VIETNAM NATI ONAL UNIVE RSITY - HO CHI M!NH CITY UNIVE RSITY OF SOC IAL SCIENCES AND H ~ ': !l A N: T IE S A SURVE Y OF STUDENTS' MOTIVATIONS IN STUDYING LITERATURE AT FELL - USSH , VNU - HCMC A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULF ILMENT OF THE REQUIR EMENTS FOR THE DEGRE E OF MASTE R OF ARTS IN TESOL Submitted by VAN T HI NHA T RUC Supervised by Senior Lecturer NGUYEN THJ KIEV THV, M.A HO CHI fvllNH CITY, NOVEMBER 2004 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP "A Survey of Students ' Motivations in Studying Literature at FELL - USSH, VNU - HCMC" I hereby ce rt ify my authorship o f th e th e si s entitled Thi s th e si s s not previ ou sly been subm itted for any degre e o r sim ila r awa rd a t a no the r in stituti on 1-10 C h i Minh C ity, Nove m be r 2004 Va n Thi Nha T rue THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First [ wo uld like to sa ve my most specia l and deepe st thank s for my th e sis supe rviso r Ms Ng uye n Thi Kieu Thu , who wh o le -h eartedl y suppo rted me durin g the writing up of thi s the sis a ltho ug h she s be en so bu sy w ith her doct ora l d issertati on a nd her famil y Her pain staking gu ida nce and va lua b le ad vi ce did help me throu gh th is chall en gin g ta sk Moreov er, her de vot ion, und erstand ing, a nd friend line ss ve made a stro ng impre ssion o n me I a m a lso de eply grate ful to all my tea ch ers for th eir e nthus ias m a nd he lpful instru cti on durin g my study program My de ep gratitude is exp ressed to Dr Vu Thi Phuon g Anh , Dr Le Thi Thanh, Ms Cao Th i Q uynh Loan, Mr Le Huy Loc , Mr Ngu yen Hoan g Linh, Ms Nguye n T hi Tu yet Oanh , Mr Tru on g Hon Huy , and Mr Ph am Le Sun g C hinh, for their valuab le ad vic e a nd a ssi stan ce [ am a lso thankful to Mr Pham Tru on g Khanh, my dear friend, for hi s te chni cal suppo rt I a lso would like to thank th e secre ta ria l sta ff o f FELL, wh o ne ver co mpla ine d a bo ut my bothering them d uring the proce ss o f the data coll e cti on O n the co ntra ry , they were kind and helpfu l enough to provide me wi th th e informati on need ed for my re search It wo uld be a mi stake if thankful acknow ledgement were not made to th e ERC staff wh o ge ne ro us ly le nt me a lot of reference material s In additi on , my gre a t tha nks go to all th e stude nts wh o were ve ry re spon sive to the qu e st ionnaire and th e inte rvie w Without th eir cooperati on I would ve never be en able to co mple te th e study II I a m de epl y ind ebted to m y parent s- in-l a w a nd my ow n parents, w ho ve be e n taki ng turn s in taking ca re of m y daughters so th at I co uld res um e my stu dy a nd finish th is the s is M y la st th ank s go to my hu sb and a nd m y twin daughters for th ei r lo ve a nd ca re : the trio fo rms the maj or part o f my life III ABSTRACT T his th e sis investiga ted fu ll-time litera tu re re a d ing a nd studyi ng, E ng lish m aj ors a tt itudes towa rd th eir mot ive s fo r a nd goa ls in st udy ing British/America n literature thei r cho ice of th is subject a nd th e ir pe rcept io ns of mo tiva tio na l fa ct ors in stu dyi ng Briti sh /American litera ture a t FEL L - USS H, VNU - HeMe T he study in this th e si s a ims a t see king ways to e nha nce stude nts' mot iva tion s in studyi ng Br itish/A merica n lit erature a t th e fac ulty T he researc h was ba se d o n th e qu e sti onnai re s d el ivered to a samp le pop ula tio n of 249 se niors a t FELL and th e infor ma l fo llo w- up in te rvie w s w ith :n sub je cts of the surveyed pop ula tio n Th e d at a a na lys is re ve al ed se vera l im po rta nt po in ts: ( I) a ltho ug h a g rea t num ber o f th e stude nts had a posit ive a tt itud e to w ard lit e rature re ading a nd study ing in ge ne l o nly a fe w of th em viewed th e study o f FL lit era tu re as a n easy ta sk: (2) th e m aj ority o f th e stu de nts we re highly awa re of th e bene fit s of Britis h/A me rica n lite rature study bu t thi s co uld o nly res u lt from a long peri o d o f st udy ing thi s subject a t th e fac ulty The stude nts und e r investigat io n we re a lso fa irly mo tiva te d d ur ing th eir lit erature co u rses; ne verth el e ss th eir great a ware ness a nd hi gh m oti vati on wo u ld not a lways le ad to th eir d e ci sion s to vo lunta ri ly st udy thi s subject; (3) th e subjects stud ie d Britis h/A me rica n litera ture wit h both intrins ic a nd in trin sic mot ivati on s a nd wi th bo th inte c-zra ti ve a nd instrum ent al orie nta tio ns, a nd (4) the m aj ority of th e stude nts viewed te a ch er ' s qu al itie s a nd tea ch er' s pre sentin g m anner/t ea ch in g m ethod s as th e two most import ant incenti ve s for moti vatin g the m to study lite ture at FELL Oth e r in fluential facto rs (in o rde r o f importa nce ) were sup po rt m ateri a l/fa cili tie s IV se lectio n of te xt s for study, curri culum pl ann ing , te stin g/a sse ssmen t, a nd fina lly class tim e di stributi on Ba sed o n the findin gs o f the study, th e th e si s goes o n to re commend ( I ) th e de vel opment o f stude nts ' habits of readin g literature a nd the promoti on of lea rner a uto no my: (2) a proper combin ation o f different a pproaches to the te achin g a nd le arnin g of literature in orde r to c rea te more in spirin g literature classes: (3) o ngo ing asse ssm ent and e valuati on o f stude nt work to redu ce stude nts' a nx ie ty and competiti ven ess a nd to partly e nha nce th eir learn ing e njoyme nt and critica l thinking a bility: (4) a modificati on of th e c urr icu lu m a iming at ca p ita liz ing o n the inte rface o f langua ge and literature to e q uip stude nts with lin gui sti c and literary co mpe te nce before they e mba rk o n th e aca de mic study o f literature durin g the la st tw o years a t th e fac u lty : (5) the se lectio n o f te xt s for study th at ca te rs for stude nts ' profi ciency le vel s a s well a s their age intere sts, e tc : (6) the supp ly ing o f suppo rt materi al for literature stu dy ill or der to fa cilit at e the te a ching and study ing of literature at FE L L, and (7 ) more e xtra -c urricula r acti viti e s to c rea te a more e njoya b le learnin g e nv iro nme nt for literature study at FELL It is hop ed that the re sults of the th e si s ca n provide so me use ful informati on for the e nha nce me nt of Br itish/A me ric a n literature a t FELL v stude nts' moti vati on s 111 study ing TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Sta te me nt of authorship i Thanks and ack nowle dg e me nts ii Abstra ct iv Ta ble of cont ents vi List of tabl e s xi List of figur e s xii Abbreviations xiii INTROD UCTIO N I o.t T HE PROB LEMS STATEM ENT OF PURPOSE SI G NI FI C ANC E OF TH E STU DY , ASSU M PT IO NS LI MITATI O NS AND DE LI M ITAT IONS , DEF IN IT IONS OF T ERMS AND O RGAN IZAT ION OF THE RE M AI N DER S 1 State me nt o f p ur p ose S 1.2 Sig nifica nce o f th e study 1.3 Assum p tio ns O.IA Lim ita tion s a nd delimitation s O I S Definitio ns o f term s X 1.6 O rga niz a tio n of th e rema in der 10 VI Chapte r BACKGROUND TO TH E STUDY 12 1.1 T HE ROL E O F LI T E RAT U RE IN THE CU R RICULUM FO R E FLIES L ST UDENTS 12 1.1 Ra tion al e fo r lite tu re in EFLIE S L c lasses 12 1.2 The p la ce of lite ratu re in th e c urr icu lum fo r stu de nts a t FELL USS H, VNU - HCM C 16 1.2 DISC USS ION OF A P PROAC HE S T O LIT ERAT U R E STU D Y ING AN D T EAC H ING : 17 1.2.1 Ge ne l a ppro ac hes/ metho log ies a dopted for lite rat ur e study ing a nd te a ching in EFLIES L cl a ssrooms 17 1.2 Approac hes/me tho log ies ad opted for lite tur e stud y ing a nd te a c hing in the co ntex t o f FE LL 23 1.3 DESCR IPT IO N OF T HE LIT E RAT U R E SYLLAB US FO R TH IRD- A N D FO URT H- YEA R ENG LIS H M AJORS AT FELL - US S H, V N U - HC M C 2S I A STU DE NT S' PR OBL EMS IN ST UDYI NG LITER ATUR E AT T H E FACU LTY 26 1.5 SU IVII'vIA RY 3() Chapte r LITE RA TURE REVIE W 31 2.1 T HE NA TU RE AN D KI N DS O F MOT IV AT ION AND M OTIV AT IO NAL FACTO RS IN LA NG UAG E LEA RN ING 1 T he na tu re of mot ivati o n 31 31 2.1 1 A be vio ur istic persp e cti ve 32 1.2 Cog nitive persp e ct ive s 32 1.3 A soc ia l co nst ruc tivist pe rsp e cti ve 3S 2.1.2 Kind s of mo tivati o n 3 26/5/04 193 APPENDIX 9: Reading and Writing about Literature Befor e writing about lit erature, yo u mu st first read it atte ntive ly Onl y after close and care ful scrutiny will goo d w riting ab out fiction eme rge Tips o n w riting about literature come at the bottom on thi s pa ge But first Reading Literature Whe n re adin g a ny piece of lite ratu re , a critic al apprec ia tio n of the wor k is e sse ntia l Thi s include s acti ve re ad ing stra te g ie s such as pre viewing the work, highli ghtin g a ny imp ort a nt points and a nnotating the m ca re fully Look for patt ern s, re lated group s o f wor ds, im age s or idea s that ru n throu gh a work Tr y to lind conne ctions or link s betwe en ce rta in ide as or image s in the work of lite ratu re Ask yo urself wh at is going on who is in vol ved whe re is this act ion in the sto ry taking place, how wa s it done and why d id the write r pre se nt this eve nt or ac tion in the nove l Look for irre gul aritie s or ide a s a nd actions that see m unu sual une xpecte d and uniqu e , for the y may le ad to be tte r und erstandi ng of the mat eri a l Also ne ver be a fra id to ask yours e lf qu e stion s or to qu e st ion the mat eri al yo u are re adin g for man y time s th ro ugh the se que st ion s one ga ins insightful a nswers Here are some hel pful hints whe n re ading fict ion poet ry and drama Fiction • Plot: Wha t happe ns in the story? Wha t contlict(s) ca n yo u iden tif y: ar e the y re sol ved '! Wh y are the y arra ng ed in the orde r that the y ar e in the sto ry? • Characte r: W ho a re the maj or characte rs (a ntag onist pro tag onist c tc )? Can you ident ify the tra its o f the maj or ch ar acter s and if so wh at are the y'! How the c harac ters inte ract with one anothe r? 194 • Se tt ing : Wh ere and whe n is this story se t? How doe s the se tting in fluen ce the plot and the cha racters? Is there a ny unde rlining meanin g behind the location of the story') • Poin t of View: Wh o is tell ing the stor y (first person minor cha rac ter, omniscie nt etc ) Ca n we tru st the narra tor a s a re liab le source ') How wou ld a differ ent point o f vie w cha nge the story? • Style , To ne, a nd La ng uage : W hat typ e of dict ion or word choice is used ') Is the style stra ig htforward or complex? What kin d o f imag er y is used ? • Th eme : Wh at are so me o f the major them e s (ma in ide as) of the story, and wha t is the ce ntral them e tha t is foc used on by the narrator '! Poetry • Voice: Wh o is the poem's spea ke r? What is the spe a ke r's att itude towa rd the poem 's subj ect? Diction : Wh at words re lay the importa nt me ssage o f the poc m a nd why') On the arra ngement o f the words help to convey an y ideas to the reader? Is the dicti on of poem forma l or informal? • Im age r y: Wh at images are used in the poe m'! Wha t se nse s are indica ted by the se images a nd how is th is don e ') Is the re a pattern of re lat ed image s') • Fig u res of Speec h: What type of figurat ive language doe s rhe poe t use (simile s metaphors personification alliteration e tc )'1 How the se de vice s contrib ute to the poe m and in wha t way? • So u n d : Doe s the poem incl ude rhy me and if so where doc s it occur? Doe s it ve regu lar me ter (s tresse d un stres sed sy llab les e tc )" Doe s the poem incl ude repea ted consonant or vo wel so unds? Wh at the se e le ments contrib ute to the poem ? 195 • Form : Is the poem written in ope n form (w ith no de finite pa tte rn of line leng th rhyme or me ter) or in closed for m (co nforming to a patt ern )') Wh y you think this kind o f form is use d ? • T heme : W hat centra l the me or theme s doe s the poe m explore? Drama • Plo t : W hat is occurring in the play? What contlicts are de vel oped and how are they re so lve d ? Ca n you di stingu ish major plots from subplots a nd identify them ') • Charac ter : W ho are the major charac ters in the story') Ca n you ex plai n the major rel a tion ships that occ ur be tween the maj or characters? What are the dis tinc tive traits of the mai n c harac te rs? Wha t we learn ab out characte rs from their word s a nd ac tions? W t o the r cha racters (mino r cha racte rs ) tell us abo ut the story'! • Stagi ng : When and where is the play se t'! How the sce ne ry props cos tumes light ing a nd mu sic work toge ther to es tab lish this se tting'! • T he me : What are the cen tral the me s of the play '! Writing about Literature Afte r rea d ing a ny piece o f litera ture the first thing tha t should be done is brain storm ing or writin g dow n on pap er ide a s tha t com e into the re ade r's mind from what he or she has re ad When yo u ve wr itten yo ur ideas down on pap er organize them and see if what maj or idea s or top ics a rise from wh at you ve written In doing so you can structure you r ideas into a more clear and conci se arg ume nt for whatev er point you wish to write ab out Thus you will be ready to sta rt dr aft ing yo ur work When a perso n write s a bo ut litera ture the goa l is to ma ke a point am] suppo rt it with appro pria te references to the work being exa mined At the sa me time , you may be aske d to ana lyze a work or take it ap art a nd sider one or 1110re of its e le me nts You ma y inte rpret a work or to try to d iscove r its poss ible meanings You may a lso haw to mak e e val ua tions or 196 judge a work by its stre ng ths and its we a kne sse s Some othe r ana lyse s yo u ma y att empt include : compa ring a nd co ntras ting two works of liter ature , or demon strating the re lati on ship betwee n the a utho r's work a nd a peri od o f histor y or a politica l move me nt You rnav a lso ve to ex pla in how events in a story a re seen in e ve ryda y life Here are some helpful hints for writing about literature: • Use pre sent-ten se ve rbs whe n di scussin g wo rks of lite rature • Use pa st-ten se ve rbs only wh en discu ssing historical events or whe n ide ntifying e ve nts that occ urred prior to the tim e of the story' s mai n ac tion • S upport a ll points a nd arg uments made with specific, co ncre te exa mp le s from the wor k being a na lyzed In doin g so, briefly summa rize key even ts, q uoting dia log ue , de scribing c harac ters/setting or para phra sing ide as • Alwa ys ma ke sure yo u ve thorou gh te xtu al ana lysis for yo ur te xtu al e xa mp le s (mea ning yo u explaine d wha t the te xt sa id) • Always cit e an y information that is not yo urs , and document it in the tex t a nd in the bibli ograph y prop erl y Also be sure that you qu oted ac cura te ly and that yo u ve e nclosed the word s o f othe rs in qu otati on mar ks • If unsure about cita tio n and documentati on , a lways re fer to the The Holt Han db ook by Kri szner and Ma ndell for ass istance • A void unnecessary plot summary • Unde rline titl e s of no vel s a nd plays and e nclose title s of sho rt stories and poems in qu otation mark s Prepared by Jim Wil son , we tuto r '2002 from The Holt Handb ook by Kriszner and Ma ndel l < http://www writingce nte r.v illanov a ed u/write litc rature htm > 197 APPENDIX 10: Critical Reading Strategies Critical Reading Strategies as e xplained in The Bedford Introduction to Literature: We ca ll th e co lle ction o f th e most ac ce pte d ex a mples of literat ure the lite rar y "cano n." In recent years th e traditi on al cano n s ex panded to incl ude mor e wo rks by wo me n and writ ers of di verse an d or ity cul ture s Lite rar y cr itics still de cid e th is ca no n as the y write ab out diffe rent piece s o f lite rature As readers we sho uld kn o w the strateg ie s that a re used to ana lyze and interp re t wor ks o f literature "A rticles [lite rary critic ism s ] are writt en from differ ent pe rspect ive s Any g ive n strategy raise s its o w n typ e s o f qu e sti on s and an swers while see king parti cul a r kinds o f e vide nce to suppor t itsel f A n awarene ss of the assumption s and me thod s that infor m an a pproac h ca n hel p you to und erstand bette r th e va lid ity and value o f a give n critic ' s strategy " (B e dford 209 1-2 ) Below are some of the main strategies for read ing (critiquing) literature as listed in the Bedford text : Formalist Strategy Form a list stra tegy focu se s o n the formal e le me nts o r " for m" of a work (la ng uage structure a nd tone for e xa m ple ) Th is strategy pays attention to lite rar y de vice s like plot se tting charac te r de ve lopment narrati on imagery di cti on symbolism an d fig ura tive lang uage Biograph ical Strategy Th is strate gy of critici sm use s kno wle dge of an a uthor' s life to hel p the re ad er unde rstand a work more fu lly S o me times th is strate gy re a lly she d s lig ht o n the a uthor ' s purpose ; ho we ver biowaphical informati on might also co mpli cat e a work For e xa mple most biogra phe rs wo uld 19R agree th at not ever)' woman who writes ab o u t :an un h:appy marnage ba se s the storv o n her o wn life Th e a uthor may be co m me nting m ore on the time s in which she live s Historical Strategy Thi s stra tegy ask s how c losely th e work refl ect s the peri od in which it wa s writte n Sociological Stra tegy Sociolog ica l stra te gies em phasize the nature and effect of soc ia l forces that sha pe relationships One examp le o f a so cio log ica l strategy is the Mar xist app roach which foc uses on exp lici t and implici t assu mpti on s a nd va lues ab ou t cult ure race and power A se co nd socio log ica l stra te gy is a feminist approac h wh ich see ks to correct wh at migh t be reg arded as a mal e -domi nat e d pe rspecti ve - askin g ho w images of wom en in literature re flect pat riarc l socia l forces tha t impede wo men' s effort s for eq ua lity Psychological Strategy : Psych ological Strate gy siders phen om ena suc h as d re am s subc on sciou s de si re s sex ua l repression e tc a llo w ing psychoa na lytic the ory to infl uence interpre tatio n of a work On e psychol ogical stra te gy is a myt hological approa ch whic h attempts to identify what it is in a work th at create s a deep uni versal re spon se in re aders- se arching for underly ing recurrent patterns tha t re ve al un iversal meani ngs for hum an e xperi ence (fo r exa mp le or igins purpose and destin y ) This ap pro ach use s sym bo ls a nd arc hetypes (characte rs image s and themes ) that e mbody uni versal me ani ng s Th e Be dfo rd Int rod uction to Literatur e 6th ed e dite d by Mi chael Me yer Boston a nd New York : Bed for d/51 Martin s Pre ss 2002 Posted by Patricia Van A mburg _ 199 APPE NDIX 11: Useful Instructional Strategies for Literature-Based Instruction The re are man y different strategies that re se arch has show n are e ffe ctive in literature -based instruction (Coope r, 1993) T he se incl ude sca ffolding of instruction modeling, coope rative learning , student ch oic e s, se lf-initiate d re ading and writing, usin g di ffer ent mod e s of reading, acti va tion o f pri or kn ow led ge , and stude nt re sponse s to lite rature Scaffolded Instru ction Scaffo lded inst ruct ion is a conce pt that s grow n out of re sea rch on how indi vidua ls learn (Collins Brown , & Ne wma n, 19X6; Vygotsky, 197X ) Thi s conce pt is ba sed on the idea tha t at the beginning of le arn ing, stude nts need a gr e at de al of support; grad ua lly, this support is tak en away to a llow students to try thei r inde pe nde nce Thi s is what Pe ar son ( 19X5) ca lle d the grad ua l re le as e o f re sp on sib ility [f stude nts ar e unab le to achie ve ind ep endence , the teach er bring s back the suppor t syste m to hel p stude nts ex pe rie nce succe ss until the y are able to achieve ind epe ndence (Coope r, 1993) The co ncept of supp or t in scaffolde d instr uction IS m uch broader than the mod e ling and teac hi ng of stra tegies a nd skills ; this is only one part of the scaffo ld ing proc e ss Pro vidin g suppor t tak e s place in a numbe r of ways - the way in which the se lections a re orga nize d in a them e , the amount of prior knowledge acti vati on that is pro vided the wa y in whic h the lite ratu re is read by the stude nts a nd the typ e s of re spon se s stude nts a re e nc oura ge d to mak e Modeling Mode ling has be en sho w n to be a vital part of hel pin g stude nts le arn the process of co ns tructing mea nin g and o f he lping them le arn the va rious strate gies and skills invo lved in this pro ces s ( Ba nd ura 1986) Mod e ling tak e s place first throug h the lite rature itse lf (Wa lms ley & Wa lp, 1990 ) a nd the wa y it is orga nized in the matic un its Mode ling o f spe c ific strateg ies and skills is a lso prov ided by the te ach e r for those stude nts who ne ed it T his is don e by usin g 200 lite ratu re th a t has been re ad as mod e ls to show the use of strate gies a nd skills (Wal msley & Wal p, 1990 ) Th e se le sso ns are know n as mini -le sso ns and the y ma y be formal o r info rmal (Coo pe r, 199 3) Mod eli ng by the te ache r is a lso done throu gh rea d ing a loud (Ande rso n, Hie be rt , Scott & Wi lki nson , 1985 ), thr o ug h dem on strat ing re sponse ac tivities and di scu ssio ns (Mart ine z & Rose r, 199 1), a nd th rough sha red writing (Coo pe r 1993) Stude nts a lso prov ide modeling for e ac h othe r throu gh coope rat ive le a rn ing Coope rative Le arnin g Coope tiv e lea rn ing is a lso a ve ry effective instruc tion al stra te gy that wo rks we ll in lite rature based instru c tio n (Slav in 1987) S tude nts le arn to read writ e , a nd think by ving mean ingful e ngage me nts with mor e ex pe rie nce d indi vidua ls (We lls 1990 ) Ma ny time s the se ind ividu a ls may be the ir pe e rs Having Choices Ha ving cho ice s in le a rn ing to re ad a nd write he lps students me et the ir o wn ind ivid ua l need s (Jo hns to n & All ing to n 1991 ) By giving stude nts options to choose fro m in what the y read how the y read, a nd ho w they re s pond to a piece o f lite ture we a llow the m to ac tivel y construc t the ir o w n me anin gs (M a rtinez & Rose r, 1991 ) Independent Reading and Writin g Se lf-initiat ed or inde pe nde nt re adi ng a nd wri ting a re a lso importa nt instructi ona l strate gies to use in lite ture -ba se d instruc tion See a lso Inde pe noe nt Read ing a nd Self- Initiated W riting Modes of Reading T he term modes of readin g refers to the d iffere nt wa ys literature ma y be re ad a loud by the te ach er, sha re d , g uided by the te ach e r coo pe rat ive ly or inde pe nde ntly (Coope r 1(93) By tlle mo dess c Iiang mg Il l' read for d iffe re nt stude nts, we a re a ble to sca ffo ld instructio n ' ,ing , used ' a n d pr o vlid e d iff J e re n t Ie ve ls Il l' su•p.port for stude nts in o rde r to ma ke the m successf ul in readi ngc a pie ce of lite ture (Coope r 1993; C ullinan 99~ ; T unne ll & Jaco bs 19X9 101 Prior Kn owled ge Ac tiva tion Activa ting pri or kn o wledge is a no the r inst ruction a l stra tegy tha t is imp ortant in lite rature -based instruc tio n (Coope r, 1993) Many differen t strategie s can be used in activati ng prior kno wledge; m ost of th e se strateg ie s hel p stude nts beco me ind epen dent in activa ting the ir o wn prior kn owledge Re se arch o n sche ma the ory a nd prior know led ge has clea rly shown that stude nts struct m e a nin g by using the ir prior knowledge to interact with the te xt (Ande rso n & Pe ar son 1984 ) A th emati c orga nization in which the me s are ca refull y de ve lo ped with re lated piece s of literature al so suppo rts the acti vat io n and de vel o pm ent o f pr ior kno w led ge ; by read ing severa l related sele ctio ns, stude nts bu ild on their prior knowl ed ge fro m pre viou s se lectio ns as they read th e ne xt se lection Responses to Lit eratur e Re spon se s to literature a re a lso imp ort ant to literatu re -based instructio n (Martinez & Roser, 1( 91 ) By e nco urag ing a nd a llo wing stude nts to re spond to literature , we prom ote the act ive constructio n o f me anin g Go o n to Lite rature-Ba se d Instruction Re fe re nce s Back to Re sp ond ing to Literat ure Read ing /L an!!uag e A rts Ce nte r I Pro fe ssion al De vel opmen t Ed uca tio n Pl ace I Site Inde x Co py rig ht © 1997 Houghton M ifllin Compan y A ll Rig hts Re se rve d Terms a nd C o nd itio ns of Use httn ://ww w e d up lace co m/rdgh e s/ lite racyflit ins-l.htm l