Moreover, the fact that typical students today spend less than 7-15% of their time engaging in complex text at the elementary and middle school level, makes it becomes clear why students are not graduating high school with the reading skills necessary to succeed (Moss & Newton, 2002; Yopp & Yopp, 2006). In one of her studies, Duke (2000) found fewer than 10% of complex text in first grade classroom libraries and less than 3% of complex material in the print environment on the wall. More troubling, an average of only 3.6 minutes a day, were spent in activities that were related to these texts. You may perhaps muse that ‘it is just first grade’, but research shows that it continues through elementary school and is exaggerated in the already existing disparity between our low and high socioeconomic schools (Duke, 2006b). Research presented by the CCSS also state that the time that high school students spend in reading difficult, complex text is spent utilizing superficial reading skills such as skimming for details with very little instruction for the students so that they can truly engage with the text at its true cognitive level (FDOE, 2013).
There is so much more in the way of research and statistics – but I think you get the drift. We have issues with students being able to actively engage with complex text and it hurts them in their future. It is up to us as science teachers to teach them how to read these texts. So just what are these texts called and what are their characteristics?
Inside non-fiction, you may find text that is structured in a narrative form and text that may be structured in an expository manner. For example, text structured in narrative may be historical narrative or biographies, while text that is structured by exposition may look like explanations, informational articles packed with facts, and even arguments.
One can see already that the second
type of text, the one that is structure in an expository manner, is the more
complex via the nature of the structures.
The terms “expository” can defined as a type of reading or writing that
is used to inform one about a topic. This type of writing is heavily used in
academia and in the workplace. One very
general way to envision the areas of fiction and non-fiction can be seen in
Figure 2 above.
This module was written by Carmen Woodhall, Ph.D., East Carolina University, 2014.