What's new in Literacy Research?

WHAT'S NEW IN RESEARCH

Evans, Karen S. (2002). Fifth-grade students' perceptions of how they experience literature discussion groups. Reading Research Quarterly, 37, 46-69.

Through her research, Evans connects Vygotsky's position of the importance of social interactions in students' construction of meaning to her exploration of the influence of the social environment of literature discussion groups on students' perspectives of their experiences.

Looking at the social constructivist model, Evans shifts the focus of study from the adult as the more capable peer (Vygotsky's expert-novice relationship as defined by his ZPD, Zone of Proximal Development) to classmates assuming the role of a more capable peer. In her words, Evans wanted to understand the "lived experience form the point of view of the social actors."(p.50). To date, evaluation and interpretation of such groups has been expressed from the point of view of the researchers, not the students.

Evans characterizes how the fifth grade subjects of her research perceived their literature discussion groups via three themes. The first of these is that students have a clear notion of the conditions that are conducive to effective discussions. Evans found that students had such an understanding, giving credit to the help of others in the group. Students discussed the importance of the need to listen to each other, and the facilitation of being in a group with people with whom they felt comfortable. Students also found that having a specific structure or task and reading an exciting book were helpful.

The second theme is that the gender makeup of the group influenced how students experienced their discussions. Students preferred same-gender groups and felt more at liberty to discuss topics and issues when there were no opposite gender group members.

The third theme states that a bossy group member influenced individual member's participation in group discussions. Noteworthy here is that the students distinguished between a group member who was bossy and one who was a leader.

Evans reflects that the implications of learning directly from students which conditions result in the most effective student discussion groups informs instructional planning and shapes teacher-student decision making about group dynamics.

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