A study of topical reading interests and their relation to the literature texts of selected grade nine students

• Main Author: Dunne, Maureen Elizabeth
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1980
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7576/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7576/1/Dunne_MaureenElizabeth.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7576/3/Dunne_MaureenElizabeth.pdf

This study was designed to investigate the extent to which the reading interests of the grade nine students of the Roman Catholic School board of the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland were satisfied in the curriculum of their literature course, primarily the anthology and assigned novels. -- This study was part of an intensive, cooperative effort of three graduate students to analyze the status of reading in the curriculum of the students and teachers under the board concerned and to make the findings available to the local school authority, together with some suggestions and recommendations for future development of a high school reading program. -- For this study, two questionnaires were formulated: one examined general reading interests, while the other investigated specific reading interests as they related to selections in the anthology and assigned novels. Both questionnaires were tested for student comprehension and ease of administration in a pilot study in a junior high school. The population of the present study consisted of 209 grade nine students under the jurisdiction of the board concerned. Information regarding intelligence quotient and reading ability of the students was obtained from the research data of another Master’s thesis which was conducted concurrently with this one. The resulting data of the General Topical Interest Questionnaire and the Specific Literature Interest Questionnaire were analyzed by computer programs. -- An analysis of the data revealed that the students displayed interest in a wide variety of topics and character types. The type of literature they liked best was short stories, followed by novels and plays. Poetry and essays fell far behind. -- Five of the six interest ratings that were assigned the major sections of the literature curriculum ranged from 0.61 to 0.69. This percentage can be interpreted as the average percentage of students to whom the unit has the potential of appealing. -- The factor of sex exerted a significant influence upon the ratings given to the units ...