Open AccessCritical Issues: Reading and Responding to Literature at the Level of Activity
Author(s) -
Richard Beach
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of literacy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.283
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1554-8430
pISSN - 1086-296X
DOI - 10.1080/10862960009548075
Subject(s) - sociocultural evolution , reading (process) , psychology , activity theory , mathematics education , pedagogy , object (grammar) , social psychology , computer science , sociology , linguistics , artificial intelligence , anthropology , philosophy
Drawing on the sociocultural activity theory of learning, this report defines the components of activity systems shaping readers' responses to literature - the components of object/outcome, tools, rules, roles, and community change. It posits that readers respond within their participation as members of various activity systems - book clubs, classroom, chat rooms, etc. - systems shaped by these components. It also posits that readers ideally learn to frame characters' actions at the level of activity - as part of characters' participation in activity systems portrayed in texts. This framework is applied to responses of “advanced” and “regular” high school students, operating within an ability-grouping system, to a story about a “regular” student going on afield trip with “advanced” students. It is also applied to responses of teachers enrolled in a graduate writing methods course in reaction to a story about a teacher's feedback to an essay; the teachers' responses reflected their participation in the systems of the course itself, their own teaching, and their families.