LSERARY Michigan State University I - 0.11:: t... u-- PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this chockout from your mead. TO AVOID FINES Mum on or baton date duo. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE EH? tQQ NO; ‘0‘ 2 ' 1W3 MSU in An Afflrmativo Action/Equal Oppoctunity instiMion _ 6mm t V“.-- READING FOR INFORMATION AND PLEASURE: A DESCRIPTION OF FOUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS READING A SELF-SELECTED ARTICLE FROM A POPULAR MAGAZINE By Leroy Spiller A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English 1991 v—n' '4...”« -- ".‘ ABSTRACT READING FOR INFORMATION AND PLEASURE: A DESCRIPTION OF FOUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS READING A SELF-SELECTED ARTICLE FROM A POPULAR MAGAZINE By Leroy Spiller This study describes strategies employed by four community college students as each read an article from a popular (consumer) magazine for non-study purposes: to acquire information (surveillance); to share the information (interaction); and for entertainment (diversion). A Think Out Loud (TOL) oral protocol, produced as each student selected and read an article, was the primary source of data about each student's actual reading process. The audio taped TOL data were triangulated with other sources of information: questionnaires; students' written descriptions of their own metacognitive processes for reading a self—selected article; students' oral description of their usual or typical reading process(es); students' post TOL written description of their actual process; and a final interview. The ethnographic research approach used in this study has produced a substantive theory, a description of what Leroy Spiller these four students did while reading, rather than a more formal or inclusive theory which would describe the typical reading process of many students. The data suggest that the four readers involved in this study selected and read a magazine article with the expectation of acquiring personally useful information in .a pleasurable way. The data reveal very little about the bottom-up strategies employed by these readers; top-down strategies are more observable. Perhaps most notable is the evidence that these readers employed both efferent and aesthetic stances in relation to various parts of the same article. The participants also used a mix of content, function and rhetorical reading strategies to construction the meaning of the text. More research needs to be done in order to compile a body of data which describes some of the strategies employed by community college students as well as other readers during their leisure time reading. This research could eventually produce enough information for a formal theory describing how large numbers of people select and read magazine articles during their leisure time. Copyright by LEROY SPILLER 1991 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All of our achievements are helped or hindered by a multitude of factors. Completing this dissertation is no exception. I have been fortunate to have received the encouragement, support, and prayers of many people during the months I have worked on this project. I am particularly grateful to my family--to my wife and our children who have encouraged, praised, and, when necessary, goaded me. I am also very grateful for all of the scholarly and personal support provided by my thesis director Professor Diane Brunner. Her guidance has helped to make this project better than it would otherwise have been. In addition, I would like to thank the members of my committee, Professors Marilyn Wilson, Kitty Geissler, and Mark Conley, for their reading of drafts in progress and their ongoing encouragement. I also wish to thank Professor Sharon Thomas who graciously served as the "outside" reader for my dissertation. Her perceptive questions and extensive editing suggestions have been most helpful. All of my colleagues in the English Division at Delta College have been unfailingly supportive and interested in ii my research. Their attention and affection have made my task much easier. I owe a special debt of gratitude to those colleagues who allowed me to visit their classes in order to solicit volunteers for my study. These: colleagues are: John Augustine, Nelville Britto, Liz Dewey, Julia Fogarty, Mitchell Jarosz, Jim McGinty, Leslie Prast, Sylvia Robbins, Kathy Stahl, and Nancy Woodard. In addition to the support of all of my fellow instructors, Don Halog, the English Division Chairperson, has provided me with opportunities for my research and writing by supporting my requests for sabbatical leaves as well as reducing my teaching schedule and commitments within the division. I have been very fortunate to have Don as both a supervisor and a friend. I am also grateful to Dean Betty Jones and others in Delta's administration for their cooperation and encouragement. Both at Delta and at Michigan State, I have been fortunate to have had the help of outstanding secretarial staffs, especially Charlotte McGrath and Lorraine Hart, who have always been gracious and very helpful. I have also been very fortunate to have had Betty Young as a typist during the final stages of preparing the manuscript. Mrs. Young was always accommodating and able iii to produce top-quality work despite last minute schedule changes and ongoing revisions. I have also been very fortunate to have had the support and encouragement of many dear friends. Their humor and their prayers have helped me to complete this project. I am also grateful to all of the 156 students who participated in this study, especially Martin, Gail, Rosemarie, and Sheila, without whom there would have been no data to analyze and report on. Finally, and most importantly, I am grateful that the Lord has answered my prayers, no matter how rushed they have been, and guided my efforts, no matter how blind I was at times to His guidance. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: Statement of the Problem. Background . Initial Survey Results Assumptions. Questions. Limitations of the Study Important Terms. Organization of the Study. The Nature of the Reading Process. Reading to Acquire Information . Reading for Pleasure . Ethnographic Research. Studies of Community College Readers . Reading Popular Magazines. Conclusions. . . CHAPTER THREE: Methodology . "Thinking Out Loud". . . . Ethnographic Research. Trial Runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Collection for the Actual Study: Data Collection: Phase II . . . CHAPTER TWO: Review of Selected Literature . Phase I \Oboi-‘H . 10 . 12 . 13 . 16 17 17 . 34 . 39 . 41 . 42 . 44 . 48 . 51 . 51 . 57 . 64 . 69 The Final Segment of the Study: Phases III, IV, & V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phase III: The TMH Session . Phase IV: The TOL Session. Phase V: The Final Interview . Procedure for Analyzing the Data . Conclusion . CHAPTER FOUR: Analysis of the Data. Background . . The Key Informants: Martin, Gail, Rosemarie and Sheila . . . . . . . . . Martin--Reading for Knowledge and Recognition . . . . . . . . Gail--Reading for Information and Pleasure. . . . . Rosemarie-~Reading for Information and Affirmation . . . . . . . . . . . Sheila--Reading for Wisdom and Entertainment . Purposes for Reading Magazine Articles in General. . . . . . . . . . Purposes for Reading Magazine Articles for this Study . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Magazines in General . Selecting Magazines for this Study . Selecting Magazine Articles in General . Selecting Magazine Articles for this Study . Reading Strategies in General. . Reading Strategies Employed in this Study. vi 78 79 81 83 85 86 9O 9O 92 92 95 97 104 109 113 116 120 127 134 147 165 A Description of Gail's Reading Event. Some Conclusions Visualization. The Auditory Dimension . Active Involvement . Looking Back and Looking Ahead . Motivation for Reading a Particular Article. Reader's Satisfaction after Reading. Summary of the Data Presented in this Chapter. CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusions and Implications Reading for Knowledge and Pleasure . Answers to the Questions Which Motivated the Research . . . . . . Metacognition. Top-down/Bottom-up Theories Plus Other Concerns. Content, Function and Rhetorical Strategies. The Reader's Stance. Automaticity . Final Remarks. APPENDICES Appendix A: Memo to English Division Faculty. Appendix B: Initial Questionnaire . Appendix C: Questionnaire Two . Appendix D: Approval to use Human Subjects. E: Appendix Consent Form. vii 171 176 178 181 184 190 191 197 201 206 208 209 229 234 239 245 248 251 253 254 255 258 259 Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix BIBLIOGRAPHY. Explaining How to Read a Magazine Article . . . . . . . . . . . TOL Procedures. Guidelines for TOL Protocol Guidelines for the Final Interview. Questions for Martin's Final Interview . Questions for Sheila's Final Interview . . . . . . . Excerpt from Transcript of Martin's Final Interview. List of Reported Activities During Gail's TOL Session . Magazines Available During Martin's TMH and TOL Sessions . Transcript of Martin's TOL Session. viii 260 262 265 266 268 274 276 278 280 282 291 Table Table Table Table Table Table Table 3.1: 3.2: 3.3: 3.4: 3.5: LIST OF TABLES Frequency of Magazine Reading . Circulation Figures of Magazines Available to Key Informants Finding Key Informants. Information about Ten Potential Key Informants. . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Preferences of Ten Potential Informants. . . . . .-. Frequency of Magazine Reading as a Leisure time Activity . . . Titles of Magazines Respondents "Like" to Read . . . . . ix . 46 . 69 70 71 73 74 Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure 4.10: Figure 5.1: LIST OF FIGURES Research Design: Selection, Data Collection, Analysis. Strategies Reported in Written Protocol # One. . . . . . . . . Purposes for Reading Magazine Articles in General . . . . Purposes for Reading Magazine Articles for This Study . . . Selecting Magazines in General. . Selecting Magazines for this Study. Selecting Magazine Articles in General . . . . . . . Selecting Magazine Articles for this Study. . . . . . . . . . Reading Strategies in General Reading Strategies in This Study. Motivation for Reading a Particular Article (TOL Session). . . Reader's Satisfaction after Reading Article During TOL Session. . Types of Reading Strategies . 67 76 110 115 117 123 128 136 149 166 192 198 241 Chapter One: Statement of the Problem Background Studies of community college readers are almost always concerned with the deficiencies of these students as readers rather than their strengths or successes (Holbrook, Piepmeier, Reed, Friedlander and Grede). This focus is understandable, of course, in light of the community college's traditional mission of educating all adults whether they have graduated from high school or not. This "open door" policy usually offers the opportunity to pursue vocational and/or academic education to any person eighteen years of age or older who has a high school diploma or its equivalent (usually the GED). The door is also open to any person eighteen or older who has "dropped out" of high school and not returned for at least six months. In addition to the "open door," community colleges, though not Delta College (a community college serving Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties in east central Michigan where I have taught English for nineteen years), have begun to enroll more Adult Basic Education (ABE) students, the illiterate and semi-literate adults who once were only served by the adult education programs in local school districts (Grede and Friedlander 3-5). Finally, Delta as well as other two year institutions have begun to offer services and programs for the learning disabled. These students often must cope with a wide range of learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, plus physical and emotional problems in their quest for academic and/or vocational education. Thus, the community college, in general, may be described as attempting to remediate the entire range of educational problems experienced by a large segment of the adult population. As Grede and Friedlander point out in their article, "Adult Basic Education in Community Colleges,‘ while the extent and nature of ABE in community colleges is not totally clear, the percentages of such students have risen steadily since the late 19703 in many states (3-4). While Delta has so far not wanted to become the Adult Basic Education center for the tri-county area it serves, the developmental education program has grown dramatically in the last five years. For instance, almost one-third of all English courses are now "Basic" or developmental. These courses serve students whose reading and writing skills, as measured on the ASSET test, make it unlikely that they will succeed in their college courses. Given the situation at Delta and most other two year public institutions, it is not surprising that researchers have concentrated on identifying the remedial and develop- mental needs of community college students (Reed, Holbrook, Purvis and Miles). Some other researchers and authors have concentrated on establishing viable programs for the Adult Basic learners who are coming to the community college in increasing numbers (Cross, Piepmeier, Roueche and Comstock). Very little has been written, however, about the self-directed, leisure-time reading processes of individual community college students or groups of such students. This study will be a beginning. Initial Survey Results During my nineteen years of community college teaching, I have noticed that some students .are avid readers while others report little or no reading experience. A common thread in both situations, however, is that most students read some sort of magazine at least once in awhile.1 For instance, in a survey of 156 community college students conducted in conjunction with this study, 129 students (872) reported that they "like" to read magazines as a leisure time activity. Only 26 students (161) indicated that they do not enjoy reading magazines as a leisure activity. The same survey revealed that 58 of these students read magazines "often," while 78 read magazines "not too often" and only 20 reported reading magazines "hardly at all." The categories presented to the students are, admittedly, open to much individual interpretation, but, nonetheless, 371 of the respondents chose "often" as the term which best described their reading of magazines, and 50% chose "not too often" as an accurate description of the frequency with which they read magazines during their leisure time. (Note: At various times some of the students surveyed for this study, as well as students surveyed during trial runs for this project, have told me that the frequency of their magazine reading has decreased since they have entered college. This decrease is due, they say, to the limited leisure time they have after trying to complete out-of-class assignments, meet family responsibilities, and hold down a job. Sixty-four percent of the students surveyed for this study, for example, work on either a full or a part-time basis.) Later in the study, I asked the ten students whom I had selected to participate in the second of the three stages of the study to clarify their interpretations of "often" by which they meant at least three to four times per week. Three of these students reported reading magazines "not too often" and indicated this category includes reading periodicals two to three times per week. None of these ten students reported reading; magazines "hardly at all." (See the following chart, Table 1.1) Table 1.1 FREQUENCY OF MAGAZINE READING Name Age Employed: F/P*time Frequency:Xs per wk Abdul 23 Not employed three-~four Xs Valentina 31 Not employed three--four Xs Martin 18 Employed part time four Xs Rosemarie 38 Employed part time four or more Xs Fabio 18 Not employed four or more Xs Diana 21 Not employed one-~two Xs Gail 39 Not employed two--three Xs Sheila 20 Employed full time four or more Xs Joe 19 Employed part time four or more Xs Mark 23 Employed part time two--three Xs * F/P time refers to full time or part time employment. In my emperience, those students who report reading magazines do so in order to acquire information, whether highly specialized or very general in nature makes no difference; they read to learn. This acquisition of knowledge is not onerous, however; instead, the readers who responded to my survey describe their leisure time magazine reading as pleasurable because they enjoy knowing more about a particular subject. Finally, three of the four students who were the key informants for this study described their reading of the magazine articles during the data gathering session (Think Out Loud or TOL sessions) in "aesthetic" as well as "efferent" terms to borrow Louise Rosenblatt's terminology. In her seminal work, The Reader, The Text, The Poem, Rosenblatt describes aesthetic reading as our "trans- action" with art, literature for instance, as a "lived through experience" during which we "evoke" or imagina- tively create scenes, action, people, and so on under the guidance of the author's text and conditioned by our atti- tudes, values, expectations, prior exposure to the genre and other factors. In the same work, she Idescribes efferent (from the Latin effere, to carry away) reading as our processing of text for the purpose of acquiring information. This reading experience, as with the aesthetic, is guided by the author's text and conditioned by the attitudes, values, expectations, needs, prior exposure to such material and so on (22-30). Rosenblatt in her article, "On the Aesthetic as the Basic Model of the Reading Process,‘ argues that the same cognitive processes operate whether one is reading aes- thetically or efferently. That is, a reader adopts a certain "stance" or primary mind set (aesthetic or effer- ent) toward the text; he or she selectively processes textual material in the light of this stance and the reader's needs; further, the reader develops a tentative conceptual framework or sense of the overall pattern or structure of the text; and, in any reading event, he or she adjusts and modifies expectations as the transaction proceeds until, finally, an overall synthesis or understanding is achieved (17-32). This transactional view of reading, as Rosenblatt explains in The Reader, The Text, The Poem, also assumes that a reader may choose to read any text aesthetically or efferently, depending upon the reader's perceptions of the textual cues and his or her own motives for reading (25). In order to test the accuracy of this perception, we only have to remember instances when students have read a poem efferently rather than aesthetically. The reader's con- trol over his or her stance toward a text is also evident in our own reading of "informative" material, such as a magazine article, when we have visualized actions and locales or appreciated an author's use of metaphor. Similarly, a reader may vary his or her stance toward the same text during a single reading event (36-38). Thus, a reader may concentrate on understanding certain historical information in one segment of a novel, but the same reader may be imaginatively participating in the action described in another segment of the same novel during the same reading session. All of this information is offered as a reminder of what most of us will recognize as having occurred during our own transactions with texts. Recognizing the accuracy of some aspects of the reading process is, however, not the same as being able to describe the process as it occurs. Thus, during a research project, informants find it difficult to describe with much certainty the actual process they are engaged in when transacting with a text. This is probably due to some fairly obvious factors such as the mind's inability to attend to both the process and the product of an activity simultaneously (Baker & Brown, 377). This difficulty has a positive side, however, because readers can and do profit from attention to the product. We acquire knowledge, experience entertainment, engage in imaginative evocation of incidents and feelings, and so on. If we were to focus on process, we probably would not have many of these satisfying, experiences. In fact, according to Stanovich's Interactive-compensatory model of reading, the more proficient the reader, the less con- scious the reader is of the lower level skills needed for decoding and processing text (213). In the project to be reported upon in this paper, each of the key informants experienced greater or lesser degrees of difficulty describing his or her reading proc- sea as the event was taking place (the TOL procedure). This difficulty was caused by various factors, but because more than one type of data collection was used each person was able to provide quite a lot of detail about his or her transaction with a particular magazine article which he or she had selected and read as a leisure time pursuit. Assumptions My review of the literature in the field, as well as other factors such as my own experience as a reader, plus the trial runs I have conducted, have influenced me to make the following assumptions: (1) Leisure-time reading, as opposed to study, is mostly a self-directed and purposeful activity. (2) Leisure-time reading may occur at any time in almost any setting if a person is in a frame of mind to satisfy his or her own 'needs as {a reader. (3) Such reading may produce satisfaction, frustra- tion, pleasure, and/or a multitude of other emotional reactions. (4) Leisure-time reading is more likely to involve magazines than study reading does. (5) The reading of magazines during leisure-time reading is mostly an unselfconscious activity by which readers acquire knowledge i1: relatively brief amounts of time. (6) Reading--whatever the purpose-~18 a complex cognitive activity which involves a vast range of decoding and interpretative skills. (7) Research into the process of reading must of necessity rely on indirect evidence of the mental activity in which the reader engages as he/she transects with a text. (8) At present no complete model of reading exists; thus, further research is needed in order to verify current ideas and/or propose alternative models. (9) Such research can use ethnographic methodologies since approaches such as case studies, inter- views, and observation have provided important data about many types of human activity. 10 (10) Pursuing ethnographic or qualitative research may result in a "substantive" theory which explains the process used by a few readers as they selected and read a magazine article as a leisure-time activity. (11) This substantive theory may be compatible with one or more formal reading theories and/or models. Overall, then, my research seeks to describe and infer information about a complex mental activity as experienced during a specific reading event by several adult readers who have volunteered to participate in the study of their reading processes while engaged in reading a self-selected magazine article. Questions The most basic questions which motivate my research are the following: What can be discovered about the reading pro- cesses of a few adult readers when each is reading a magazine article he or she has selected to read as a leisure time activity? What purpose(s) motivate their selection and reading of these articles? What might Rosenblatt's Transactional Theory of the literary reading process clarify about these readers' leisure time reading of an inform- ational article each had selected? What implications might the data from this study of a few readers have for studies of larger numbers of adults reading magazines during their leisure time? What implications, if any, would this study have for the instruction of adult readers, especially those enrolled in community college develop- mental reading courses? research questions are of necessity rather vaguely stated until the data from each of the participants in the study has been analyzed. 11 When engaged in an ethnographic study, the initial further issues which require attention will emerge. research questions, literature relevant to this study and to some anticipated results of the study itself, are as follows: (1) (2) What evidence of metacognition will the data provide? Will the readers indicate an awareness of their process and any regulation of that process? Will the readers demonstrate any split between declarative and procedural knowledge relative to metacognition? More specific concerns are: The usefulness of McCelland and Rumelhart's interactive-activation model for analyzing the data. Whether the data will show that readers read rapidly and without much conscious attention to context per Stanovich's interactive-compensatory model or will the data show that they con- sciously consider such matters. (3) Whether the data. will show that readers are (4) aware of context, author's purpose, etc. as pro- posed by Haas and Flower, or whether they are not so consciously aware of such matters as Stanovich believes. Whether the reader's stance will reflect his or her prior knowledge of genre, textual cues and unique personal motives in relation to a particular text. Once this analysis is completed, which are based on the review of the 12 (5) Whether various concepts of the reading process, such as those proposed by Taylor and Taylor, Perfetti and Rayner and Pollstesk will help me to categorize and interpret the data. Limitations of the Study The purpose of this study is not to produce what Goetz and LeCompte term an all-encompassing explanation of the reading process, a "Grand Theory,‘ nor an elaborate, almost inclusive view, a "Theoretical Perspective," nor an explanation of a particular type of reading, i.e., leisure-time reading of magazine articles, "Formal Theory" (36-38); the purpose of this study is, rather, to produce a concrete description of the actual processes used by a few readers during a single reading event with a self- selected article from a mass circulation magazine read for personal gratification as opposed to study or work related purposes. In view of the limited scope of the research, I do not seek to provide explanations of the reading process which are applicable to all readers nor even to readers who possess one or more characteristics in common with the informants in this study. Other limitations include the focus on mass circula- tion periodicals to the exclusion of learned journals or hobby or special interest magazines. Likewise, this study is limited to a few readers reading for personal satisfaction as opposed to other purposes; therefore, no 13 conclusions will be offered about the applicability of these individuals' reading strategies to study or work connected reading. Since the study focuses on a particular reading event as opposed to a number of such events over time, no predictions will be made concerning the likelihood of certain reading behaviors being repeated in similar circumstances by these same readers. Overall, then, this study is quite modest in its scope and yet intensive in its examination of the data provided by the four participants. This examination seeks to elucidate the experiences of these readers in a way that may fruitfully suggest similar studies to other researchers. Finally, II expect that this type of qualitative study will produce a body of data about individuals and their reading processes which will help to illuminate and, perhaps, challenge various paradigms and theories which are based on more quantitative data which usually offers very little examination of individual readers engaged in the reading process. Important Terms Key terms used in the study are defined for research purposes as follows: Readinguthe construction of meaning under the gu ance and the constraints of a printed text but also influenced by the reader's own purposes and prior knowledge. l4 Meaninglgonstruction of meaning--both the know- ledge (product) and’ the activity (process) of making sense of the text; interpretation. Transaction--the reading activity itself in which the reader's expectations and strategies are modified and influenced by the text, plus the reader's evolving sense of the meaning of the text while various textual features are emphasized or de-emphasized. ‘by the individual reader's atten- tion to diction, structure, manuscript form, personal associations, miscues, and so on. Efferent purpose-~reading to acquire information. Aesthetic mirposeureading to experience the special sensation of living through the experience of a poem, story, etc.; reading for literary pleasure. Reading event--the actual time during which the reader is engaged in transacting with the text. Higher level cognitive processes--inferencing, synthezing and interpreting text. Lower level cognitive processes--decoding text. Top-down theories of reading--explanations of the reading process which emphasize the reader's search for meaning as both the primary goal and source of activities in which the reader engages; view of reading as confirmation of predictions. Bottom-up theories of reading--explanations of the reading process whiéh emphasize the reader's phonological, lexical and semantic processing of text; view of reading as decoding. Interactive theories of reading--explanations of the reading process which emphasize the reader's concurrent use of ‘both lower’ and: higher level reading skills in order to produce meaning; view of reading as a flexible mix of bottom-up and top-down activities. Author's intended meaning--meaning constructed by reading a text in suCh a way as to approximate the meaning encoded by the author; the interpretation some readers refer to as the "meaning of the article." 15 Reader's interpretation--meaning constructed by reading a text in such a way as to produce an interpretation which satisfies a reader's expectations, purposes and needs; the inter- pretation some readers refer to as the "meaning of the article." Reader's stance--the relationship of the reader to the text, iie., more-or-less an aesthetic or an efferent relationship to text. (Note: This relationship can vary with the same text and same reader but different purposes and/or contexts.) Context for readin --the overall situation in Which a reader rea s a text: for example, the purpose for reading, the sense of the author's intention for writing a particular article; the time and energy available to the reader; the physical location of the reading event and so on. Ethnographic research approach--use of tech- niques sudh as case study usually associated with ethnography; a more qualitative research design rather than a quantitative design. Interaction-~use of a medium such as magazines as preparation for anticipated conversations with others or for other interpersonal activi- ties in a social setting. Surveillance--use of a medium for the purpose of Obtaining information about the world. Diversion--use of a medium for the purpose of relaxation, escaping or passing time with enter- tainment material. Consumer magazines--mass circulation periodicals whose advertising, content and vocabulary do not require specialized education or training to understand. Such magazines are not named on the Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) list of business publications, but they are readily available to the general public at newsstands and through subscription. Trade ma azines--limited circulation periodicals Ghose a vertising, content, and vocabulary require specialized education or training to 16 understand. Such magazines are not named on the SRDS list of consumer magazines. Trade magazines are available exclusively through subscription. Qgganization of the Study Chapter One includes the background of the problem and the theoretical orientation, a statement of the problem, assumptions and limitations of the study plus definitions of important terms. Chapter Two is a review of selected literature in six major sections: the nature of the reading process; reading for information; reading for pleasure; ethnographic research; studies of community college readers; and, finally, reading popular magazines. The research design and procedures for selecting informants, collecting data, and analyzing that data are presented in Chapter Three. A brief summary of the pilot project is also included in this chapter. Chapter Four presents the data and the analysis of that data. The final conclusions, plus implications of the findings, are presented in Chapter Five. 1Even though my students had told me that they read magazines during their leisure time, I did not realize the potential of such a study until Professor Stephen Tchudi urged me to consider the possibilities of such a study. Chapter Two: Review of Selected Literature This chapter includes six sections of literature related to the study of reading as both an informative and pleasurable activity. The sections are as follows: (1) the nature of the reading process, (2) reading for information, (3) reading for pleasure, (4) ethnographic research, (5) studies of community college readers, and (6) reading popular magazines. I have included those studies which have been the most helpful to me in my quest to understand more about the nature of the reading process, especially as it occurs during the leisure time reading of periodicals. This review encompasses a wide range of such useful information from a variety of perspectives. One aspect of this variety, in fact, is the inclusion of various literary theories such as Transactional theory and Phenomenology because I believe that these descriptions of aesthetic reading reveal aspects of the reading process which appear in all reading activities, no matter what purpose or type of text is involved. The Nature of The Reading Process The preceding two decades have witnessed a change in thinking about the nature of the reading process from a "bottom-up" (decoding) to a "top-down" (schemata or concept-driven view) and, more recently, to an interactive 17 18 process made up of both top-down and bottom-up processing. Kenneth Goodman's description of reading as a "psycho- ' for instance, was one of the linguistic guessing game,‘ early challenges to models of the reading process based solely upon bottom-up principles (498). Goodman has called reading a "psycholinguistic guessing game" because the reader when faced with a reading task creates hypotheses about meaning and then samples text to confirm his or her predictions ("Reading: A Psycholinguistic Guessing Game" 126). Reading, then, is a process of making meaning, i.e., the reader processes some but not all of the available textual information in terms of his or her purposes and experience in order to arrive at a satisfactory synthesis (127). Frank Smith's views are compatible with Goodman's because Smith points out that the acquisition of information is always a matter of reducing uncertainty. In reading, according to Smith, this reduction of uncertainty involves three areas: letter identification, word identification, and comprehension (Understanding Reading: A Psycholingistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read 23). Smith describes textual redundancy and reader's context (relevant prior knowledge) as two main factors which help a reader reach synthesis. The more context the reader brings to the text, the less visual cues he or she 19 needs (1-8). Smith's point about textual redundancy can, it seems to me, be extended in this way: such redundancy helps the reader confirm or revise his or her relationship to the text (stance, framework and expectations). Furthermore, if the reader is unfamiliar with the textual cues (diction, syntax, format and so on), redundancy cannot help reduce the reader's uncertainty because the reader cannot use these textual redundancies to develop an appropriate relationship to the text (stance, framework, expectations and so on). Smith in his discussion of cognitive theory and its implications for reading gives us another way to describe the mental processes underlying reading. Smith notes that there are three components of the perceptual process which are compatible with Goodman's explanation of the reading process: prediction, identification and interpretation. Smith also deals with the concept of "significant differences,' which supports Rosenblatt's concept, which will be discussed later in this chapter, of each reading as an unique "event in time." "A difference," Smith tells us "that is not significant is rarely perceived" (53). Significance is determined by the individual and reflects his or her personal interests and experience as well as the way in which the world is constructed. When we are involved in any event, the situation determines what will 20 be most significant, i.e., what alternatives will be excluded as the event is perceived. (This view, it seems to me, is very similar to the model presented by Haas and Flower and Flower, as well as various models which emphasize the importance of schemata.) In discussing the connections between the physio- logical and cognitive during reading, Smith points out that not only does the brain direct eye movement in a search for meaning, but the eye is limited by the "bottleneck" between sensory store and short term memory. Thus, four eye fixations a second are the maximum possible given these limitations. The reader's prior knowledge brought to the page affects comprehension. And the fluent reader can identify much more in a single fixation and thus know much more than a beginning reader who is often afflicted with "tunnel vision" which focuses only on a few items during a fixation. A fluent reader "sees" more: that is to say, he or she has a lower level of uncertainty and requires much less time to reduce the uncertainty he or she does have. The beginning reader will need to use regressions and more fixations to reduce uncertainty. Of course, different texts and subjects will require a change in the fluent reader's number of fixations and use of regression (77). The important point of all of the above is that, seen in a certain light, reading is an activity which reduces uncertainty or produces new knowledge. 21 During these past couple of decades, a number of other researchers in reaction to the top-down emphasis of Goodman and Frank Smith have proposed "interactive" models of the reading process. For instance, according to Samuels and Kamil in "Models of the Reading Process," McCelland and Rumelhart have proposed an interactive-activation model based upon word recognition research. This model emphasizes the flexible processing and multiple sources of information used by readers as well as their attention to contextual circumstances (187). As Kamil and Samuels point out, linear models do not account for such aspects of the reading process as identification of whole words by our higher level thinking processes; recognition of words because of knowledge of syntax; word perception influenced by semantic knowledge; and the effect of context on word perception (209-210). Kamil and Samuels also describe the Interactive- compensatory model developed by Stanovich. The key concept of this model, which seeks to incorporate knowledge about both skilled and unskilled reading, is that "a process at any level can compensate for deficiencies at any other level" of cognition (213). Stanovich's model helps to explain the situation when poor readers are more alert to lexical and syntatic matters than better readers are. In a discussion which is very similar to Frank Smith's description of the same 22 phenomenon, Stanovich's model asserts that less proficient readers attend to lexical and syntatic information when their knowledge of word meanings or textual organization fails them. "Good" readers, however, are sometimes less sensitive to such matters because their "lower level" knowledge (lexical meanings and structure of texts) is seldom weak (213). These good readers, consequently, process text quickly and efficiently without confusion or uncertainty regarding vocabulary or text structure. Furthermore, they usually do not need to consciously attend to discourse level matters such as authorial purpose, organization of an argument and so on. However, if the automatic processing breaks down, even the good reader's efforts may be given to ‘working, out lexical meaning with a resultant loss of comprehension (Stanovich and West 2). Prior to undertaking this study, I was interested in knowing if the readers who were to participate in my study would process text rapidly and without much conscious attention to lexical and syntatic matters, or whether they would consciously consider such matters at all during the specific reading event which I would monitor through a Think Out Loud procedure. Haas and Flower have recently reported on various types of reading strategies employed by more and less "experienced" readers while processing "difficult" text material whose meaning was not easily discernible. 23 Haas and Flower identified three types of strategies used by these readers: content, function and rhetorical (174). The first strategy, which all readers in the study spent "a lot" of time using, is concerned with answering the question: What is the meaning of this text? The second strategy, function or feature, refers to the attention given by a reader to easily recognizable aspects of context such as obvious introductory segments and so on. This strategy was employed three times less often by the participants in Haas and Flower's study than the first strategy. The third strategy was the least used overall and can be thought of as the traditional use of "critical reading" techniques, e.g., trying to account for the author's purpose, context for writing and intended effect on the audience. The more practiced readers used this type of approach 132 of the time, while the less practiced used rhetorical strategies only 11 of the time (175-176). Haas and Flower do not view rhetorical or critical reading as an "extra" strategy but as a "progressive enlargement of the constructed meaning of a text" which is useful for achieving a more "complete" understanding of the material (177-178). Flower has also published an article entitled "Cognition and Construction of Discourse" in which she suggests that a new focus on the reader may help to do away with the concept that the author totally controls the 24 reader's responses. Flower believes that both reading and writing are opportunities to construct "an image of a ' a schemata which both the reader and the given discourse,‘ writer "construct" as each interacts with the text. Thus, just as writers have a "mental representation of meaning" as they compose, readers likewise compose a representation of the text (1-3). These representations, according to Flower, are influenced by the overall social context in which the reading event occurs, e.g., a school assignment or an at-home, leisure time reading period. Flower also contends that the reader's mental representation of the text's meaning is influenced by the reader's awareness of the conventions of various types of discourse conventions such as narrative, explanation, argument and so on. In addition to such "background" information, the reader's purpose(s) and goals for reading as well as his or her "activated knowledge" also influence the reader's sense of what a text "means." This mental representation is not, of course, the actual text. Rather, it serves the reader as a tentative construct which he or she may modify as the reading event proceeds (1-10). In addition to the models briefly described above, other researchers have proposed various paradigms of the reading process. Taylor and Taylor, for instance, have proposed a Bilateral-cooperative model which posits two 25 "tracks of processes that compliment one another" (The Psychology of Reading 266). This model describes one track as operating quickly and "globally" to find similarities between the incoming data and prior knowledge while the other track operates more slowly and analyti- cally, sorting data into elements and attempting to find differences (266). The automatic-processing model proposed by LaBerge and Samuels was initially a bottom-up explanation of the reading process, but it now includes "feedback loops" to indicate that readers move back and forth between lower and higher levels of processing as needed. This automatic processing of words frees cognitive space for thinking about the meaning of what was read ("Toward a Theory of Automatic Information Processing in Reading" 40). This theory of Automatic-information processing is based on the premise that the interpretation of graphic stimuli into meaning involves sequential stages of inform- ation processing. Overall, LaBerge and Samuels have described a process of reading development during which readers begin with attention and practice of subskills until these skills are "automatic." Thus reading seems to be a "holistic process" to the practiced reader whose attention is no longer focused on basic decoding skills. Instead, the practiced reader's attention is devoted to constructing meaning (37-38). 26 Discussing their own model, LaBerge and Samuels point out that while decoding and comprehension eventually occur simultaneously, this "automaticity" is not sufficient to guarantee comprehension, which is a complex activity in its own right (46). So while the Automatic-information processing model is useful, it is not complete because it does not explain how comprehension occurs. Perfetti and Grabe have also offered two distinct models of the process, the Verbal-efficiency model and the Textual-interaction models. The first of these two models emphasizes that reading is a unique process rather than a specialized use of regular cognition, while the second model asserts that linguistic forms interact to signal the reader that he or she is reading an intentionally meaning- ful text rather than something else (Grabe 62-64). Perfetti offers a much more complete discussion of the comprehension process than either Grabe or LaBarge and Samuels. In his book Reading,Ability, Perfetti makes the point that his theory is a psycholinguistic approach based upon his observations as a cognitive psychologist. While he emphasizes the language dependency of reading, Perfetti does not believe that reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game, and he asserts that such a metaphor presents an obstacle to a more serious understanding of reading because it emphasizes chance rather than the reader's extensive knowledge of syntax, semantics and 27 orthographic systems (8-9). As Perfetti points out in his article, "Reading Acquisition and Beyond: Decoding Includes Cognition," his verbal efficiency theory is based on the assumption that the reader must use some of his or her limited mental capacity to achieve comprehension through the use of some of the higher level mental processes. But if word identi- fication also requires a significant share of these limited resources of the reader's attention, then compre- hension will be at risku Verbal efficiency theory predicts that comprehension ability will be related to word identification speed and short-term memory. It also predicts that readers of low ability will be more dependent on phonological and orthological context for word identification than proficient readers would be (53-54). This latter point is, of course, also made by Stanovich. Verbal efficiency theory does not ignore higher level cognitive functions in favor of decoding. In fact, Perfetti's theory emphasizes the importance of schemata in comprehension. Schemata allow the reader to organize textual information into mental representations. The critical difference between verbal efficiency theory and schema theory is that the latter assigns superior status to schemata. Perfetti in his article "Reading Acquisition and Beyond: Decoding Includes Cognition," makes the 28 point that schema theory seems to assume that schemata are the central causal elements in comprehension; whereas, his theory assumes they are one of several necessary causal components (56). In their book The Psychology of Reading, Rayner and Pollatsek offer a model of reading which is essentially a bottom-up model, but they do point out that top-down processes interact with the bottom-up processes to produce comprehension. Rayner and. Pollatsek: base. their' as yet unnamed model on extensive attention to the decoding processes such as saccade and eye fixation which can be observed, and they describe how the reader's eyes both fixate on individual letters and scan text immediately to the right in order to determine where next to direct his or her attention (472). When considering the reader's attention to the fixated word, the authors discuss lexical access. While word identification occurs after the reader processes the initial visual information, it may happen very rapidly. This word identification happens either through the direct use of textual information (letters) or by the indirect route involving the application of various rules and analogies to create an auditory code, i.e., a way for the reader to hear the probable sound of the word (473). The meaning of the word is presumably obtained very quickly from the lexicon which the reader possesses. In 29 addition, both the direct and the indirect routes of word identification activate an acoustic representation (as well as activity in the speech tract) which Rayner and Pollatsek term inner speech. Inner speech, the authors assert, is used as a "system for temporally holding information for comprehension processes because it holds a sequential and relatively literal record of the recently read information in working memory (possibly with some added intonations from speech)" (474). When word identification and meaning is completed, attention shifts to the next word and the meaning of the currently fixated word is integrated into an ongoing text representation which the reader is constructing in the working memory. Working memory is conceptualized as having various subcomponents which are used in comprehending the text. Inner speech is part of the working memory and serves to hold in the reader's consciousness an ordered and relatively literal record of what has been read. Thus, when readers experience difficulty comprehending, they either say the word to themselves or they reread it in the text (475). The other two major subcomponents of working memory, according to Rayner and Pollatsek, are the parser and the thematic processor. The parser constructs a syntactic representation from the lexicon and the thematic processor provides an ongoing semantic representation (475). 30 As the authors admit, their description of the complex mental operations involved once they leave the lexicon is based on quite a bit of conjecture. Processing is probably quite interactive (although syntactic processing is very likely prior to most of the semantic construction) and reasonably on-line (although most of the semantic processing probably lags behind the eye by at least one fixation) (476-477). Walter Kintsch in his article "Construction- Integration Model," sets out to explain a bottom-up mode; of reading which is not dependent on context but which creates its connections through "a spreading activation process" (163). Kintsch goes on to say that other theories do not adequately explain comprehension, i.e., top down explanations are not supported by empirical data: in fact, fluent readers use textual information, even going so far as to look up the meaning of unfamiliar words. (Note: Readers in my study did this. See discussion in Chapters 4 and 5.) Thus, according to Kintsch, schemata alone cannot help the reader achieve comprehension (163-164). Kintsch's model combines construction process and integration into a coherent whole, i.e., linguistic input is used to construct a "text base" and it is integrated gig schemata into a unified whole (164). These models indicate the increasingly sophisticated explanations of the reading process which have been offered recently. And, while no full model of the reading 31 process yet exists, all of these models, according to Grabe, suggest that: (1) Top-down explanations do not account for the entire process. (2) Many lower level processing skills are basic to good reading. (3) The reader must possess a massive recep- tive vocabulary which is rapidly, accurately and automatically accessed when he or she reads. (4) A reader's apparent over-reliance upon the text might be explained by Stanovich's model. (5) The development of reading abilities should be viewed as stages of skills development, such as pre-reading, initial reading or' decoding, confirm- ation and fluency, reading for new information, multiple viewpoints, as well as construction and reconstruction of the author's point (63-64). In addition to the insights offered by researchers such as those mentioned above, theorists and researchers seeking to explain literary interpretation have proposed a number of stimulating views of the reading process during the last twenty years as well. Louise Rosenblatt in The Reader, The Text, The Poem has offered a "transactional" model to explain how readers "evoke" or bring to life a poem (her generic term for any literary work) by transacting with the text. In "On the Aesthetic as the Basic Model of the Reading Process," Rosenblatt suggests that in addition to explaining the reader's unique and necessary contribution to the 32 experience of literature, transactional theory provides an explanation and model of the reading process overall: In a reading event, or a reading act (with all that implies of a particular situation and time), a particular reader (with all that implies of past experience and present pre- occupations) enters into a transaction with a particular text. A two-way or circular process must be postulated. The text offers guidance and constraint, yet it is also open, requiring the reader's contribution. The reader must draw selectively on the resources of his own fund of experience and sensibility to derive verbal symbols from the signs of the text and to give substance to these symbols, and he organizes them into a meanin that is seen as correspond- ing to the text (1;). Thus, the reader "evokes" meaning; he or she does not simply decode the meaning from the text. Nor does the text totally determine what will be evoked. Rosenblatt notes that "the text alone cannot dictate the result: any text can be read either nonaesthetically or aesthetically" no matter what the author's intentions may be (19). William James' concept of "selective attention" provides Rosenblatt with a psychological explanation for the continuing stream of choices which the reader makes as he or she adopts a stance - an orientation or relationship to the text - creates a "tentative framework" (an overall sense of how a particular text is organized), develops expectations about various aspects of the text and its meaning, and revises these expectations until a "final synthesis" is achieved (The Reader, The Text, The Poem 54). 33 Phenomenological literary theory in such works as Wolfgang Iser's The Act of Reading and Roman Ingarden's The Cmition of The Literary Work of Art also stresses the reader's active contribution to making meaning and seeks to describe that process in detail. Ingarden, for instance, distinguishes among various types of reading activity: aesthetic concretization (the aesthetic experience); preaesthetic investigative cogni- tion (scholarly study); and reflective cognition of the aesthetic concretization (study of reader response). Ingarden also emphasizes the value of rereading no matter which of these various types of reading activities one may pursue (PP. XIXXX). In each type of reading activity, the reader's purpose determines how she or he processes the text. Other literary theorists, such as David Bleich and Norman Holland, have offered insights about the unique, subjective eXperiences each reader has when engaged with a literary text. In Subjective Criticism, for instance, Bleich emphasizes the uniqueness of perception by noting that any perceived object is "circumscribed and delimited by a subject's motives, his curiosities and, above all, his language" (18). Holland, on the other hand, emphasizes the reader's use of an "identity theme," a personal style of response which "permeates all aspects of the reader's life" (128). Thus, in Holland's view each 34 reader's response to literature is part of the indivi- dual's ongoing adaptation to experience - an understanding of events on one's own uniquely personal terms (62-63). These models of the literary reading ‘process are intriguing and potentially useful in studies such as this one if they can suggest an even more complete description of the reading process in general when they are combined with various aspects of other models and theories such as those which I have previously described. Furthermore, although I was not seeking to produce a "Grand Theory" or even a "Formal Theory" of the reading process (Goetz and LeCompte 36-38), I assumed that concepts borrowed from these various theories and models would assist my analysis of the data gathered in my study and, eventually, help me to produce an accurate "substantive" explanation of how the readers involved in my study went about reading a self-selected magazine article. I expected that concepts such as interactive processing, stances, selective attention, reading for various purposes, automaticity of proficient reading and so on would help me to categorize and understand the data. Reading to Acquire Information Various authors and researchers have written about the acquisition of information through reading. For instance, Vipond and Hunt in their article, "Point Driven Understanding," offer their view of how and why readers 35 acquire information. The authors, discuss listening, and aesthetic reading as "point driven,‘ i.e., the listener/ reader tries to ascertain the speaker/author's motive for telling a story. Thus, according to Vipond and Hunt, meaning is not so much the issue as the question: "Why does the author want me to know this?" (261-262). The authors go on to distinguish among various modes of reading: point-driven, story-drive and information- driven types (264). They assert that various types of ' readings can be used by a fluent reader during a particular reading event, but they distinguish their view from that of Louise Rosenblatt who identifies two poles, efferent and aesthetic, on a continuum of possible purposes for reading. Vipond and Hunt contend that point-driven and story-driven readings are both aesthetic but that only the former expects an answer to the question "So what?" while the latter only wants to experience an entertaining story (268—269). Harste's article "Good Readers as Informants" emphasizes the point that all reading is "embedded" in a context, i.e., the reader's stance and the outcome of the reading vary depending on the reader's perception of the situation in which the material is being read (10). I have some concerns, however, because Harste's informants were reacting to an excerpt from Eco's novel, The Name of the Rose, rather than more typically efferent material. I 36 am also concerned because Harste presents his findings as if they constitute a formal or even a meta theory when he has only studied the responses of a limited number of readers (five key informants). Still, he: makes some interesting observations: good readers spend "a lot of time" away from the text, making connections; they' re- consider new material in light of what is already known; they criticize their own as well as the author's performance; and, finally, Harste's informants saw similarities between their use of reading to acquire information and their acquisition. of ‘knowledge through other means (3). As previously stated, Haas and Flower in their article "Rhetorical Reading Strategies" report on the results of a study in which they gave a "complex, college level" informative text to ten readers and observed the process by using TOL procedures (167). Their description of the reading process in general is very transactional in its attention to the reader's contribution to the construction of meaning. One strategy they observed they ' i.e., "an active attempt at termed "rhetorical reading,‘ constructing a rhetorical context for the text as a way of making sense of it" (167-168). The authors report a difference between the experienced readers (graduate students) use of this strategy and the inexperienced (college freshman) readers 37 limited sense of the overall rhetorical situation that might have produced a specific text. The freshman readers primarily relied upon textual-based strategies to construct meaning (168). Haas and Flower also report that reading any "sophisticated" text requires not only careful attention to the text and the use of prior knowledge but also the ability to read the text on several levels (170). They go on to say that the problem for readers of sophisticated texts is that they "fail to construct" meaning and only settle for a paraphrase of the content. They, in short, fail to read critically (170). Again, this is a concept I might apply to my analysis of the data. More specifically, Haas and Flower describe the three strategies used by the readers in their study as: (1) content strategies which are concerned with content or topic and seek to answer the question: What is the text about?, (2) function or feature strategies which are used to refer to conventional features and functions of discourse such as example, introduction and so on, and (3) rhetorical strategies which are concerned with trying to account for the writer's purpose, the context in which the material was written and the intended effect on the audience (175-176). Linda Flower in. her 1987 article, "Cognition and Construction of Discourse,’ already mentioned in segment 38 one above, points out that the readers in her study did try to approximate the author's intended meaning. This leaves aside the epistemological question of whether this is possible. The reality is that readers do read with this purpose in mind (11). Given this fact, Flower believes that we can make some predictions; inexperienced readers' goals may be very different from each other and from the goals of more experienced readers; with sophisticated goals, readers may or may not possess strategies for achieving these goals; experience or education might make a difference in the goals and strategies readers have (12). Overall, Flower contends that readers construct multiple representations of a text, keeping their different intentions or purposes for reading, distinct. Some readers, according to Flower, want to identify the author's main points by keeping track of the thesis, topic sentences, examples and so on, but this is difficult to do because of limitations of short term memory. On the other hand, this approach to reading is often desirable in academic settings. Some readers read for the personal connections they can perceive between their experiences and the information presented in the printed material. Other readers work to make their representation of the text fit their goals, and they monitor their own progress toward this goal and they deal with the incongruities in 39 such a fashion as to produce a reading which is acceptable to themselves (14). Thus, Flower presents reading the "same" text as a uniquely personal event for each reader, and her insights concerning the reader's purposes plus her identification of the reader's various strategies were helpful when I analyzed my data. Reading for Pleasure Once again, it seems to me, Kenneth Goodman has some- thing useful to say about another aspect of the reading process: reading for pleasure. As already noted, Goodman describes reading as an active process whose goal is meaning and one which must provide some sort of "payoff" for the reader such as literary pleasure and satisfaction or the desire for more new knowledge through informational reading. Goodman says that language and thought are "inter- active in reading, but at some point thought processes leap out and away from the message of the writer" (20). Thus, in Goodman's view, reading is a meaningful activity engaged in not for its own sake but for the benefits (pay- offs) derived from it. Furthermore, reading is very much a matter of reconstructing the writer's intended message although reflection and "flights of fancy" may be involved in the process (20). 40 Rosenblatt also recognizes that readers attempt to reconstruct authorial meaning, though this is only one of many possible purposes and types of understanding which may be sought with a given text by different readers or by the same reader at different times (The Reader, The Text, The Poem 67). The transactional concept of stance (the reader's relationship to the text) is relevant here because Rosenblatt posits a range of possible relationship from the totally efferent to the purely aesthetic. She notes, however, that there is probably a mix of stances in any reading experience as the reader's needs, attention and understanding influence his or her expectations or use of the text. Thus, a novel might be read for the lived through experience at some points and quite efferently at others, or in a rapid, almost simultaneous and shifting mix of stances (38). (The Think Out Loud and other protocols used in this study reveal that the four key informants do indeed use a mix of stances and experience: magazine articles in a variety of ways, both efferently and aesthetically. Or, put another way, these readers report pleasure and satisfaction through both the acquisition of information and the imaginative experience of various aspects of the magazine articles. See Chapters Four and Five for more detail.) 41 Ethnographic Research This study has been carried out using an ethnographic or qualitative rather than a quantitative approach. Thus, only four readers have served as key informants and their transactions with a self-selected magazine article has produced the data analyzed in Chapter Four. The goal has not been to produce a complete description of the reading process as most people experience it, but rather to produce an accurate description of what these four readers did in transaction with a specific article. The precedent for this kind of research is in I. A. Richards' studies in the 1920s and reported in Practical Criticism. By con- ducting his study with the use of ‘written 'protocols, Richards places himself in a qualitative or ethnographic context because he is concerned to know what individual readers are doing as they read rather than counting the number of times an item has been mentioned or an activity reported on a survey. In a similar 'vein, Louise ‘Rosenblatt has elicted numerous written protocols from her university students. She has done this in order to gain a window into the complex activity of reading. (The result of this explora- tion has been the production of the transactional theory of reading--see above.) In each case, the researcher has focused on individuals and their actual behavior as they read. The 42 written protocols, then, require a different type of analysis than the statistical approach of qualitative research. (For a more complete discussion of qualitative research, see Chapter Three.) Studies of Community College Readers Studies of community college readers are almost exclusively concerned with the deficiencies of these students as readers (Holbrook, Piepmeier and Reed). As Piepmeier points out in her article, "Reading and Developmental Education," this focus is understandable since the community college operating with an "open door" admissions policy has traditionally attracted older adult students without high school diplomas (15-16). Purvis and Niles place these adults in three categories: (1) those students who possess excellent reading and study skills; (2) others who have only superficial skills; and (3) still others who are ‘unable to read the simplest materials. Friedlander and Grede have estimated that over 501 of all students entering community colleges read below the eighth grade level and that 20 to 352 read at or below the fourth grade level (3). Thus, large numbers of adults entering the community college system in this country lack the reading skills necessary to achieve their vocational and academic goals. Roueche and Comstock in the Preface to their study of literacy development in the community college define 43 literacy as "the ability to perform reading, writing and figuring tasks consonant with the expectations and needs of the individual" (v). These needs, of course, change as the student becomes involved in the academic and vocational education available at the community college. Therefore, while the person may have functioned effectively in other circumstances without more proficient reading, writing, and mathematics skills, the new demands he or she encounters at the community college tax the student's abilities in all these areas. In addition, some researchers question whether standardized reading tests can provide community college staff with the information they need to help these adult students achieve success. For example, in Adults as Learners: Increasing Participation and Facilitating Learning, Patricia Cross asserts that standardized reading tests do not measure the reading abilities of adult students because the results of the tests depend on test taking skills, reading speed and acculturation--factors which will vary greatly in the diverse adult population which enrolls in the community college (7). Given these concerns, it is not surprising that researchers have concentrated on reading levels, remediation, and study skills. My research is different, however, because while I encounter functionally illiterate students every day, I also interact with adults who have 44 made tremendous strides in their ability to comprehend written material. In addition, by conversing with them and teaching them in a variety of courses, I know that many of these students read magazines to acquire personally useful information and as a diversion from everyday stresses. These adults may not subscribe to The New Yorker or buy The Atlantic, but they do read a wide variety of consumer magazines (mass circulation periodicals) and even some trade magazines (specialized, often career related periodicals). In light of this knowledge, I decided to find out more about the reading processes of a few of these adult community college students when they read magazines as a leisure time activity. Reading Popular Magazines In 1985, Fran Lehr in her article, "A Portrait of the American as Reader,’ reported that according to a study commissioned by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), a nonprofit organization of publishers, librarians and others associated with the book industry, "96% of the 0.5. population aged 16 and older read books, magazines or newspapers." This would mean that 170 million Americans read either books or magazines regularly (170). Citing studies by the Magazine Publishers Association, Kent Rhodes in "The Magazine Industry in a Time of Change" reports that as of 1985 magazine 45 circulation was up 922 since 1954, with 63 magazines having a circulation of a million per issue. To refute arguments that the magazines have become focused on celebrities and scandal, Rhodes points out that. Time, Newsweek, and 0.8. News and World Report, the leading news magazines, all enjoy their highest circulation figures. For example, Time circulates 4.3 million copies an issue. In this study, the key informants selected their reading material from fifteen of the three hundred periodicals listed in World Almanac and Book of Facts: 1%) as the most widely circulated magazines. These magazines and their’ circulation figures are listed in Table 2.1. 46 Table 2.1 CIRCULATION FIGURES OF MAGAZINES AVAILABLE TO KEY INFORMANTS DURING TMH SESSIONS Magazine Circulation* 1. Reader's Digest 16,452.422 2. National Geographic 10,574,562 3. Time 4,648,454 4. Redbook 3,950,489 5. People 3,349,401 6. Sports Illustrated 3,329,415 7. Cosmppolitan 2,760,010 8. Field and Stream 2,032,020 9. Money 1,821,625 10. Popular Mechanics 1,668,096 11. Health 1,026,164 12. Car and Driver 935,315 13. Psychology Today 931,859 14. Omni 925,345 15. Personal Computing 501,440 * Circulation figures are based on total paid circulation during the six months prior to December 31, 1988. World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1990. John T. Guthrie and Mary Seifert in their research concerning the average time spent reading each day in one community discovered that people from all occupational groups in the city studied spend an average of 39 minutes per day reading newspapers. These same people average 24 minutes reading books, and eight minutes a day reading magazines ("Profiles of Reading Activity in a Community" 499-500). 47 According to Rhodes, nine out of ten adults surveyed by the Magazine Publishers Association read at least one magazine a month, and the average American reads eight periodicals a month. Rhodes also cites the same source as identifying Reader's Digest with 17 million readers as the most popular magazine, followed by TV Guide (499). In addition to studies of magazine popularity, circu- lation figures, time spent reading, and so on, researchers have also studied the reasons people read magazines. In their article, "Use and Gratifications Motives as Indicators of Magazine Readership," Payne, Severn and Dozier use three categories common to media research to identify magazine readers' conscious objectives. These categories are: (1) surveillance, reading to acquire new information or confirm information in a particular area, (2) interaction, reading to acquire information or insights for use in conversation or social intercourse, and (3) diversion, reading to relax, to escape from normal pressures through entertaining reading (910). Payne and his colleagues conducted a national telephone survey of one hundred subscribers to a trade magazine (one which is produced for members of particular profession) and an equal number of subscribers to a con- sumer magazine (one which is produced for a general audience) (911). Their data confirmed their hypothesis that diversion 48 was a more common goal among readers of consumer magazines than readers of trade publications. The data also confirmed that interaction was a more common goal for the readers of the trade magazines than for the other group. Their hypothesis that surveillance would be a more prominent goal among trade magazine readers was also proven correct. Overall, Payne and the others found that they could predict the goals of the readers in the study 842 of the time ‘based ‘upon whether an individual was reading a trade or a consumer publication (912). These categories would prove useful in analyzing the data provided by the four key informants in this study. The concepts of surveillance, interaction, and diversion helped me to understand statements the informants made concerning their motives for reading a particular magazine. Unlike the Payne study, however, I found that these four readers combined both surveillance and diversion as goals in their leisure time reading of consumer magazines. Two of the readers did, however, also read with an expectation of eventual interaction. (See the discussion of the data in Chapter Four and the results presented in Chapter Five.) Conclusions As this review of the literature indicates, while there is no definitive model of the reading process, much agreement exists as to some of the strategies and skills 49 which reoccur among various readers processing different types of texts for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, the acquisition of information through reading is not a simple one-way transfer of data from page to reader. Instead, it involves a complex and individualistic interplay between text and reader until a construction of meaning occurs. Reading for pleasure is similar to reading to acquire information in that it involves a complex and individual- istic interplay between the reader and the text. While ethnographic or qualitative research will not provide data upon which an all inclusive model of reading can be devel- oped, such research methods will produce very specific data about the reading processes of a few readers during an actual reading event. This research is different than the traditional reading research studies done with commu- nity college students. Unlike those studies, this project seeks to describe and analyze the transactions between a few students and the magazine article each has selected to read for pleasure. Thus, this research proceeds from the premise that community college students are not automati— cally deficient as readers. Finally, the review of the literature presented in this chapter shows that magazines are indeed a mainstay of adult leisure time reading in contemporary America. The next chapter will describe ethnographic research methods in more detail than presented in this chapter and 50 also explain how those methods were employed to gather and analyze the data for this study. Chapter Three: Methodology I cannot say with certainty when I first thought of tape recording the comments of individuals as they read, but I think that exposure many years ago to The Reading Miscue Inventory plus discussions with various MSU faculty 1 helped me to realize that readers can verbalize members at least some of what they experience while reading. I was also intrigued by the use of oral protocols in composition research by people such as Nancy Sommers. Over a period of several years, I did some preliminary trials of’ an. oral protocol technique ‘with approximately seven students. Although some of the taped comments provided glimpses into the individuals' reading processes, many of the students found it difficult to provide an oral commentary about their activities as they read. Part of that difficulty, I believe, was my lack of effective prompts or an overall format which the students could use as an aid in this very atypical activity of reporting on one's thinking as a reading event occurs. "ThinkingOut Loud" 2 suggested that I become acquainted with A colleague the work of cognitive psychologists Gary M. Olson and Susan A. Duffy, and Robert L. Mack from IBM, who have developed a number of different ways to elicit information from readers. In their article, "Thinking-Out-Loud as a Method for Studying Real-Time Comprehension Processes," 51 52 they state that "the analysis of cognitive processes in real time is one of the most methodologically difficult tasks in all psychology." Olson and his fellow researchers also recognize that much of what occurs as we read happens "outside of our awareness." Nonetheless, "sophisticated" (i.e., practiced) readers are aware of "much cognitive activity" during reading (253). Thus, Olson and his colleagues believe that "one simple strategy," the Think Out Loud procedure (also referred to as TOL), can be used to obtain information about cognitive process. And, since "successful" reading ' an activity in has "many affinities with problem solving,‘ which TOL protocols have "proven to be a useful research tool," Olson, Duffy, and Mack have used this procedure extensively in their reading research (253). Other researchers, beginning with I. A, Richards in the 19208, Louise Rosenblatt over many years, and, more recently, Christina Haas and Linda Flower, have also found that asking readers to "Think Out Loud" as they read reveals at least some of a reader's cognitive activity. The work done by Olson and his colleagues proved to be the most immediately useful to me, however, because their discussion of the procedure and their description of actual protocol sessions provided me with the information I needed to develop a usable format for my study. 53 Because there has been much debate among psycho- logists about the reliability of verbal reports as data, Olson and his colleagues base their protocol research on premises provided by Ericsson and Simon in their 1980 article entitled "Verbal Reports as Data." Using this article as a guide, Olson and his group developed the following points: (1) the focus of the TOL should be to get subjects to report "the content of their immediate awareness" rather than to report "explanations of their behavior"; (2) subjects should be asked to report their present thoughts rather than their memory of their thoughts at some time in the past because some "processes are unavailable to introspection or are difficult to verbalize"; (3) the researcher must accept that (a) there are limits to what can be reported by an informant, (b) memory is limited, and (c) people have a tendency to explain or justify their behavior after the fact (254). Olson and the others also caution that TOL data "should not be taken as direct reflections of thought processes but the data which are correlated with under- lying thought processes." Thus, TOL data provide a "sample" of what is on the informant's mind during the reading event, but such data will not "necessarily" reveal all of the person's strategies or thoughts. This inform- ation must be inferred from the data much as inferences about reading process are drawn from the measurement of 54 eye movements or reading time. In view of these limita- tions, other sources of information should be used to corroborate and extend the results of the TOL procedure (254). Reading, of course, involves an extensive array of processes, including sensory and perceptual activity, as well as reasoning and inferencing. Since much of this activity occurs too rapidly for the reader to be con- sciously aware of it, the TOL method probably will not reveal the lower level processes. TOL procedures, there- fore, are most useful in the study of higher level processes such as "the inferences, predictions, schema elaborations, and other complex cognitions that occur as part of the skilled reading" (255). If, as Olson and his colleagues point out, we accept Neisser's description of reading as "externally guided thinking," the Think Out Loud method is an acceptable tool for research because it provides some indication of the reader's processing of the textual cues which serve as this "external guide." Using the TOL procedure allows the researcher to gather samples of predictions, schema, interpretations, and so on from which inferences can be made about the higher level reading processes used by that individual reader under the guidance of the text (255). In their research, Olson, Duffy, and Mack have used two basic approaches with the TOL procedure: sentence by 55 sentence talking and selective talking. In the first, the text is revealed to the reader one sentence at a time. In the second procedure, the reader is made to stop at pre- selected points on the text to report on his or her thoughts. Instructions are provided for the informants in light of the nature of the task and the goal of the research, e.g., the study of sentence by sentence inferences or predictions. When using the second procedure, selective talking, the reader is also asked to comment on specific processes such as inferencing (258-259). Citing Ericsson and Simon's caution about the risk of having informants report on their cognitive experiences after the fact, Olson and his colleagues avoid retro- spective TOL sessions. They' do, however, accept the possibility of using such a procedure with very brief texts (three to four sentences) since the brevity of the texts allows the reader to remember immediate interpreta- tions which they had just generated (260). Since my goal is to discover some of the processes actually used by several readers during a reading event, I did not want to design my research to verify certain pre- conceptions about reading, e.g., that the reader is predicting and confirming as he or she proceeds through the text. I have attempted, rather, to describe the phenomena as they have occurred and to analyze this data 56 without trying to support one or another theory or model of the reading process. I do admit, however, that my analysis is weighted toward a Transactional view of reading--and of all language processes-~rather than other explanations of the special relationship between reader and text. In addition, I certainly did not want to interfere with the reading for leisure aspect of the research more than was unavoidable because of the research situation itself. Thus, I did not design the TOL sessions on a sentence by sentence or a selective talking model. Furthermore, although Olson and others (Nisbett and Wilson) advise against the use of retrospective TOL sessions, I decided to include a post TOL interview in my research. I made this decision for a number of reasons. First, I considered my experience using the Reading Miscue Inventory (RMI). In the RMI sessions I have conducted, readers were not only able to retell stories or report on information from efferent texts. They also often volunteered information about reading process without any prompting. My thinking was also influenced by the descriptions of qualitative or ethnographic research from the fields of educational psychology and sociology. 57 Ethnpgraphic Research Sevigny in Green and Wallat's Ethnpflraphy and Language in Educational Settings defines the task of qualitative research as recording what people say and do as part of how they interpret the world. The researcher seeks to understand human behavior through the informant's perspective by using a number of techniques--some of which are retrospective (68-70). Other ethnographic researchers also make use of retrospective accounts of events as one of several methods to understand the informant's perspective about an event. In their book, Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research, Judith Preissle Goetz and Margaret Diane LeCompte point out that ethnography is both a prod- uct and a process, i.e., both the description of the actual characteristics of a phenomenon and also a way of studying human life. Ethnographic research methods elicit phenomenological data: the participants' "world views" are being investigated and these views structure the research. Furthermore, these methods are "empirical and naturalistic." Participant and nonparticipant observa- tions are being used to acquire firsthand, detailed descriptions of actual phenomena while being careful to avoid manipulation of the variables in the study. Ethnographic research is also holistic and eclectic. Researchers seek to describe the total phenomena in 58 contexts and to produce descriptions of causes and effects by using a variety of techniques to gather data (1-3). Goetz and LeCompte identify four dimensions of research in the social sciences: (1) inductive/deductive, (2) subjective/objective, (3) generative/verificative, and (4) constructive/enumerative. Ethnographic research is usually more generative, inductive, constructive and subjective than otherwise (4). The authors say that generative research may be started without a theoretical framework or it may be "informed" by theory. Goetz and LeCompte also point out that, although traditional or quantitative research usually begins with "some theoretical proposition, it may be initiated with no theoretical framework whatsoever..." (5). Geotz and LeCompte also believe that the usual qualitative versus quantitative distinction is "inexact and artificial" and they prefer to view research as taking place on a continuum of modes as noted above. Furthermore, studies may contain elements of both types of research and being aware of these dimensions of research can help the investigator choose strategies that are "compatible with the overall design considerations" of the study (5-6). Congruent research strategies, i.e. phenomenological, empirical and naturalistic, holistic and multimodal are 59 more likely to reflect modes of induction, generation, construction, and subjectivity than traditional experimen- tal research. Another way to distinguish these two types of studies is the following: ethnography relies on quali- tative methods, validity of results, holistic analysis and process variables while traditional experimentation relies on quantitative methods, reliability of measures, analysis of parts of a phenomena and outcome variables (7). In ethnographic research, data gathering often has to come before formulation of a hypothesis, or an hypothesis may be developed in exploratory studies and then applied. Another basic difference between ethnography and experi- mentation is in the type of research goals each has. Ethnography first describes and then proposes, while experimentation tends to seek verification or testing of propositions previously developed (8). Traditional research seeks generalizable results, but, according to Goetz and LeCompte, this is warranted only when random sampling is used. It is customary, however, for researchers to substitute design controls, sample size and assumptions of equivalence for true random sampling (8). Ethnographic research is both pragmatic and theoretically informed according to the authors. The aim of such research is comparability and translatability. 60 Comparability requires the use of standard, nonidiosyncratic terminology and analytical frameworks. Furthermore, the subjects studied must be well described so they can serve as a basis for comparison with other groups. Translatability assumes explicit identification of methods, categories and characteristics so that com- parisons can be made across groups and disciplines. The foundation for comparisons is analogous to generaliz- ability and cause/effect of quantitative research (8-9). According to Goetz and LeCompte, ethnography recognizes the subjective experience of both the investi- gator as well as the subjective experiences of the participants in an attempt to control for observer bias and reactions of the participant. Thus, ethnographers often provide readers of their work with their pre- and post-conceptions so the audience can be aware of bias, etc. (9-10). In dealing with the phenomena ‘being studied, the researcher can assume total ignorance of the subject or attempt to suspend any preconceived notions and even existing knowledge. According to Goetz and LeCompte, the benefit of these actions is an increased focusing on the participants' views and actions plus sensitivity to the researcher's own subjective responses (9-10). Ethnographic researchers use a variety of techniques to gather data, and data collected by using one method can 61 be used to cross check the accuracy of data gathered by using a different method. This is similar to the surveyor's technique of triangulation. Citing Glaser and Strauss's The Discovery' of' Grounded ‘Theory, Goetz and LeCompte point out that triangulation helps the researcher avoid accepting his/her first impressions as the whole explanation. In addition, triangulation adds scope, density, and clarity to the theories which are eventually developed. Note, too, that triangulation often occurs after the investigation has started (11-12). Goetz and LeCompte go on to say that research is always conducted within the framework of theory, whether conscious and explicit or unconscious and implicit. Thus, researchers should specify the theoretical frameworks that inform their studies. This may mean identification of biases and assumptions, philosophical views and prior knowledge about the subject plus interdisciplinary paradigms or models adopted from one's discipline plus other strictures such as funding (33-34). It seems to me that the amount of time available for the research could also be a factor. Noting Denzin's view that social science research is interactive inquiry that is guided in a systematic way by the scientific method, logic, and scholarly theory and frameworks, the authors proceed to present seven "decision points" encountered in thorough ethnographic or quasi 62 ethnographic research studies. They are the following: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Note: Focus and purpose and questions. Research model or design plus justification for its choice. Investigation of the subjects in context. Identification of the researcher's roles and experience. Statement of the strategies used to collect data. Identification of the strategies used to analyze the data. Presentation of the findings, interpretations and applications. (1) Each stage is influenced by the others and each may be informed by theory (34-35); and (2) these seven points serve as the basis for the presenta- tion of my research in this dissertation. Drawing on Denzin and other researchers, the authors identify three levels (four types) of theory. These are grand theory, theoretical models or perspectives, formal and middle range theories, and substantive theories. They are: (1) (2) (3) Grand theory or theoretical paradigms which com- prehensively describe, predict, or explain large categories of phenomena, e.g., Newton 8 laws; Theoretical models or perspectives which combine assumptions, concepts, and propositions that constitute a view of the world, e.g., behaviorism; (Note: Such theories are applied to ethnographic research and may lead to research questions.); Formal or middle range theories which are inter- related propositions designed to explain some type of human behavior, e.g., social mobility; 63 (Note: These theories are more limited in scope than either grand theory or theoretical perspectives.); (4) Substantive theories which are interrelated pro- positions or concepts characteristic of particular populations. These theories are restricted to features which can be concretely identified, e. ., teaching in a formal school setting (36-383. According to Goetz and LeCompte, most ethnographers remain "close to substantive theory' in daily research activity" while the impact of theoretical perspectives and _ middle range theory is more subtle and mostly in evidence in shaping assumptions and premises. Many researchers limit the use of these theories to shaping initial questions and formulating conclusions or comparing data. Other researchers develOp "typologies" or categorical systems which may be seen as substantive theory if they offer a view of how these categories of the data are interrelated (38). Goetz and LeCompte go on to point out that the research question or problem defines the study and that such questions, etc., will vary in "scope, abstractness, and precision" (40). The researcher must distinguish between purpose and the questions; they are not synonymous. Purpose/goal/focus equal the desired overall product: How this study will fill a gap in knowledge about "x" and this problem should be elaborated according to theoretical frameworks. The questions, on the other hand, define 64 specific "hypotheses or problems" and are empirically stated (40-41). When dealing with the sources of research goals, the authors state that the researcher's questions may be influenced implicitly or explicitly by personal experience plus certain theories which the researcher views as compatible with the phenomena, and there may be other causes such as ideology, curiosity, speculation, cultural context, philosophy, ethics, and so on. Throughout the process, the researcher may continue to deal with these influences (41-43). Trial Runs In January of 1990, I embarked on a series of trial runs using the specific details provided by Olson, Duffy, and Mack as guidelines. Thus, I asked for volunteers from one of my developmental composition courses to participate in a trial run of a procedure (the Think Out Loud) which I hoped to use in my actual research. Two students volunteered. Both were female and had been students of mine in a previous developmental course. Each is highly motivated, but deficient in one or more skills necessary for success in college. Shandelier, a twenty-one year old black woman, has difficulty producing clear, fluent, and focused writing, while Ronda, a twenty-six-year-old Caucasian student, tends to have difficulty with reading comprehension. Both students produced a great many surface 65 errors in their writing, especially Shandelier whose drafts were very difficult to understand because of the fragmentary and vague nature of her writing. Each student participated in a TOL session during which she selected a magazine to read from a group of six popular periodicals which I made available. Both Shandelier and Ronda chose the same issue of Psychology Igggy, but each read different articles. I tape recorded their statements as they read, and then I met with each of them a day or two later for a follow-up interview. Upon reviewing the taped protocols, I found that both students had selected articles because of a personal interest (a pattern which was to be repeated in the actual research sessions). Although Shandelier's comments revealed more than Ronda's protocol about motivation for reading the article and awareness of the articles' pertinence to the reader's experience, both protocols were interesting glimpses into each person's motivations and comprehension, but they provided relatively little information about reading process. After reviewing the tapes of the TOL sessions, I met with each of the students in order to clarify statements they had made during the TOL session. In each case, the student not only clarified statements made during the TOL session, but she also elaborated on points only mentioned in the oral protocol. 66 Since the interview sessions revealed more about each reader's progress through the text (for example, each reader had surveyed the article before reading and each had predicted the content of the article based upon an accompanying photograph), I felt comfortable with my decision to use the TOL method in conjunction with the retrospective interview. I realized, however, that my actual research study would have to provide much more definite information about the subjects and their reading habits as well as eliciting much more detailed data about reading process. I designed a four part sequence intended to elicit the following data from my informants: (1) background information about themselves and their reading habits; (2) more specific information about themselves and their con- ception of reading, including a written protocol about their selection and reading of an article; (3) oral comments tape recorded while each person read an article selected by him or herself, which was followed by a written protocol; and, (4) further clarification and elab- oration about this actual reading event through a final interview session. (See Figure 3.1 which indicates the time spent completing each of these four steps, as well as the trial runs.) 700'. 3.1 67 Research Design: Selection. Data Collection. Analysis 5001.6“ Selection information Data Sources Analysis sontns s Day: Procedures Desired m1 Criteria-eased i. Identification Duestionnaire infernal liay of students ' s Dne criteria-eased 1. willingness willing to analysis: 4 days '0' its students of instructor Derticipata in wiiiimss to surveying st particwete and 9 courses 2. willingness 2. identification setacomition 1 day for of student of students who only!!! it sections rm", gm htecomitim regarding reading process m Criteria-based 1. Preferences. Mtiomairs informal June freonncy, I led criteria-based i. willin'iasa motives and analysis: 1 days for data so students of student titles of Iritten Protocol preferences. gathering; willing to leisure-ties spout article "my. Dertlclpeta 2. Report of reading read motivesand ‘4 days for metaco'iition 2. Description of titles of analysis ‘0 0010““ process used leisure-ties unile reading a magazine reading; self-selected plus individual ssgazina article characteristics of reading process m1 Criteria-eased Student Oral Interview Description of July s August description of individual 4 students i. willingness of typical leisure tell its Session accoiwrts of a days for tie: willing to student ties reading reading process participate 2. English as process (Tilt) a days for first language initial analysis m Criteria-eased i. Concurrent 1. Oral Protocol Description of July s August oral description (l’Dt) individual and students Continued of an actual accounts of a days for TOL a willing to willinyiass of reading event 2. written reading process protocol plus participate student (TOL) Protocol 4 days for 2. Retrospective initial analysis written description of that actual event ML! Criteria-based i. Elaboration Retrospective Description of July a August about all Interview individual sue 4 students Continued previous oral s accomts of a days for willin'iess of written reading process interviews plus student descriptions and clarification a days for 2. Clarification of earlier initial analysis of previous oral protocols s surveys 8 «RM mflfltlm 68 Data Collection for the Actual Study: Phase I I contacted ten colleagues at Delta who were teaching a variety of English courses during the Spring term of 1990. (See Appendix A for the memo and information each person receivedt) These courses included one section of English 100: Introduction to College Reading and Writing, and one section each of English 107: Applied Grammar Skills, and English 108: Effective Reading One (develop- mental courses), plus two sections of English 111: College Composition One, and two sections of English 112: College Composition Two. In addition, courses included one section of English 113: Technical Writing, and one section of English 241: Introduction to Mythology, plus English 277: Early African American Literature, and an interdisciplinary honors seminar, IHU 201. In every case, each of my colleagues graciously invited me to visit his or her class to distribute the initial questionnaire (See Appendix B) .and to ‘briefly explain my study. I distributed the questionnaires in the eleven classes which I visited. Of the 156 students who completed this initial questionnaire, 56 indicated they would be willing to participate in the study. This number provided a pool of potential participants for the next stage in the data collection process. First, however, I needed to follow Graves' procedure of narrowing down the 69 possible subjects to a manageable number for an ethno- graphic approach. The results Of this procedure are indicated in Table 3.1. Table 3.1 Finding Key Informants N = 156 surveyed N = 56 expressed interest N = 10 possible subjects N = 4 key informants Data Collection: Phase II I decided to proceed with ten of those who expressed an interest in the study. The decision to ask these ten students to participate was based on their positive response to the question: "Have you ever thought about the process you use when you read a magazine article for pleasure?" The following table (3.2) lists these ten students by first names and provides other information: age, sex, full or part time enrollment, academic major, completion of one or both effective reading courses (English 108 or 109), and frequency of reading magazines during leisure time periods. 70 Table 3.2 Name Age §S£ F/PT Major 108/109 Fre . Abdul 23 male pt none specified yes often Valentina 31 female ft social work yes often Martin 19 male pt design graphics yes often Rosemarie 38 female ft legal assist. yes/ often both Fabio 18 male pt electronic eng. yes often Diana 21 female ft engineering no not too often Gail 39 female pt legal assist. yes not too often Sheila 20 female pt undecided no often Joe 19 male ft communica/film no often Mark 23 male ft music no not too often When I contacted the ten students, each agreed to participate in the next stage of the study which involved completing a questionnaire and producing a written protocol in response to seven prompts about their selection and reading of a magazine article. Each student was also asked to sign a permission form as required by the university. (See Appendices C, D, and E.) In Part A of the questionnaire, the students were asked to explain in writing why they "like" or "do not like" to read magazines as a leisure time activity. (Note: Each of the ten students had reported "liking" to read magazines.) 71 Table 3.3: Reading Preferences Preference (a) Like to read magazines: All ten students who completed the protocol are in this category. (b) Explanations of preference along; with number of respondents: Read for info (9) Read for entertainment/humor (3) Read because of brevity (4) Read as leisure time activity (2) Read in place of television (1) Read for stimulation of the imagination (3) Read for stimulation of the emotions, i.e., empathy and sympathy (1) These responses are interesting ‘because they both confirm some generally held view points about the attrac- tion of magazine reading (periodicals as sources of information and the brevity of the articles) and they suggest another possible attraction (the reader's enjoyment or pleasure). Throughout the rest of the study, the key informants provided evidence in one form or another that their selection and reading of magazine articles for leisure time reading is predicated on expect- ations of acquiring personally useful information and engaging in a pleasurable reading experience. In fact, as Will be demonstrated in subsequent chapters, the readers 72 often find the acquisition of information during their leisure time reading of magazines as pleasurable in itself. The reverse was also true: when the reader's expectations of learning new, personally-useful informa- tion were not met, he or she experienced frustration and disappointment. (See the presentation and discussion of the data in Chapters Four and Five.) The ten students who completed the second questionnaire and wrote a protocol after reading a self- selected article were also asked to explain their choice of "often," "not too often," or "hardly at all" as the amount of magazine reading they engage in. (Note: Seven students indicated they read magazines often, while three indicated they read not too often. None indicated that they read magazines hardly at all.) The following Table 3.4 is a list of the reasons given by these readers for the frequency of their magazine reading: 73 Table 3.4: Frequency of Magazine Reading as a Leisure Time Activity Seven of the ten students reported reading magazines "often" while the other three students read "not too often." (a) Reasons for reading "often" Availability/easily attainable (2) Subscription to one or more magazines (1) Convenience/easy to carry (1) Brevity (1) Interest in a subject (1) As a break from study/leisure time activity (2) Antidote to boredom (1) Keeping up with current news/information (3) Learning from other people's experience (1) Iagrning how to cope with difficult situations (b) Reasons for reading "not too often" Subscribes to only one magazine (1) (limited availability) Lack of free time to read (3) Prefers books to magazines (1) Lack of interest in the subject (1) Heavy homework load (1) The students were also asked to identify three of the magazines which they "like" to read. Thirty different titles were given, and issues of seven of these magazines were made available during the third part of the project, the Think Out Loud session. The titles listed by the Students are indicated in Table 3.5. Table 3.5: 74 TV Guide (2) Time (4) Readers Digest (3) Newsweek (1) Car and Driver (1) Superinteresting (1; (Brazilian magazine Rolling,Stone (1) Stereo Review (1) Sports Illustrated (2) National Geographic (1) Field and Stream (1) Rifleman (1) Health (1) Madamoiselle (1) Pepple Weekly (1) Hastings Center Report (1) Phillip Morris (1) (Complimentary periodical supplied by corporation) Personal Computing World (1) Redbook (2) 9m}. <1) The Plain Truth (1) Ladies Home Journal (1) Family Circle (1) Better Homes and Gardens (1) Women's Day (1) Jeune Afini (1) (a French language magazine) The Arabic World (1) (an Arabic language magazine) Cosmopolitan (1) Guitar Player (1) Mother Earth News (1) Titles of magazines respondents "like" to read the 75 Over the course of a week, I met with each of the ten students and had him or her select a magazine from seventeen of the most popular titles (according to the World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1990), twelve of which had been identified by one or more of the students as magazines they liked to read. Each student then selected and read an article and produced a written protocol about the experience. The guidelines I provided for the students are included in Appendix C as mentioned previously. These protocols served as the basis for the Figure 3.2 (see next page) which details the strategies reported by those readers who read magazines "often" and "not too often." (Note: None of the ten potential volunteers indicated that they read magazines "hardly at all.") Those three respondents who read "not too often" reported using nine active reading techniques which are usually taught in Delta's Effective Reading Courses. (Six of the ten students, in fact, had taken at least one of those courses.) In addition, the seven students who reported reading, magazines "often" reported 'using twelve .active reading techniques, and they also used techniques usually associated with "critical reading." (Five of these students had taken at least one of the Effective Reading courses where such skills are emphasized.) KO 76 Figure 3.2 Strategies reported in written protocol # one Students Who Read Magazines "Often" N - 7 (5 had 10. . read photo caption Reading Course) Strategies read cover . consulted index . perused length & headings before reading . noticed photo on first page ACTIVE READING PROCESS . previewed article: read first & last paragraphs . skipped introduction . noticed illustration . reread some para- graphs to improve comprehension varied reading speed Students Who Read "Not Too Often" N = 3 (1 had Course) Strategies . scanned cover . looked for title in table of contents . checked length before reading . glanced at subtitles . read straight through after scanning . read first and last paragraphs . read straight thru, glancing back at illus- tration . read list of suggestions included in article . stopped reading straight thru & read italicized sentences 77 Figure 3.2 (continued) 11. 12. 13. 14. 10. skipped highlighted segments PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT read intensely 11. read title & and with then article concentration read with 12. withheld awareness of commitment to varying emotions finish article and empathy until article partially read read for 13. checked for author's slant source of excerpted material CRITICAL READING PROCESS analyzed content and style Catggories of Reading Strategigs 78 Of the ten students who responded favorably to my request, two (Abdul and Fabio) had learned English as a second language. Although it would have been quite interesting to work with these students, I decided to ask only those individuals whose first language is English to participate in the final segment of the project because of the difficulties associated with analyzing the possible influences of one's first language on his or her reading in English. Of the eight students I contacted, four agreed to participate in the remainder of the study, i.e., the Think Out Loud session and the final interview. My invitation was extended with the awareness that, as Baker and Brown point out in the Handbook of Reading Research, one must be careful not to assume that readers, even adults, are totally reliable in their metacognitive reporting (377). The Final Segment of the Study: Phases III, IV, & V The final segment of the study involved three separate sessions with each of' the four students and several distinct activities during those sessions (Phases III, IV, and V). Each of these sessions took place in a private conference/meeting room in the main building of Delta's campus. Thus, our activities were conducted at a seminar table while sitting in swivel chairs. II always brought two cans of soda pop to share with the student, and on several occasions students brought pop which they 79 had purchased for themselves. Overall, then, I believe the atmosphere was relaxed and congenial. Phase III: The TMH Session Phase III was devoted to a session which I labeled the "Tell Me How" protocol. The purpose of this session, as I told the students in writing prior to the TMH session (See Appendix F) and orally at the 'beginning, of the session, was to help me to understand how each of them read magazine articles in their leisure time. I informed each student that his or her task was to explain to an alien from outer space (played by myself) how he or she selects and reads a magazine article for pleasure as opposed to reading to study or use the material for some job or work related purpose.3 The student could take as much time as he or she needed to when giving this explanation because the important purpose was to explain the process as completely as possible. I further emphasized that there was no right or wrong answer or viewpoint. Instead, I wanted to know what that person does when reading this sort of material for pleasure. At each TMH session, I provided a variety of fifteen magazines which were identified by the ten students who completed questionnaire two as ones they enjoyed reading. (See Tables 3.5 for all titles identified on the questionnaire and 2.1 for the fifteen titles available during the TMH procedure.) The students were free to 80 handle and refer to any of these magazines as they explained how to select and read articles for pleasure. The student's comments during this session, as well as the Think Out Loud and the final interview sessions, were tape recorded. (Note that each participant had agreed to this activity when he or she signed the consent form prior to beginning the study.) I began each Tell Me How (TMH) session by reviewing some of the student's answers on the second questionnaire. I did this for two reasons: first, to set the person at ease by going over familiar ground; and, secondly, to clarify one of the responses given on that questionnaire. Thus, I asked each student to explain what was meant by " "not too indicating that he or she read magazines "often, often," or "hardly at all." I also wanted to establish how closely the person's actual reading matched his or her statement about the amount of magazine reading the person usually does. To do this, I asked each student to tell me: (1) what types of printed material he or she had read that week; (2) the title or some other identifying information; and (3) what happened as he or she read the material, i.e., process rather than comprehension. Next, I asked each person to pretend that I was an alien from another planet who could understand English and that I was curious about magazines and the activity called 81 reading. To accomplish this, I asked each student to tell me the following: what magazines are; why that person reads magazines; and what the process is that the person uses to read magazines. (As always, as the protocol session was ending, I asked each person to state any questions or make any comments he or she wanted to make about that day's session or any of the future sessions.) Each student entered into the process without hesita- tion, and I was able to audio tape record an average of forty-one minutes of comments from each person. At the conclusion of the session, I reconfirmed the time for the next meeting--the Think Out Loud session. Phase IV: The TOL Session The purpose of the Think Out Loud (TOL) session, as I told each student in writing (See Appendix F) as well as orally at the beginning of the session was to gather information about his or her reading process. More specifically, the information would, hopefully, reveal how and why the person selected and read a particular article. Prior to the TOL session, I collected a group of twelve recent issues of magazines at least one of which the particular student had listed on his or her questionnaire two in response to the request for a list of three periodicals the person "liked" to read. (See Appendix N for list of magazines available during Martin's TOL session.) 82 The TOL sessions, as had the TMH sessions, were conducted in the small meeting room on campus and typically began with a bit of socializing, getting comfortable, and sharing some of the soda pop. As with each of the other steps in the research study, the student had been supplied with a written guideline (Appendix G) a day or two prior to the TOL session. I always asked each student if he or she had any questions about the project or its procedures, and I gave each person a new guideline sheet to refer to before we began the actual taping. (See Appendix H.) The guidelines and the ‘procedure itself basically used the following approach: the student selected and read an article from the magazines available to him or her; there was no time limit imposed; the student was urged to read the article for pleasure rather than for study or a work related purpose; and the student was also urged to talk out loud about anything which occurred to him or her as the reading progressed. And, in order to make the situation as similar to leisure time reading as possible, the guidelines also reminded the student that any of the magazines could be handled during the selection process. Furthermore, the guidelines assured each student that she or he could read as much or as little of any article as the person wanted to. If the person stopped reporting his or her thoughts aloud, the guidelines 83 reminded him or her that I would say something, such as the following: What are you thinking about now? Another aspect of the TOL session was the written protocol done after the oral session concluded. As the written directions (Appendix H) assured the student, this was not a test of reading comprehension and correctness, spelling, punctuation, and so on, did not matter. The purpose was to have access to an account of the selection and reading event in another form, i.e., a written description. To help the student accomplish this goal, I provided seven written prompts which the student was to complete. The prompts are: (1) The title of the magazine I decided to read is. . . (2) I selected this magazine because. (3) The title of the article I read is. (4) I selected this article because. . . (5) After reading the article, I have learned that. . . (6) The following is my description of the method or steps I used to read the article: (7) Something else that I want to say about how I selected and read this article: Phase V: The Final Interview One to two days later the student and I met again for the final interview. This interview had four purposes: to clarify and elaborate on statements made during the TMH session and/or written on any of the questionnaires; to 84 provide additional information about the selection and reading of the article during the previous TOL session; to clarify statements made during the TOL session and the subsequent written protocol; and to elicit any further information which the informant might disclose during the session. Prior to the interview, each student received a written statement describing the purpose and procedures to be used during the interview. As always, the student was assured, both in writing and orally, that this procedure was not a test of any kind, but rather another way for me to find out what the person did as he or she selected and read an article. Also included in the written statement was a list of specific procedures to be used during the interview. (See Appendix I.) After reviewing each of the questionnaires and written protocols, plus listening to the tapes of the TMH and TOL protocols, I prepared a series of interview questions. I gave each student a copy of the questions so that the person could read the questions along with me if she or he wanted to do so. The questions were arranged in the following sequence: selection of the magazine; selection of the article; reading of the article; questionnaires one and two; and any issues which the informant wished to raise. The number of prepared questions ranged from a high of 69 85 for Martin's interview and a low of 16 for the interview with Sheila. (See Appendices J and K.) I began each interview with the questions in order, but I sometimes modified the sequence and/or added questions as the interview progressed since each interview really evolved into a conversation which dealt with a great many issues. As I monitored the comments made by the student, I passed over certain questions which his or her conversation had already covered. Thus, during Martin's interview, I did not ask questions five and six in the section dealing with his selection from Redbook of the article "Fix It Quick? Twenty-five Amazing One Minute Home Remedies Doctors Recommend" because Martin had already explained how his concept of reading to acquire information had affected his decision to read this article. (See Appendix L.) Furthermore, because the sessions were more con- versational than formal in nature, each informant raised issues which I had not anticipated. For example, Gail began to describe how she taught herself to read as an adult. (See the discussion of Gail's final interview in Chapter Four.) Procedure for Analyzing the Data After the interviews were completed, I began my analysis. I first reviewed the protocols each person had 86 composed as part of the second questionnaire. I sought to ascertain the extent to which these behaviors reported during a previous reading event had reappeared during the second event, the TOL session. My examination, of course, was limited to the types of data I had secured during my study. Overall, as mentioned in the results chapter, I found that the participants used more strategies during the actual reading event than they reported as typical during the TMH session. In fact, they used double the number of strategies. They did, however, employ most of the strategies they had identified during the TMH session. Meanwhile, I had the tape recordings of the TMH and TOL sessions and the final interviews transcribed. and copies printed. I annotated each of these transcriptions, and then I proceeded to summarize the data in list form so that I could quickly refer to these lists when I needed specific information about each reader's reported process rather than having to skim or even reread the entire transcription. (See Appendix M.) These lists were also used to guide my presentation of the research data in Chapter Four. Conclusion This, then, is an overview of the process I used to elicit and analyze the data which make up this study. I have used a qualitative or descriptive approach as previously described rather than a quantitative or 87 statistical approach. In addition, as the preceding information reveals, I used ethnographic techniques which are typical of descriptive research: document analysis, observation, survey, and case study. Furthermore, as pointed out earlier in this chapter, this approach cannot result in a formal theory, a theoretical model or a grand theory. Instead, I am attempting to produce a substantive theory about a small group of readers. Therefore, my study does not require extensive analysis of a large number of subjects. I chose to study the experience of several adults while reading magazine articles because most of the research I am familiar with either asks readers to deal with literary texts or with materials composed especially for the study. By providing the participants in my study with actual magazines and asking them to select articles to satisfy their own interests, I hoped to learn how these individuals processed this non-literary' material. As I mentioned earlier in this report (Chapter One), it is important to gather data about readers actual processing of non-literary material because many more people read magazines during leisure time than read imaginative literature. The sequence of activities which I have described earlier in this chapter were designed to elicit a sub- stantial body of data without taking up an inordinate 88 amount of the informants' time. Furthermore, the triangu- lation of sources of data (the Tell Me How protocol which precedes the actual reading event; the Think Out Loud protocol done during the actual reading event plus the written protocol; and the retrospective interview about the event) provides information from a variety of procedures. This variety, in turn, has enabled me to produce the substantive theory (stated in Chapter Five) explaining how these four readers went about processing the materials they selected. Another of the qualitative techniques used during this study is nonparticipant observation. By unobtru- sively observing the nonverbal behavior of each of the four key informants while they read, I have been able to describe a few recurring actions which are common to the four readers. (These actions are discussed in Chapter Four.) It should be noted, however, that my primary con- cern was to monitor the verbal data being offered during the TMH and TOL sessions; therefore, my description of nonverbal behavior is rudimentary. The research questions with which I began my study plus those questions which I added as each stage of the research unfolded deal mostly with particular adult readers processing a specific text on one occasion. Thus, my study can best be described as synchronic rather than diachronic (Goetz and LeCompte). A diachronic study would 89 examine the reading process of these, or other readers, over time as they read various texts. My present study is not involved in such longitudinal issues as discussion of the data in Chapters Four and Five will reveal. 1In earlier years, MSU Professor Jay Ludwig helped me to consider the possibilities of readers providing data about their reading process and comprehension in proce- du res similar to The ReadingL Miscue Inventory retelling Procedures developecT by Goodman and Burke. 2My colleague Margot Haynes, a Ph.D. graduate of MSU, 8‘Iggested that I read Olson, Duffy, and Mack's article at><>ut the Think Out Loud procedure in New Methods in Readin Comprehension Research edited by Edward Ki eras Ind 5i - A. gust. 3Professor Clark from the Department of Education Buggested the use of the "Tell Me How" technique to gather More evidence . Chapter Four: Analysis of the Data gackground The preceding chapters describe this project in some detail, but as a reminder for the reader I should like to point out some of the most important features of this s tudy before proceeding to describe and analyze the data. First, this is a qualitative rather than a quantita- t. ive examination of the reading processes actually used by several community college students as each read an article which he or she had selected from a representative collec- t: ion of consumer magazines. Secondly, these students were asked to read the article for their own purposes rather than to "study" it in preparation for some sort of compre- hension test, such as oral retelling or a written multiple choice examination. Thirdly, the data gathering involved face-to-face, individualized sessions during which oral and written protocols were produced. Finally, the data has be en analyzed in an attempt to reveal at least some of eacti reader's expectations and strategies, as well as to compare and contrast this information among and between these readers. Furthermore, because only four readers have provided pl‘<>t:ocols, the conclusions reached can apply only to these individuals. That is to say, the research design is one which produces a substantive theory, or limited descrip- ‘1011 which applies to only the informants who provided the 90 91 data rather than a formal theory about some aspect of reading which is applicable to all readers; likewise, this research design does not provide sufficient data to justify the creation of a theoretical model about several aspects of the reading process which is applicable to all readers. Finally, this research design does not provide the extensive data necessary for the development of a grand theory or theoretical paradigm which would explain the nature of the entire reading process. (See the discussion of ethnographic research in Chapter Three.) The majority of the data, both written and oral, pre- sented in this chapter were collected at a series of sessions as follows: (1) an initial interview and written protocol session, (2) an oral protocol session dubbed the Tell Me How session, (3) an oral and written data gather- ing segment called the Think Out Loud session during which the informant actually selected and read an article, and, < 4) a final interview session during which the researcher Questioned the informant about his or her actual experience while reading the self-selected article. In addition to the sources listed above, some data have been garnered from an initial questionnaire which was distributed to 156 students in ten different classes at Delta College. Other data presented in this chapter have been collected in a second questionnaire which was c-Otnpleted by only ten students, four of whom became the 92 key informants for this study. (See Table 3.1.) Ilia Key Informants: Martin, Gail, Rosemarie and Sheila Martin--Reading_fpr knowledge and recognition Martin is an eighteen year old design graphics major who appears to be self-assured and inquisitive. Prior to participating in the study, Martin had completed English 109: Effective Reading II. As a result of this experi- ence, Martin reported on the initial questionnaire that he now thought about the process he uses when he reads a magazine article. This metacognition concerning his own reading process is a new aspect in Martin's relationship to reading, however, he has always used reading as a source of information which, as will become clear later, i s a source of personal power for Martin. On the initial questionnaire, Martin also reported that he "likes" to read magazines as a leisure time activity and that he does so "often." (During the Tell Me How session, Martin defined "often" as approximately four t imes a week.) As part of the preparation for our first session, Martin and each of the other informants completed q‘Jestionnaire two. By doing so, Martin elaborated on it‘formation he had provided on the first questionnaire. Regarding reading magazines as a leisure activity, Martin “tote: 93 It gives me information about a specific topic in a short column or a few pages. Now that I'm in college, I don't have as much leisure time as I used to so magazines and newspapers are all I read. I can choose a magazine that might have a few articles on the topic I'm interested in at that time or flip threw [sic] a magazine till something catches my attention. Hartin states views which all of the informants shared to some degree: magazines are seen as sources of information and reading magazines is motivated by personal interest and time constraints. For Martin, the convenient size of magazines, plus the brevity of their articles which are also personally interesting, explain his reasons for reading magazines "often ." Martin identified National Geographic, Field and S tream, Rifleman, and Sports Illustrated as magazines which he likes to read. These periodicals, of course, indicate a strong interest in sports and, possibly, hunt- 1 mg and marksmanship. (Each of these magazines except for Rifleman was available for Martin to read during the initial session.) For comparison, see Appendix N which 1 ists the magazines available to Martin during the TMH and T01- sessions. In his written protocol, Martin revealed that he had 8‘31ected Popular Mechanics because, as a member of a Eauxily of engineers, "mechanical and scientific processes and observations" interest him. In addition, Martin looks to such reading as a source of information about repairing car engines . EA 94 Martin chose the article "Saturday Mechanic" because he thought it might be "slightly humorous to see how some- one tries to explain in enough detail how to fix something." Furthermore, the title evoked an image of a neophyte mechanic. This idea seemed to be humorous to Martin. I assume that Martin does not see himself in this light. Instead, Martin, I assume, felt superior to the type of person he inferred he would read about in the article. In spite of his certainty that he is well informed about engine repair, Martin mentioned in the protocol that he learned some new things by reading the article. For instance, he now has added checking the oil to his concept 0 f an internal coolant check. When describing the method he used to read the at ticle, Martin revealed that he read straight through the a rticle one time. He then reread any paragraphs which he d :id not understand initially. If the article referred to any illustration, Martin read the caption first; he then gave careful attention to details in the illustration. Martin also checked the length and the subheadings before t‘eading. (Perhaps at this point, as well as at other times during this initial session, Martin applied some of the techniques he learned in the Effective Reading II ccflu-:se.) 95 Finally, Martin also reported using the table of contents as part of his selection process. Martin went on to explain that because of his prior experiences on his high school newspaper he knows how difficult and yet how useful it is to create a "catchy" title. (Note: Martin would refer to his high school journalism experience a number of times in later sessions.) Gail--Reading for information and pleasure Gail is a thirty-nine year old divorcee who is enrolled in the legal assistant program. On the day of our initial meeting, she had just completed the Effective Reading I course (English 108). At our initial meeting (the reading and written protocol session), Gail appeared to be in some distress. Over coffee, she reported her anxiety and helpless feel- ings as a result of her recent divorce from an alcoholic spouse and her son's accidental destruction of a friend's home through fire the previous evening. In the face of these events, Gail was considering drOpping out of college, but she wanted to participate in that day's session and in the entire study. I admired her courage and determination. (Note: Gail did not drop out. She registered for summer classes and completed the entire sttidy.) Gail reported that she felt "better" after talking about the fire and her fears, and she proceeded to select ___¥ 96 an article entitled, "Don't Fear Failure" in the June 1990 issue of Reader's Digest. In her written protocol, Gail reported that she selected this magazine for two reasons: because she wanted to read that particular article; and because she was familiar with the magazine and considered it to be "real to life" and most [sic] "accurate." Obviously, Gail expects magazines to be useful, i.e., informative, and she selects reading material in light of her personal interests and needs. Thus, Gail wrote: I selected this article because it fits into my life now. I'm also interested in different ways a person can handle situations. For example, a person can change a bad event in his life to an acceptable event simply by his way of thinking. Gail went on to summarize the article very accurately and then she described the steps she used when reading: ( 1) Read bold print. ( 2) Looked over number suggestions. ( 3) Read first two and final paragraphs. (4) Checked for source of the article. ( 5) Read italicized sentences. (6) Read the article. It seems that Gail applied the techniques she re- cetitly learned in her Effective Reading course to her reading of the article in the Reader's Digest. While it is not possible to say with certainty that Gail did in fact employ these techniques during the reading of the 97 article, she believes that she did. Furthermore, her Think Out Loud protocol revealed that she did indeed em- ploy various techniques which had been practiced in the Effective Reading course. In fact, all three of the part- icipants who had completed one or more of the developmen- tal reading courses reported using techniques practiced in the courses. (See Figure 4.) In our subsequent sessions, Gail was to describe the effect of her reading course on her attitudes and reading 8 trategies. In these later sessions, Gail also described how as an adult she taught herself how to read with greater comprehension rather than simply decoding text. In addition to reading magazines in order to acquire personally useful information, Gail also reads periodicals for pleasure. Rosemarie--Reading for information and affirmation Rosemarie is a thirty-eight year old student who is attending Delta to prepare for a career as a legal assistant. Rosemarie's intelligence is obvious. She does not, attempt to cultivate this impression; it is produced, rather, by Rosemarie's genuine inquisitiveness and unselfconscious theorizing. Thus, she reports reading magazines to learn more about the health dangers asSociated with living near nuclear power plants or to 1earn about new developments in computer software and Pardware. Rosemarie's motive in each instance is quite 98 definite: in the first case, she is concerned about the dangers a relative has exposed herself to by living near a nuclear facility; in the second instance, Rosemarie is pursuing her self-imposed goal to be well informed about new technology since she works as a student assistant in one of the computer labs at Delta. In addition to her self-directed inquisitiveness, Rosemarie theorizes about a wide variety of topics such as her own reading process or the reasons why her eldest daughter does not enjoy reading while her youngest daughter does. Neither Rosemarie's inquisitiveness nor her theorizing seem phony. She has her own agenda and pursues it without pretense. Rosemarie describes herself as highly motivated and hard working. She, as most students at Delta, receives financial aid. Part of her aid package is the college work study job she has in the computer lab. At the time of this study, Rosemarie was anticipating beginning another job with a law firm in addition to her on-campus en‘ployment. This second job will help Rosemarie meet her ez‘penses, of course, but she is also planning ahead. She e3‘pects that her part time employment will be of some help when she applies for a full time position after she earns he): associate's degree. For Rosemarie, as for many Q'Otnmunity college students, a degree is a means to Be lf-sufficiency . 99 Rosemarie is pursuing an education as well as a degree. Thus, Rosemarie describes how she enjoyed reading John Knowles' novel A Separate Peace because it presented her with a new world, that of an all-boys prep school. She reports reading poetry for enjoyment and pursuing her own current reading project, important women in history. Rosemarie has taken both of Delta's developmental reading courses, but not for the usual reasons, i.e., low scores on the ASSET reading and writing skills tests. Instead, Rosemarie enrolled because she needed more credits to be considered a full time student and, thus, be eligible for more financial aid. In addition, she had heard that the courses required a good deal of writing and she thought the practice would be beneficial. Finally, she predicted that she would receive high grades, which she did, because she had always done well in English courses. Although her motives for enrolling in the effec- tive reading courses may not be the most academically appropriate, Rosemarie has benefited as a reader. She previews, scans, varies her reading pace and summarizes what she has read. Furthermore, she is very attuned to the diction of what she reads and invests time in learning the meaning of unfamiliar words and developing correct pronunciation. 100 During the final interview, I asked Rosemarie why she was so concerned about correct pronunciation of magneto- encephalography, a term from the article she had read. Rosemarie's answer was another indication of her motiva- tion and constant desire to learn: I do watch cable television, and they have a health show on. And if I should see that or hear that word, I would know what they were talking about then. And I would know that this was a little bit of (a) new system that was out. And if they were talking about it there (on the cable station), then chances are it will be used more widely, you know, from then on. As I have already mentioned, Rosemarie plans ahead. Hav- ing encountered a new term, she expects to see or hear it again, and she wants to be sure that she will recognize it. In the questionnaires she completed during the initial phases of the study, Rosemarie indicated that she "likes" to read magazines as a leisure time activity because they "aren't as lengthy as a novel, and I don't usually have much spare time. . . Magazines give me a lot of information and they're also very entertaining." Time, Egflhggg, and P.C. World were the three magazines Rosemarie indicated in Questionnaire Two that she "likes" to read. In addition, her comments during the TMH, TOL and final interview sessions also revealed that she has ‘read .a variety of magazines because they have appealed to her in one way or another. For instance, Rosemarie reads Omni at times because it "deals a lot with psychology." 101 Rosemarie's motives for reading vary. In the written protocol Rosemarie produced as part of Questionnaire Two, for example, she reported her reason for selecting an article about lawyer and novelist Scott Turow in the June 11, 1990 issue of 11%. Rosemarie initially chose the article "Making Crime Pay" because of its connection to her own career plans. Her interest in the article inten- sified when she read that Turlow is the author of Presumed Innocent, a novel one of Rosemarie's friends had "tho- roughly enjoyed." At the conclusion of the final interview session, I asked Rosemarie whether she has anyone with whom she can talk about her reading experiences. At this point she revealed that, although she is divorced, her ex-husband lives with her "a lot" and that while he is "very under- standing. . .. He is not much of a reader." To fill this need in her life, Rosemarie turns to girlfriends who also enjoy reading in order to share impressions of books she has read and to clarify information she has acquired from magazine articles. Although she has peers with whom she can talk about her reading, Rosemarie feels she must justify the leisure time she devotes to reading. I did not think to ask to whom she feels she has to answer, nor did I ask why she feels this way. Nonetheless, Rosemarie has this need as is evidenced by her continuation of an assignment from the 102 second developmental reading course she took in 1989. In that course, most instructors assign an individualized reading project wherein each student is required to read and summarize a variety of materials about a specific subject which the student has selected. Rosemarie has continued this project on her own, but not with the instructor's original goal of having the students experience reading as a ‘personally rewarding activity. Instead, Rosemarie states her goal in defensive terms: proving that she is not wasting her time. A more positive aspect of Rosemarie's continuation of this activity is her desire to leave a record of her interests to her daughters. Thus, in her "book" she includes copies of various articles she has read during her leisure time, as well as summaries of many of these articles. Rosemarie hopes that this collection of material will reveal to her daughters the sources of many of her ideas and prove to them, as well as to others she did not identify, that she did not waste her time reading. This evidence of insecurity aside, Rosemarie is a confident and inquisitive reader. For instance, in the final interview Rosemarie stated: Usually I look for color. A colorful magazine. I find usually if they are inventive enough to use a lot of colors, attractive colors in the magazine, then usually they are inventive enough to have good articles. She went on to hypothesize that: 103 Newer magazines (more recently developed titles) that haven't been out too many years. . . are up- to-date and have modern views on things. And I like to see if their views conflict or agree with my own. Thus, Rosemarie exhibits quite a lot of self-confidence as a reader when she is not concerned about justifying her behavior. Another aspect of Rosemarie's behavior as a reader is her application of active reading techniques she learned in the developmental reading courses to her leisure time reading of periodicals. In each of the protocols and interviews, Rosemarie described her reading process in basically the same way. She reads the first and last paragraphs of articles, uses illustrations to develop expectations about content, and scans the remainder of any articLe until she locates one which interests her enough to deserve a slower, more reflective reading. Rosemarie's interests are electic. She reads about health issues and the environment. For example, she was intrigued by blurbs on the cover of M which promised information about AIDS and the appearance of ghosts in South Carolina. In addition, she is attracted to informa- tion related to the legal profession, and she reads to stay informed abut educational problems as well as computer technology. She also reported that when she reads ‘Iimg magazine she will not read anything, about politics. 104 She will, however, read advertisements in various maga- zines in order to learn about new products. As she told the alien during the TMH session, these advertisements "are the way they pay for their magazines. . . asking you to buy their products. Sometimes they give a coupon. . that is another way to read magazines (using the ads as sources of information)." Thus, she has specific interests and also non-interests. Rosemarie also tends to view reput- able magazines as reliable sources of information. She does not trust some periodicals which print rumors and gossip about famous people. Finally, examination of the data reveal that Rosemarie reads for a number of reasons: to be informed (surveillance); to be entertained (diversion); and as a basis for some of her conversations with others (interaction). Sheila--Readingfor wisdom and entertainment Sheila is a twenty-year-old woman who is undecided as to a major or career. At the time of this study, Sheila was working as a waitress at a Mexican-style restaurant which is part of a national chain and attending Delta on a part time basis. She was about to move to California when we met for the final interview in August. According to her responses on the initial question- naire, which she completed during my visit to the English 241 course, Introduction to Mythology, Sheila had never 105 taken either of the Effective Reading courses at Delta. She indicated on that questionnaire that she likes to read magazines as a leisure time activity and that she reads magazines "often,' which as she explained during the Tell Me How session means that Sheila engages in this type of reading approximately five times a week on the average. Sheila reads to relax in the early morning, around midnight or 1:00 a.m., when she returns home from work. On the questionnaire, Sheila also indicated that she had previously thought about the process she uses when reading magazines. This response and her willingness to participate in the study were determining factors in the decision to invite Sheila to be one of the key informants. In her written comments on the initial questionnaire, Sheila described her reasons for liking to read magazines in the following manner: I feel that people need to be informed on today's issues intellectually and globally. I like to learn about many different things, such as U.F.O.'s and our solar system, dreams and what they mean, and even down to the newest clothes. During the Tell Me How session, Sheila's comments revealed that she is on a quest for knowledge about the overall relationship of God and man, as well as an under- standing of environmental issues and social problems such as crime and drugs. As Sheila said, she wants to learn what "a single person can do" to solve these problems. She is also interested in personally relevant information 106 such as dream analysis, headache remedies, and information about the characteristics of healthy relationships with men. These interests and concerns have led Sheila to enroll in The Literature of Mysticism and Introduction to Mythology courses at Delta. Her quest has also led Sheila to reading material of all sorts in order to acquire the knowledge she so very much wants to obtain. Thus, she sub- scribes to both Omni and the Plain Truth. Sheila also reads Cosmopolitan at times, and she is inquisitive about other periodicals and has read them when she has had an opportunity. For instance, Sheila described her exposure to Mad magazine in this way: It is supposed to be a funny little magazine, but yet it is ‘so in-depth in political issues that if you don't really know what is going on you are not going to get it. I don't really read these (politically oriented) magazines, but . . he (a man Sheila dated) had a Mad magazine, and I was just looking through it, and I thought it was like [sic] so funny because it was so into what is going on. Like with the labeling on the albums now. During the TMH session, Sheila defined magazines as "forms of information" which are also "pleasurable." She went on to say: "You read them in your spare time and just for pleasure." Thus, Sheila perceives her leisure time reading of informative material as a pleasurable activity, a view shared by all of the participants in the study. When Sheila described a few of the magazines with which she is familiar, it became apparent that, although 107 she thinks of all magazines as enjoyable leisure time reading material, Sheila views some of these magazines as more worthwhile because they contain important information. Thus, Sheila values Omni more than Psople Weekly. For instance, note her comments below: There are some, like Omni or Ps cholo Toda , that are for facts, to learn something. I think Peo le is more of a leisure magazine than (a magazine) about famous people (i.e. informative), but I guess that (the magazine) doesn't really help you out in life. It is just kind of [sic[ for leisure. I think maybe Omni or something (else) gives you more insight on what is going on in the world, like UFO's and aliens, how far research has come. Sheila buys People and other magazines (which she did not name) for her father, and also reads these magazines at times. Another source of exposure to periodical literature for Sheila is her doctor's waiting room. Sheila enjoys paging through Smithsonian and Architectural Digest. As she explained: I don't read anything in those magazines. I just look through them because I like the designs. . . I just think of my room. I like to do interior designing, that's another one of my interests. . . I think I'd love to have a room like that (depicted in one of the magazines). Sheila, however, will not read in the doctor's waiting room because when she has done so she has been interrupted and unable to complete the articles she has chosen. When visiting the home of a friend, Sheila enjoys reading her friend's copies of Cosmopolitan. This enjoyment is, perhaps, a more uncomplicated experience 108 than most of Sheila's other reading. During both her study sessions and her leisure time reading, both in maga- zines and books, Sheila typically chooses material which is serious in content and purpose, for example The Plain M or the anthology of science fiction classics. Her reading of Cosmopolitan, however, seems to occur as an escape from the more serious concerns which take up a great deal of her waking hours. Sheila simply does not think fashion and beauty information measure up to information. about space travel, mythology, or environ- mental concerns. In addition to her perception that some magazines are more useful than others, Sheila also varies her expecta- tions and approaches to various magazines. As she described above, Sheila experiences some periodicals in a primarily visual manner, looking, imagining, perhaps engaging in "day dreaming" about changes she would enjoy making in her own room. Sheila's experience of some other magazines is very different. When reading Cosmopolitan at her girl friend's home, for instance, she reports being "engulfed." Sheila reads the entire magazine during one lengthy reading episode. She enjoys all of the information, whether she is learning about nail care or reading about "love and marriage" or pondering "does he cheat on you?". 109 (they) can get the wheels cranking in your head if you are with someone. Like, 'Huh, does he have any of these signs?‘ or they have. . . all kinds of little quizzes. . . like "Rate Your Mate". . . it is just fun. Overall, Sheila's reading preferences and goals can be described as internally consistent within her individual framework: (1) all reading is part of her quest for personally useful information, (2) this quest is tremendously important to Sheila, (3) the leisure time reading done as part of her quest is pleasurable to Sheila, and, finally, (4) magazines are consistently part of her leisure reading. Purposes for Reading Magazine Articles in General (Figure lfl) Mass media research uses three categories to describe the purposes for reading magazine articles. These categories are the following: (1) Interaction--use of a medium such as magazines as preparation for anticipated conversations with others or for other interpersonal activi- ties in a social setting; (2) Surveillance--use of a medium for the purpose of obtaining information about the world; (3) Diversion--use of a medium for the purpose of relaxation, escaping or passing time with enter- taining material (Payne, Severn, and Dozier 910). These categories have proven useful in analyzing the data provided by the informants concerning their purposes for reading periodicals as a leisure time activity. (See Figure 4.1.) 110 ozm mmaofiauo momwussesm mnm can .o>wumamn m o» museuma :« :o«umsu0m:w wannabe“ mcm .xoonmmhom no: uOu coon mm: .mcwcmmc no: usonm mmawuz mammammom .COMuooAMHCM ho muooamm HmCOMuompm>coo Assn: on» On comuwnnm :H “w x x x *x . x x x x x x cammho>wn :OMaOGHOaGH coasuawo>h=m 2228» a: 383% magi c535 mom among; caavzm mmhmlomom Hmdu casts: ~.v mm=o_u 111 While each of the informants described purposes for reading which involve surveillance and diversion, only two (Martin and Rosemarie) reported that they read in anti- cipation of eventually having a conversation with someone or writing someone a letter in which information gathered from their leisure time reading will be useful. During the TMH session, Martin revealed that his quest to acquire knowledge and his use of reading as a primary source of knowledge have been influenced by parental modeling and sibling encouragement. I think that Martin's personality and family values have also influenced his goals as a reader. By this I mean that Martin wants other people to appreciate his intelligence and his extensive knowledge as is evident in a story Martin told during the final interview. Martin related how he has been able to join in con- versations with his father and his father's cronies. Martin has been able to impress these older adults (his fEither has recently retired) with his extensive knowledge about a wide range of subjects and that knowledge has been a‘i‘luired through reading. Thus, it seems to me that Martin acquires a good deal of his self-esteem, and therefore his confidence, through his reading. If this is the case, I am not surprised that Martin is highly motivated to read to acquire information and to retain what he reads for use in conversation. 112 In addition to the acquisition of information to satisfy his own interests (surveillance) and learning in order to use that knowledge in conversation with others (interaction), Martin also reads for diversion. Thus, during the TMH session he reported that when he had been working a late shift at a fast food restaurant during the Spring term, Martin would not come home until one or two o'clock in the morning four days during the week. He then would read for an hour or more to relax (for diversion) before going to bed. Martin would not always read a magazine "cover to cover." He might read a number of articles in a few different magazines or parts of most of the articles in one magazine. During the period of data collection (Summer, 1990), Martin was not on the same schedule at work and, there- fore, his reading habits had changed. He was reading less and only if other recreational activities were not available. Even though the amount and regularity of Martin's leisure time reading had changed, he was still reading a variety of periodicals (National Geographic, American Hunter, and Ri_f_lg, for instance) several times a week. Martin also reported that he reads magazines which he notices that other family members have been reading because he is curious about their choices. In addition to his wide ranging curiosity, Martin has some very definite 113 interests which guide his selection of periodicals. Music is the primary interest in Martin's life at present; therefore, he tends to read magazines which provide information about this subject. He reads these magazines for the information they provide (surveillance) and for the relaxation they afford him (diversion). Thus, Martin's fundamental motivation as a reader of magazines is to satisfy his own interests, i.e., to find out what he wants to know about a given subject at a particular time. Each of the other informants also reads to satisfy her own interests, whether it be Gail's interest in the life styles of celebrities, Rosemarie's interest in new developments in computer products, or Sheila's desire to know how to cope with severe headaches. Purposes for Reading Magazine Articles for This Study (Table 4.2) Not surprisingly, each of the four students reported reading one or more articles during the TOL session for the purpose of acquiring information which he or she expected to be personally interesting and useful (surveillance). Only Rosemarie reported that she had an interactive purpose in mind, i.e., she explicitly stated that she read anticipating the conversation with the researcher. (The other informants may have also done so, but no one other than Rosemarie volunteered this information.) Sheila was the only one of the four who 114 reported having a diversionary purpose in mind when reading the article about actor Mel Gibson in Redbook magazine. (See Figure 4.2) Gail, for instance, read an article about Lyme Disease because she has a friend who suffered from the disease for a number of years before it was diagnosed. She is so distressed by what has happened to her friend, that she has not been able to talk with him about either the symptoms or the prognosis of the disease. Thus, she read very intently, after "surveying" the article for the information she wanted and needed to have. Gail did not, however, anticipate any interactive use of the inform- ation, and the reading event was certainly not diversionary. Rosemarie shared Gail's desire to acquire personally useful information. Rosemarie read about using Magneto- encephalography (MEG) to treat brain disorders because both her mother and a good friend suffer from chronic conditions. (Her mother is schizophrenic, while her friend has epilepsy.) Furthermore, as already mentioned above, in answer to a direct question, Rosemarie also admitted that she had read in anticipation of discussing the article with the researcher. Sheila, on the other hand, did not report any inter- active purpose for reading the article about Mel Gibson. Sheila's purpose involved both surveillance and diversion. 115 .uosouuomou may no“: mcwuooumucw mo cowusmwofluco :« room owumsmmom * *x. nammuo>wn flawuo¢uvuau oocmaduo>h=m mawmaw owudlomom dame sauna: Alessm miss roe. massaaz< aziaaaax axiaamg mom ammoa==a ~.v mm:m_m 116 As she reported, she selected the article in order to learn more about him because she "loves" him. Her attraction to the actor initially motivated her to read for any and all information the article could provide until she tired of the focus on Gibson's wife and their relationship. At that point, Sheila abandoned the article. Selecting Magazines in General (Figure 4.3) As Figure 4.3 indicates, the key informants share five of nine factors which usually lead to their selection of individual magazine articles when they engage in leisure time reading. (The nine factors are those identified by the informants during their initial interviews, the first written protocols, the Tell Me How sessions, the final interviews and, sometimes, even during the Think Out Loud session.) Thus, all four reported that information on the cover about article content, as well as magazine availability are two basic factors which influence article selection as do familiarity with the magazine, interest or lack of interest in content as well as the anticipation of an enjoyable reading experience. Other factors such as the visual impact of the cover and the reputation of the magazine influence these readers to select particular’ magazines for their leisure time reading. As Rosemarie said during the final interview: 1.1.17 .5: 3 :2 23:2... :2: r... :3 r: 2 :2. g 25:2. 5:55. a: 3 :35 =3: 5.5 a... 553. . u x x u x x x x :35 x x a . a x K x 3:33. _ a x . x :3 . x x x a x 5:. 35:3: .55 Er:- sSss 35:233.; . 5:92. :3... .233 2 :33: a. :23: 1:52.: :5:- 323: .28 .3 .28 r a. 82:33.: 3 3:22. 6: c. :23: as 323:2. a. t: 3:. 3:52: 3:35.: 23.3... 8: :2: :3; larvae” am. mmzHN¢a<= aziaumamm m.¢mm:o_i 118 Usually I look for color. A colorful magazine. I find usually if they are inventive enough to use a lot of colors, attractive colors in the magazine, then usually they are inventive enough to have good articles. Sheila also responds to the visual impact of magazine covers. In fact, she has reproduced in oil paintings several of the Omni covers which have particularly appealed to her. Sheila, whose leisure reading is usually motivated by her intense desire to find answers to the "important" questions, such as the nature of God and how mankind can reverse the destruction of the planet, sometimes allows herself to totally enjoy the diversion of reading Cosmopolitan. She is familiar with this publication and aware of its reputation as a guide to sophisticated fashions and contemporary lifestyle. When Sheila permits herself to read. for 1diversion, she is intensely interested in such subjects as hair styles and self administered tests which purport to reveal whether "he is cheating on you." Thus, Sheila selects magazines for reasons which she shares with each of the other informants in this study. Gail is the only one of the four readers who did not identify the.visual impact of a magazine cover as one of the factors leading to selection of a particular magazine. There are, however, a number of similar factors which enter into Gail's selection of magazines to read during 119 her leisure time. One of the most influential factors is her interest or lack of interest in a particular subject. Thus, Gail reported reading People Weekly from beginning to end while being much more selective with other magazines such as Redbook and National Geographic. As she said during the TMH session, "I don't read anything I am not interested in reading unless I have to (for school)." As with each of the other informants, Martin's familiarity with certain magazines, as well as his interest in particular subjects, guide his selection of magazines when he is reading for his own pleasure. He prefers various magazines which focus on popular music, as well as sports magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Field and Stream and Rifleman. Martin also enjoys National Geographic. Each of these periodicals, except for the music magazines which Martin buys for himself, are available in his home through subscription. Unlike Gail who, because of her limited income, must rely upon her sister's generosity in providing People magazine for her, Martin has easy access to a variety of publication. Nonetheless, whether affluent or not, each of these four readers reported selecting leisure time magazines using much the same criteria as is indicated by Figure 4.3. 120 Selecting Magazines for this Study (Figure 4.4) Think Out Loud session, influenced to make his or her selection by most but not all of the factors he or she had identified as usually influencing the decision to select a particular magazine for leisure time reading. When selecting magazines for this study during the reveals the following: (1) (2) (3) Martin selected the August 1990 issue of Redbook based upon the same factors which usually affect his selections except for his familiarity with the magazine. .As Martin made clear during the final interview, he is familiar with the magazine and he is aware of its reputation as one of the "good" women's magazines. This prior knowledge did not, however, affect his selection. Martin's choice was primarily based upon his interest in the content of one article as presented in a blurb on the cover. Gail's selection of the July 31, 1990 issue of People Weekly was also based upon the same factors such as her desire to avoid complexity. In addition, Gail reported reacting to the visual impact of the cover as well as considering the magazine's reputation. Gail did not, however, report familiarity with the magazine as a factor in her decision, but she had earlier identified People as one of her favorite magazines. Rosemarie reported five of the factors as influential in her selection while three others (familiarity, lack of familiarity, and reputation) which she had identified as typical factors in her selection process were unreported during the TOL session. Unlike Gail and to a degree Martin, Rosemarie was primarily attracted to the magazine she chose, the December 1989 issue of Omni, by the cover of the magazine, both its visual impact and the blurbs indicating its contents. each of the key informants was Comparing Figures 4.4 and 4.3 121 (4) SheiLa chose the same issue of Redbook as had Martin and for much the same reason: her interest in the content. Sheila also was strongly attracted to this magazine by a small photograph on its cover. Like the other readers, Sheila did not report familiarity or reputation as factors in her selection. These, then, were the factors which influenced each of the students to select a particular magazine to read. For each of them except Gail, the selection of the magazine and the selection of a particular article to read were concurrent choices. In Gail's case, the selection of a particular article came later as she paged through the magazine. (See the discussion accompanying Table 4.6.) In Rosemarie's case, her eventual selection of the article she read was made after she could not locate the article she had intended to read, an article a blurb about which had attracted her interest to the magazine she selected. More specifically then, Martin began his selection process by quickly sorting through the available magazines and selecting Redbook. In doing this, he put aside other magazines such as National Geographic which he reads regularly. Martin also did not display any interest in a magazine entitled Hispanic with which he is unfamiliar but which I included because Martin is of Hispanic descent. As he later explained during the interview, Martin was attracted by the blurb which appeared on the cover of the August 1990 issue of Redbook: "Twenty-five One Minute Remedies Recommended by Doctors." In essence, when Martin 122 reacted to the blurb he chose both the article and the magazine. Gail, on the other hand, excluded magazines from con- sideration based upon the visual impact (illustrations and photographs) of the covers and the blurbs about the content of the articles contained in the magazines. As she sorted through the magazines during the TOL session, Gail mentioned that she does not usually read about health related subjects unless the particular subject is personally interesting. Later, when paging through People magazine, she would react intensely when she noticed an article about Lyme Disease, a condition which afflicts a close friend. As she sorted through the magazines, Gail volunteered information about her reactions to some of them. For instance, she remarked that she does not like to read Tips because it is "too businesslike" and that money "doesn't bother me." (This is perhaps an indication that Gail for some reason equates Tips more with business or financial news than with a wide range of subjects.) She also remarked that Omni's cover did not attract her interest because it referred to science and science fiction, subjects which Gail, unlike Sheila, does not find interesting as leisure time reading. w... .3. 93m: E 8:382 .68.: .6 832.8 82885 O a; 23m: E 8:352 so: .68.: ”3835 a 1223 .cmwwo ouwo>oc mFaUFoorcoo omocu par) uzo use; 0» couco cw mocpnamue ca'p.5ouc: mcvnoom » l l O 0 0 r _ r 5.5 x x O O O K a x 2532. r l r mug nunno l l mu“ _:r u x AHHHHHHHV x x K =_H_.x ou=._.oa.a .=_a.o. _._..s.. “gauges ._..l°.=o .=_u.~_ _~_a.ou =— Hm._0u=_ as .=_N.o.. .gs ..u.aa___..a .=_N.m.. no,ou =0 ..,oa as as co_u.a.u_L¢‘ co os=.u.o.‘ .u._ no L¢..0s=~ as =°_a.~=a¢¢ as .u.d =s_. »~_a.___..a .s___n~__..‘ scoucoa .a. oe=_ us.a._ _.=s_> Areas” will use. mmzHN<¢<= azieomemm : as: 124 Gail did not immediately select a magazine. Instead, she separated the magazines into two piles; those she was definitely not interested in such as Oppi, and those which she might read such as Redbook). As she separated the magazines, Gail mentioned (perhaps in reaction to various blurbs and photographs on the covers of some of the magazines) that she often reads about actors and actresses because she is interested in their lifestyles. Eventually, however, Gail would choose Reader's 'Digest rather than one of the magazines, Hispanic or Redbook, which featured actors on their covers. Later, Gail would make another selection, Peoge Weekly, which would produce the oral and written protocols analyzed in this chapter. During Rosemarie's selection process, her attention, as she reported in the written protocol completed after the TOL session, was taken by the "colorful" cover of the magazine. During the final interview; Rosemarie also mentioned that the stylized figure of a human head on the cover also attracted her attention because she is very interested in how the brain works. Furthermore, Rosemarie revealed that blurbs on the cover, such as "The Ghost of South Carolina" aroused her interest. Sheila, although very distressed because of a number of problems she had encountered during the morning of the day the TOL session was scheduled, wanted to meet her 125 obligation to participate in the study. Although I would have preferred to reschedule the session, I knew that it would be quite difficult for Sheila to do so since she would be leaving for California very soon. Therefore, I proceeded with the session. Because she was so tense, Sheila found it very difficult, even with my prompting, to verbalize much during the TOL session. Her written protocol and the final interview the following day, however, produced a great deal of information about Sheila's experience of reading the article about Mel Gibson. These sources also produced a small amount of information about Sheila's selection of the then current issue (August 1990) of Redbook. Sheila initially chose the copy of Psychology Today which was available because she had previously noticed during the TMH session a blurb on the cover which indicated that it contained an article about peace. She decided not to read the article, however, when she discovered it was primarily about the Soviet Union and Gorbachev rather than having a broader scope. After deciding not to continue with the Psychology Today article, Sheila turned her attention to Omni magazine to which she subscribes. Sheila's familiarity with this periodical extends to her conscious awareness of the typical arrangement of the major article titles on the 126 cover, plus the existence of briefer articles inside the magazine. As she paged through the magazine, Sheila was holding her options open. Thus, Sheila revealed during the inter- view that she was quite willing to put aside the magazine if she was unable to find an article which interested her. In fact, she was not able to find an article ‘which interested her so Sheila put aside this magazine as well. Sheila is quite aware of the need for motivation to read. The cover has to present an article which says: "Read me." None of the blurbs or titles was doing that during the selection process at the TOL session. Sheila reiterated that her stress level was too high for her to relax enough to become interested in much of anything. In saying this, I think that Sheila recognized that, while titles or blurbs might be verbally clever or information- ally intriguing, her own emotional state influences what she perceives as attractive or interesting. Sheila continued to sample a number of magazines by perusing their covers and paging through the magazines themselves until she noticed the small photograph of Mel Gibson cut the cover of Redbook. Articles about celebrities are not a usual choice for Sheila, however, unless the piece is about someone she "really likes," and she likes Mel Gibson a great deal! In this case, Sheila was also trying to be cooperative and make a selection, 127 even though, as Sheila had already reported, she was not really "in the mood" to read. Overall, then, each of the readers involved in the study eventually selected a magazine in partial compliance with his or her usual practice and in some ways differently than usual. In each instance, whether the selection was expeditious or time consuming, the reader attempted to find a periodical which would provide personally satisfying and interesting information. For each of the informants except Gail, selection. of the magazine was concurrent with selection of an article which the reader expected to be worth reading. Thus, three out of four of these readers essentially chose the magazine in light of their interest in a specific article. Selecting Magazine Articles in General (Figure 4.5) Overall, the four key informants share more similarities than differences in their manner of selecting magazine articles to read during their leisure time. During the Tell Me How sessions and in their written protocols at the initial interviews, Martin, Gail, Rosemarie and Sheila all emphasized that the following factors typically influence their choice of which articles to read: (1) interest in the subject matter, (2) the photographs and illustrations, (3) their expectation that the information will be personally useful, (4) familiarity with the magazine itself. (See Figure 4.5.) 128 0:0.u Inca-sppn a sonata x ac—Ndoal so co.uau:aoz x x x x x x x sous-8 Hosanna on.» c. «IQLOOCH o—AIP.I>¢ savanna- 60.8 buusdunvllu Ic—Nnaux so £0.00.» o—cvuono cv roves—ocH 06cm pas-I: so co.uluuonxu 3:359 so 2.1» c. or: £333 3!! are; uIILO>coo .0 553.035 CPO—Uhfl #0 Opaob 05.580 :33 IOPO.UL¢ :. UIOLOOCH Opouuht $0.39.... Arenas.» are mmaoaee< mzHNacaz azleomamm :0 0—0—05: to unseen so co—uuuuonxu x Orv-£0 omen-Ilsa pvle x Crab-8 00608: 0.50flllc lpulla x o.u¢n¢oo¢ x pviu :puhlx x Lasso :5 000‘s 50 COmuILUIDPPu E as: 129 As the table shows, other factors were mentioned by two or three of the informants. Martin, Gail and Rosemarie all indicated that information about an article's content plus the title of an article and the available time all typically affect their selection of articles to read. In addition, Martin and Sheila share an awareness of their "mood" as a factor in their choice of articles. Both Martin and Rosemarie reported that their anticipation of future conversations (the interactive pur- pose for reading) about the subject matter also influences their selection of articles. Only Martin reported that his interest in reading an article may be engendered by the knowledge that others in his family have already read the article. Thus, when he was arriving home from work early in the morning and reading for diversion and relaxation before going to bed, Martin often selected articles to read because he noticed that the magazine was open, often with the pages of a certain article folded or a corner turned down. Martin would then read some or all of such articles. (Perhaps this activity is another indication of Martin's need to know as much or more than other people in order that he maintain his reputation for extensive knowledge within the family and with friends as well.) Note, too, that earlier in his life family members passed on or encouraged Martin to read certain articles. 130 As Martin described it, during the summer before he entered high school, one or another of his older brothers and sisters would bring him a magazine article he or she had already read and say, "Check this out, Marty." Martin remembered: "And I'd check it out, read it." Thus, Martin became used to reading a wide variety of articles on the recommendation of others. None of the other informants reported this particular factor as influential in her case. Finally, Martin was the only informant who reported that the reputation of a particular magazine helped him select an article. (See Figure 4.5.) Gail went on to say that she also selects articles on the basis of her expectation that they will affect her "mood" or emotional status. Thus, Gail avoids reading "depressing" books such as The Valley of the Dolls or certain magazine articles because they affect her mood. Similarly, Gail finds that her emotional state can be positively affected by reading a "good mellow story." "Mood" is also a consideration for Sheila in her selection of magazine articles during her leisure time reading. As has been pointed out, even during her recreational reading Sheila pursues her serious goals. She reads to understand the spiritual, psychological, and environmental aspects of existence. Sheila does not perceive any oddity in pursuing such questions during her leisure time. However, Sheila does have a lighter side to 131 her personality. At times, she feels the need to read for diversion, for entertainment. When this mood strikes, Sheila chooses magazines such as Mademoiselle and Cosmopolitan and reads the magazine from cover to cover in one lengthy session. Even though Sheila extracts useful information about grooming, health, and relations from many of the articles she reads in these magazines, she does not consider such information to be as important as the information she acquires when she reads about the environment, the existence of God, unexplained phenomena, and so on. But she chooses the less important magazines and their articles when her mood or emotional state motivates her to do so. Sheila also is quite aware of her expectations regarding useful information in the articles she selects. In fact, if an article does not fulfill her expectations, she will abandon it and select another. During the final interview, Sheila also reported that unfamiliar vocabulary and content lead her to abandon articles after a certain point. She explained her eXperience this way: If I start reading something that I think is interesting or that I would like to learn a little bit about, some of the articles are written assuming that on know what they are talking about. Where {sic] they use high tec words or certain instances that have happened, maybe in the past, which they just assume if you know the magazine or if you are reading about it that you know already what has been going on, and sometimes I don' t. And so I' ll be reading it and they'll say different things and I'll say, 'Well, I don't know about that. And so 132 the rest of the article will focus on (something) coming out of that. . . And because I don't know what happened to begin with, I'm not going to understand what the rest of the article is going to be about, so I kind of like think, 'Well, I don't know that, so I might as well stop reading.‘ As mentioned previously, when asked by the alien during the TMH session to define magazines, Sheila responded by stating that magazines are "forms of information" which people read in their spare time for pleasure. She went on to make a distinction among some magazines as being more informational or worthwhile and others being entertaining, i.e., information is not of much importance, e.g., celebrity stories in People. Questions of worth aside, Sheila stated that each type can be pleasurable for a reader. Further, Sheila is obviously a knowledgeable and experienced reader because she is very aware of the features of magazines, such as titles, covers, size, etc., and how these features affect the choices readers make. As she said: The cover tells you the different kinds of magazines. For instance, this is Health (Sheila held up the magazine). This would he ahout body health and this (referring to National Geographic) would be about animals. This (hone magazine) is about money. The different tit es will tell you about different contents of the magazines. Sports (she pointed to Sports Illustrated). And the size really doesn t matter. Thickness will tell you that there is more information inside, but the size doesn't really make a difference as much as the cover with the different titles. . . And then we have the (titles of) the articles on the front. 133 to see if you would like to read this magazine (article). Something that would interest you. If you are interested in Princess Di, then you would like to read that magazine (she pointed to the July 30 issue of Peo le which featured a photograph of Princess Diana on the cover). As Sheila proceeded to eXplain the mysteries of magazine reading to the alien, she revealed that her usual practice when reading for pleasure is to survey the entire magazine before selecting an article. As she continues to survey the text, Sheila uses her finger to indicate articles she might read. (During the final interview she said this behavior had become an unconscious habit.) As her description of her reading experience with the science fiction story "Chronopolis" during the TMH session demonstrated, Sheila is a very visually oriented person. During the TMH session she provided more evidence of her strong visual orientation when she described her usual procedure for previewing Qppi magazine and she stated: "I always look through the whole magazine. (I) look at the pictures, because Opp; has a lot of pictures in there. And I've painted a couple of them." ' Thus, Sheila, perhaps more than any of the other informants, relies upon the visual aspects of a magazine's cover to guide both her selection of the magazine (see Figure 4.3) and her choice of individual articles. As a group and as individuals, these readers obviously employ a number of methods in their quest to 134 select personally relevant articles, whether for surveillance, diversionary or interactive motives. Selecting Magazine Articles for this Study (Figure 4.6) Each of the four participants in the study was very informative concerning the typical or usual manner in which he or she selects a magazine article to read during his or her leisure time. (See Figure 4.5.) During the Think Out Loud session, however, each of the readers omitted some of the selection activities he or she had identified as typical or usual. In addition, each of the four readers used at least one if 'not several other activities when selecting the article to be read. (See Figure 4.6.) That this occurred should not be surprising since, as Baker and Brown point out, no one of us possesses perfect awareness (metacognition) of our own reading process. Furthermore, as Rosenblatt has pointed out in all of her publications, each reading event is a unique experience in which any number of factors such as the reader's mood and/or purpose for reading may influence the selection process while each text makes its own unique demands on a reader. Finally, although each participant knew that the reading event would not be followed with some sort of comprehension test or assessment, the situation was still an artificial one because the selection and reading were done as part of a research project rather than naturally 135 occurring as part of the person's daily life. Consequently, each of the key informants might have experienced stress or anxiety which could have affected his or her typical selection and reading processes. Having said all of the above, I still believe that each of the students participated in good faith, striving to select and read as they normally do during their free time, and with the understanding that any behavior or phrasing on his or her part was acceptable. In addition, at one time or another, Martin, Gail, Rosemarie, and Sheila each referred to the difference between reading as a leisure activity for one's own purposes and reading to study within an academic context. For instance, during the Tell Me How session, Gail described some of the differences between her leisure time reading and her reading to study. Gail mentioned that during her leisure time reading she is often "excited" and that she "flips" to articles she "can't wait" to read. This excited state of mind is not necessarily reflected in the very relaxed posture Gail adopts when reading during her free time. She reads while reclining in a lounge chair--whether at her own home or her sister's home--with the television playing and her children around her. If she is distracted while reading during her leisure time, she finds it very easy to "get right back into it (the article) again and not let other activity affect me." l;36 D Ohvsac as was: noqomah< uo amorous— B ocmnawdx no nowaoom omumoonm :u comm=_o=~ 0 sec: :0 odouac< no uoouum uo scoot: :omusaooaxm m.uou¢om x mucoacoo cc «Haas o~o_sr< cw ouc— uo ouuwh O O T 0 o—oaau< cu m:o.a -uraua-_ a noses; B o—omau< uo remand roses: anagram cm unsecur— O co>oo :0 3:09:00 s=o3< cc:— Ezsm £5 .8: 3.53% ”.522: czfiomemm O O 0 ones o_nc_la>< O O uo>oo :o ansm no coasaraaa___ u~mosm owns-onom “use aloha: ._lo;m Omb‘lflacfl also cases: a... as; 1137 _ar.ussa an osqn«o.au¢a as can: 8383» E B «arouse:— :uouuauh: senor auaauoo '53:.» cums: n.¢ ocnuum cu nouuaucoru couodu .aa cownuano coconut:— nuuv .m.v Obs—Nah Em Uflwuquflvfia £0..— hOuOdu QOulOm—X—u E .m.v uneven cm vovzuoca ao: ucoaoom u .cofiuooaon no: em couosu a on can» voaufiucovu oqmogm h~=o can ocoauoofion -a cu couoou c adnunocm a. 0 cannons: uo aoauuaaeou B afloa00~om u-scauuuo cucuuh< wamvmmh no uuusouuuqn «amorous— uo unsuau< Lou mammoo~ orgasms- annoys» momma «aaoanoo unuuauuuoacu no nouusaoonxu O 0 onuwsuax new: hauudwumlam .33an co sucrose as“: no.» -ao.caaaou~ oaaoaaoo nu amorous— uo Joan uo monsoon nauomau< 0.0» ac nomaOanu O on:— uauou= no Bonuseooaum _ x — camera odes-ooou dado sauna: «room 0» unacnauon uoau< vonoaaua< coworo unawar— quasar AHHHHV omen-omen ammo AHHHHV caved: savanna snore anon» teacupnoo no acaannmo~an< 138 When reading to study, however, if Gail is distracted she finds it difficult to immediately begin reading again. She reported using a variety of techniques such as re- reading subtitles and skimming to "pick up where I left off. And then like refresh my memory." Thus, for Gail, some of the differences between the two types of reading involve her sense of personal involvement; her anticipation concerning the article; her overall level of comprehension; her ability to focus her attention in the midst of distractions; and the ease with which she can resume reading after an interruption. (As will be evident during subsequent discussion, when reading either to study or as a leisure time activity, each of the informants who has completed one or both of the effective reading courses uses active and critical reading techniques which were taught in these. courses. (See Figure 3.2.) As each of the four readers selected an article to read during the TOL session, some but not all of his or her typical methods of selection (Figure 4.5) were used. For example, Martin, Rosemarie and Sheila each reported attending to information about the subject matter of various articles which was provided on magazine covers. All four of the participants reported that his or her interest in the subject matter of an article motivated the selection. And all of the readers except Sheila reported 139 they had made their selection partially based on the expectation that the information contained in the article would be personally useful. Thus, Martin read in order to learn more about first aid; Gail selected an article which she hoped would answer questions she had about a disease which afflicts a close friend of hers; and Rosemarie, after being unable to locate an article about ghosts, eventually chose an article which she hoped would provide more information about. a 'possible treatment for brain disorders with which her mother and a friend suffer. Only Sheila did not report that her selection was based upon a sense of the eventual usefulness of the information. Sheila selected an article which profiles actor Mel Gibson. While the article is definitely interesting to Sheila, she was not expecting it to be useful. Stated another way, Sheila read for diversion while the other participants selected their articles for reasons of surveillance and interaction. (See Figure 4.2.) Only Sheila reported choosing the article because of a small (2"X1.5") photograph on the cover of the magazine. Gail did not identify this sort of visual detail as being important in'her selection of particular articles; with some magazines she prefers to page through until a combination of illustrations and content help her to select an article. With other magazines, such as People Weekly, Gail prefers to read the table of contents--which 140 she did not do when she selected this magazine during the TOL session. Gail also looks at the various photographs included in that table. Gail does not, however, usually turn to a specific article unless she is very interested in the subject such as an article about women who have AIDS which she had read a few days before the TMH session. At other times, Gail will read the magazine from "cover to cover" once she has familiarized herself with its content. A more detailed description of this process will reveal that Gail's selection was an active and tentative process rather than a mechanistic application of some of the techniques taught in the developmental reading course she had completed. During the TOL session as Gail, who is Caucasian, looked over the table of contents in the July 16 issue of People, she noticed a photograph from the video taped evidence of Mayor Barry using cocaine in a Washington hotel room. (Note: Gail reported that she was not certain what the photo was showing.) Gail's first re- action was that taking such a photo of the mayor was "kind of nasty" because the investigators had violated Barry's privacy. Gail next reported that she was reading the subtitle which focuses on the loyalty of the mayor's wife. When Gail noticed this, she turned to the article itself and then reported that in the accompanying photo of Mrs. Barry 141 kissing her husband, Mrs. Barry looked "very bitter." This led Gail to reflect on the issue of loyalty to one's spouse when he/she has done something terribly 'wrong. Gail could not accept the idea that such loyalty is called for in all circumstances. (Note: While Gail is not in favor of the sort of investigation conducted against the mayor, she is also not comfortable with the public displays of affection and loyalty by Mrs. Barry, Tammy Baker, and others. I wondered, but did not ask, if Gail's own experience leading up to her recent divorce may have influenced her reaction.) Although the article about the Barrys turned out to be unattractive to Gail, she volunteered the information that if she were reading for leisure at her sister's house, she would probably read the entire magazine, including this article, from front to back after she had perused the table of contents. On this day, however, Gail continued to search for one article which would interest her while also being useful for the research project. (Note that this statement provides some evidence that Gail's selection process was affected. by the ‘research project. This effect, however, did not produce totally unique activities during Gail's selection and reading of the magazine article.) As Gail continued her search, she mentioned her interest in the "fast lane" lifestyle of celebrities and 142 her desire to stop smoking--an article with photos of Imelda Marcos' birthday party put on by her supporters and a colorful advertisement about a method to quit smoking each drew her attention and elicited these comments. Returning to the table of contents, Gail noticed the article about Lyme Disease. As she turned to the article itself, Gail mentioned that a friend has had the disease for approximately eight years. (Gail's personal stake in the subject would become more apparent as she spoke during her reading of the article, as she wrote after the TOL session and in our interview session.) This, then, was the article Gail selected based on her interest in the subject and her expectation that the article would provide useful information. Another aspect of Gail's selection of magazine articles for leisure time reading is her identification with stories about people struggling to make their lives better (see Figure 4.5). This pattern of identification with such stories operated as a subconscious influence as Gail selected an article during the TOL session. Consequently, when she consciously chose an article about Lyme Disease, a deadly disease which afflicts a close friend of hers, Sheila was obviously identifying with-~and ultimately intensely involved in the reading of--an article about a life or death struggle which Gail expects to witness first hand. 143 Each of the participants also selected the article he or she would read for the TOL session by employing some strategies not mentioned as typical during the TMH session. Thus, Martin refrained from committing to read the article "Amazing One-Minute Home Remedies Doctors Recommend" until he had checked its length. Rosemarie used Omni's table of contents in a futile attempt to locate an article about the "Ghosts of South Carolina." When this attempt failed, Rosemarie perused the table of contents and found the article about the EMG test entitled "Electric Brain Waves: Acid Test." Therefore, her inability to locate her first choice led Rosemarie to skim the contents page until she noticed the title. While reading the synopsis included in the table of contents, several key terms (epileptic and brain disorders) "triggered" her interest in the EMG article. Finally, the article's inclusion in Omni's section on the body led Rosemarie to select it. While Sheila used at least three of the selection strategies she usually employs, she did not indicate having any reaction to the photograph of Mel Gibson on the first page of the article or to her mood at the time of the TOL session-~two factors which she had reported as usually influential in her choice of magazine articles. (I do believe, however, that Shiela's desire for diversion and her references to the inside photo while reading may 144 indicate that these operated at least as subconscious influences in her selection process.) Since Sheila did not select the article about Mel Gibson "My Six Kids Come First" with any expectation of learning useful information, it is not surprising that she did state that she expected the article to be entertaining. In addition, Sheila, who is very conscientious, pushed herself to follow through on her commitment to participate in the study, even though she had undergone a very stressful morning already. Thus, she kept searching for an article which would appeal to her enough that she could read it and provide me with some information about her selection and reading of a specific article. Sheila had initially chosen the copy of Psychology Tpgpy' which was available because she had previously noticed during the TMH session that it contains an article about peace. So, based on her expectation of acquiring useful information, Sheila selected and began to read the article. She abandoned the article, however, when she discovered that it is primarily about the Soviet Union and Gorbachev rather than "peace as a whole. Peace with people, peace with nature. Like more like that instead of just peace with Russia." Sheila reported that her expectations about the article did not become consciously known (more definite or 145 exact) to her until she actually began to read the article. Then, as the initial information in the article became clear to her, she realized that she had selected the article with subconscious but very definite expectations. After deciding not to continue with the Psychology Today article, Sheila turned her attention to Omni, a magazine to which she subscribes. Sheila's familiarity with this periodical extends to her conscious awareness of the typical arrangement of the major article titles on the cover plus the existence of briefer articles inside the magazine. As she paged through the magazine, Sheila was holding her options open. Thus, Sheila revealed during the final interview that she was quite willing to put aside the magazine if she was unable to find. an .article ‘which interested her. Sheila also reported that articles in Omni always "lose" her. She explained that unfamiliar vocabulary and content led to her abandoning articles after a certain point. She explained her experience this way: _ If I start reading something that I think is interesting or that I would like to learn a little bit about, some of the articles are written assuming that on know what they are talking about. Where sic] they use high tec words or certain instances that have happened, maybe in the past, which they just assume if you know the magazine or if you are reading about it that you know already what has been going on, and sometimes I don't. And so I'll be reading 146 it and they'll say different things and I'll say, 'Well, I don't know about that. And so the rest of the article will focus on (something) coming out of that. . . And because I don t know what happened to begin with, I'm not going to understand what the rest of the article is going to be about, so I kind of like think Well, I don't know that, so I might as well stop reading.’ Sheila is quite aware of the need for motivation to read. The cover has to present an article which says: "Read me." None of the blurbs or titles was doing that during the selection process at the TOL session. Sheila reiterated that her stress level was too high for her to relax enough to become interested in much of anything. In saying this, I think that Sheila recognized that while titles or blurbs might be verbally clever or informationally intriguing, her own emotional state influences what she perceives as attractive or interesting. After putting aside Omni, Sheila sampled a number of magazines by paging through until something "caught her eye" such as the jokes and humorous anecdotes in Reader's Digest. Sheila continued this process for approximately five minutes until she noticed the article about Mel Gibson whose title "My Six Kids Come First" did not seem to register as much of a factor in the selection. That is to say, Sheila, who usually does not read about celebrities even for diversionary reading, selected this article because she noticed the photograph of an actor she 147 "likes" very much on the cover of Redbook. Later, in fact, Sheila would abandon the article when it continued to focus on Gibson's relationship with his family, especially his wife. Sheila abandoned her initial selection, browsed through other magazines, and sampled various articles until a small photograph on the cover of one of the periodicals attracted her attention. Sheila's selection was thus based upon her own interests, familiarity with various magazines and, most importantly, with her expectation that reading the article would be an enjoyable experience. Overall, then, each of the informants set out to please him or herself by selecting an article which would be personally interesting and/or entertaining. ReadipgvStrategies in General (Figure 4.7) During the initial interviews, the Tell Me How sessions, the final interviews, and at times even during the Think Out Loud sessions, Martin, Gail, Rosemarie and Sheila provided information about the strategies they typically employ when reading, magazine articles. during their leisure time. (See Figure 4.7.) In their oral and written statements, each of these key informants reported using the following four strategies: (1) previewing the article to be read; (2) recognizing the efferent material as personally relevant; 148 (3) using illustrations, photographs, diagrams, and so on which are included with an article to help clarify the meaning; and (4) using italicized print, capital letters, highlighted segments, and so on to aid comprehension. Three of the participants also identified five strategies they each employ when reading articles: (1) waiting'until they have more time to finish reading an article; (2) using "study" techniques when reading during leisure time; (3) using context or a dictionary to ' ascertain the meaning of unfamiliar words; (4) reading undisturbed by noise in the background; and (5) abandoning the article when the reader's own goals are met or if the material or vocabulary is too "technical." Seven different strategies were also identified by two of the participants. These strategies are the following: (1) varying reading patterns (beginning to end, middle to beginning, etc.); (2) mentally summarizing content as one reads; (3) visualizing narrative elements; (4) varying one's reading pace; (5) stopping reading to reflect on personal usefulness of the article's information; (6) paging through the magazine reading articles of interest; and, lastly, (7) reading slowly. Of the remaining six strategies, each of the four informants reported using at least one of the strategies. uaop< >ca—anaoo> gov—pleura cocoa 1149 o>¢un=ca—o co: a. mayo: vcaocuxoam nuxoh 3.35.3.3»:— rues acolo>po>cu pccoacoc aucoaox 382 a. 3:6 x ap—ogm x o.culunoz x x p—oo x x x repent A.uuo .ucarco» o» apnoea "ace macs-opm ucoacoo ou usage—uonv o>—uoccoz coupes-lam arenas; ucpuooc o—.rx us~.—o=m—> xppuuco: n:.roo¢ novco> . >h axo.> .momcaoo uc_uooc o>vuuouuo ocoe co oco cauopoeoo o>uz mucouaum amaze _ x opvorm x x x .ovcu-oooc x x x .—.¢a x . x x x .c—ucax argon o—aop.o>< capp—nnmca a. on.» sauce; mo ucvcoo: cor: ao—o.uc< =6 rowan spo>p unpopuc< ac—aucooa< noun—aloe nave—om «one: «so.>occ .l.1.=.a =1. mmaameeeem aziaame 2 as: amoroucu mo nope—uc< mc—uuoa ocynamax rmsocg» momma poovcroo» co» cm to as: oc< upcoa czo cog: opo'ur< acoucaa< ope—uc< room o» coo: unoruvx mouozc moocowcooxm x x x x x x co—uoELomcu uo mmoc—aeom: pocomcoa co maoopuoz a uco.u.uu=m ucoacoo mcvucoumcoucz >m.co—o cor: o» are.» mc.uoo¢ mooum serous—pm mom: mcvrmaz uaoru.3 >pro—w one: o» aroused .mc_uuoc xcacormco>eu row row: we crouuma were some uc_uoo¢ mo—cu> x co'mcorocoeoo o.< o» .oao macoemom rouse—prev: .mpou—ooo .uc.cc uo~voepuu~ mom: «co—uoem muooc~< xpmcocum newton: mucous: op'ozm ovcoeomox p—uo C'HLOX ~ opvmzm owcosomom ..oo CvHLflI A.pcoov ~.v mczmwu 151 These approaches include reading only segments of long articles; needing quiet in order to concentrate; reading while viewing television; reading unfamiliar vocabulary aloud; responding emotionally to the article; and looking only at the photographs which accompany an article rather than reading the article. Considering the last category of strategies first, Sheila reported that she only peruses the photographs in Architectural Digest and Smithsonian magazines when she is in her doctor's waiting room. As she explained: I don't read anything in those magazines. I just look through them because I like the designs. . . I just think of my room. I like to do interior designing, that's another one of my interests. . . I think I'd love to have a room like that (depicted in one of the magazines). Sheila, however, will not read in the doctor's waiting room because when she has done so she has been interrupted and unable to complete the articles she has chosen. Gail reported that reading magazine articles often elicits "strong" (intense) emotional reactions. As reported earlier in this chapter, Gail is aware that reading affects her moods, her emotional state. Thus, she is very susceptible to the influence of the material she reads. She prefers to read "uplifting" rather than depressing books and magazines because "my life is very hard. I don't need to dwell on the negative." (Note: This is not to say that Gail avoids reading about problems and difficulties-~note her choice of the article about 152 Lyme Disease during the TOL session--but she possesses a sense that some reading material emphasizes the negative without offering much information which she can use to help herself deal with the problem. Her choice of the article "Don't Fear Failure" in the June 1990 issue of Reader's Digest during our initial interview/protocol session is another illustration of Gail's preference for information with a positive slant.) Confirming Kintsch's contention that schemata alone cannot produce comprehension, Gail reported that she reads unfamiliar vocabulary aloud. In fact, this auditory element has been important to Gail for a long time. During the TMH session, she described the process by which she taught herself to read with comprehension. During that process, Gail decided to use the same technique herself which she had used with her son to help him improve his reading: to read aloud so that she would auditorily recognize the words on the page. She had found with her son that this technique helped him to improve his comprehension of the material he read. (It seems that Gail's decoding skills were so meager at this point that she could not recognize many words if she read silently.) I don't (read aloud) now because I read faster, and you can catch more by reading to yourself. But to hear myself (i.e., to recognize and com- prehend ‘words which are ‘unfamiliar’ in print, though not necessarily orally) I need to hear myself say the word. 153 Gail continues to use her ear to help her eye when she encounters unfamiliar vocabulary in her reading. She divides the word into syllables and pronounces it aloud in hopes that she will remember having heard the word before and, thus, that she will have enough of a sense of its meaning that she will be able to comprehend what she is reading. Rosemarie reported that she also is very attuned to the diction of the material she reads. She also invests time and effort to learn the meanings of unfamiliar words and developing correct pronunciation of these words. But her motives are a bit different than Gail's in the sense that Rosemarie is not pronouncing in order to have her oral memory assist her in the reading, but rather that she wants to be able to recognize the word if she hears it spoken in the future. Thus, the nature of Rosemarie's reported use of this technique is not for immediate comprehension but, rather, eventual use in another content. ‘Gail, on the other hand, reported an immediate use for the information. Just as Gail's approach to dealing with unfamiliar written language is different from the approaches reported by the other participants, Rosemarie's tolerance for noise while doing leisure time reading is different from the other three informants. Rosemarie said that "the quieter it is, the easier (it is) to read." She realizes that her 154 tolerance for noise while she is reading has decreased as she has gotten older. Rosemarie stated that she "always" read and did homework with the radio playing when she was a high school student. Now, however, she finds that she cannot concentrate-~even when reading during her leisure time--when the television or radio is on. (Perhaps some of Rosemarie's difficulty in concentrating in these circumstances has to do with the fact that her leisure time reading is often "sandwiched" in amidst work, school, parenting and household tasks.) Each of the other readers reported that background noise does not disturb them when they are reading. Gail matter-of-factly' described her leisure time reading, as taking place while her children play around her and the television is (nu. Sheila reported a particular incident in which she read several science fiction stories while traveling in a car to Cedar Point with two friends who slept and talked as well as teased her while she read. (Sheila believes that her friends tease her about her extensive reading because they do not view reading as "fun" or a relaxing and pleasurable activity.) Sheila merely "tuned them out" and read the stories from an anthology of "classic" science fiction works which she had ordered from a science fiction/fantasy book club. Martin is not disturbed by the television or radio. In fact, Martin prefers to read with some background 155 noise (radio, television, a recording). He attributes this preference to his having grown up in a: large, noisy family; Martin, however, needs quiet in order to do his study reading. Noise then is a distraction. (Note: "Quiet" may mean that his stereo is barely audible; the volume is much lower than it would be if he were relaxing and reading.) Martin's comprehension may be hampered when he is studying if a television is turned on, but when he is reading for pleasure he often glances at the screen, operates a tape player, etc. Thus, it seems that the necessity to remember and use the information from textbooks and other study material places a pressure on Martin which he ordinarily does not feel while reading for pleasure. Like other informants, Martin views study reading, as difficult. Comprehension and retention take effort. He does, however, recognize that he can under- stand and remember a great deal without such effort when he is reading for pleasure. The length of an article may also affect Martin's transaction with a text. When faced with a "long" article, one over two pages in length, Martin skims and selectively reads segments which interest him. This selection is based on his interests and any headings or subtitles. Martin, as do Gail and Rosemarie, may finish reading these longer articles when he has more time or the 156 inclination to do so. Martin also reports mentally summarizing these segments as he reads because his goal is always to get the essence of the article. Along the same lines, Martin abandons articles he has begun to read if they do not "make any sense at all." For Martin, this lack of compre- hension is the same as saying "It (the article) wouldn't interest" him at all. This lack of any connection to his life results in abandoning the article before it is completely read or "forgetting" it as soon as it has been read. Martin does not fret about this. He merely looks for something else to read in the same or a different magazine, and he is quite eclectic, choosing letters to the editor, small background articles, and so on. Martin does admit, however, that if he is "in a really bad mood" (annoyed, frustrated, or depressed) he may find it very difficult to select an article to read. This does not seem to be a very common occurrence. Stylistically and in terms of format, Martin prefers brevity. Martin feels "insulted" if an author insists on explaining information which he already knows. In addition, when he is reading totally for pleasure without any conscious motive to remember the content, Martin will vary his reading pattern quite a bit, i.e., he may begin somewhere in the middle of the text and move forwards or 157 backwards from there. As Figure 4.7 indicates, except for his awareness that he skims and selectively reads segments of lengthy articles, Martin shares all of the above mentioned strategies and preferences with one or more of the other participants. For instance, Rosemarie also reported that she consciously summarizes as she reads. In addition, each of the other readers also reported a strong personal involvement with the articles which they read for purposes 'of gathering information (efferent (n: surveillance reading). Furthermore, all four of the participants reported that they use special textual features such as italicized print, capital letters, highlighted segments, and so on to aid their comprehension. This attention to special textual features may be "natural," i.e., human perception is drawn to distinctive features in a subject (Smith). Or it may be a "learned" response as are other strategies often taught in developmental reading courses. Three of the four readers had, in fact, completed one or more developmental reading courses (English 108 and 109: Effective Reading I and II) at Delta prior to part- icipating in this research project. Gail had been counseled into the courses based upon her scaled scores on the ASSET reading test, while Martin had been advised to take Effective Reading II because his high school English 158 grades were so mixed (C's and below with a few B's). Rosemarie, as has been mentioned previously, enrolled in 109 because she needed more credit hours to qualify for financial aid. Only Sheila had not taken either of these developmental courses. Of the 156 students who completed the initial questionnaire, 52 had reported a conscious awareness of their own reading process (metacognition). Twenty-seven of those students had taken one or more of the developmental reading courses. Martin, Gail and Rosemarie were 3 of those students. When these three informants described their typical leisure time reading processes, Gail and Rosemarie reported using strategies they had learned in the reading courses. Martin reported using the same strategies (previewing, skimming, turning titles into questions, summarizing, attending to special textual features, ascertaining the meaning of unfamiliar words, and so on) during their leisure time reading” .As Gail reported in her initial written protocol concerning her reading of a Reader's Digest article, she employed a number of strategies which she had learned in the Effective Reading I course which she had just completed. Gail read the bold print in order to develop a sense of the article's scope; she looked over the numbered suggestions in the article to familiarize herself with the article's basic ideas; she 159 ascertained where the article had originally appeared prior to 'being excerpted in the Digest; she read the italicized sentences in order to understand and prepare for the article's presentation of information; and, finally, she read the article from beginning to end while mentally summarizing the content as she read. In all three cases, perhaps the students use of these active reading ‘strategies taught in the developmental courses, often as study or work related reading strategies as opposed to leisure time reading activities, will diminish over time. That is, as time passes the individual will employ fewer of the strategies learned in the courses. This is, of course, a subject for a different research study, but at the time of this study each of these students reported heavy use of the active reading techniques in both their study and their leisure reading. Visualization is another strategy employed by both Gail and Sheila, especially with narrative segments of articles. Gail's description of her 'visualization is interesting because it reveals that she "evokes" the text as Rosenblatt refers to the reader's transaction or experience with a text. Thus, during the Tell Me How session when I asked Gail what "reading" means to her, she responded by saying: A lot of times my reading is visualizing the way it is, what they are talking about. I try to put my feelings into it, if it is something I want to read. My feelings go into it. I try to 160 learn. I try to pick up things that are in there and any article I try to learn something by it, or a story. Thus, Gail's reading experience could be described as a reading event, to borrow a term once again from Louise Rosenblatt, in which Gail transacts with the text in a highly active manner to produce a visual representation of the author's content. In addition, she reports a concurrent search for information. Gail seems to be reading both "aesthically" and "efferently," to again borrow from Rosenblatt, when she transacts with magazine articles. Gail described her search for information as a "motivation" to read rather than an always conscious awareness when reading. She also reports having a variety of feelings when reading. For example, in the week prior to the TMH session when she had read the People magazine article about women who have contracted AIDS, she was emotionally and imaginatively involved because of her gender, i.e., she wondered how she would feel if she had AIDS or how she would "handle the situation" (react emotionally) if her sister or daughter contracted the disease. IIt seems that while Gail reads to be informed she also imaginatively transacts with the material. In addition, Gail realizes that she has difficulty distinguishing between "fiction and fantasy or fiction and reality,‘ which she prefers. (Note: Given Gail's stated 161 preference for nonfiction and her conscious use of the active/study strategies she was taught in the develop- mental reading course, perhaps it is even more interesting that her typical reading process tends to be transactional in nature.) When I asked Gail if she "makes" herself visualize, she stated that she does not "make it happen." Her elaboration (n1 this point, however, seems to suggest the opposite: . .when I am reading a story (article) I can see myself in that situation. Maybe I try to put myself there, you know. II don't just sit and read the article all the way through. I might stop and try to visualize, you know, try to see in my own mind how I am taking in this story. What I am thinking about it and visualize what it would (be like), then I put myself there. Gail went on to describe her experience of visualiza- tion by talking about her experience while reading an article in Esquire the previous day. The article told about a dog which had jumped off of a cruise ship and swam near the ship for eight hours until he was rescued. Gail said that as she read the article: . .I thought of myself. I could see the cruise ship. . . the peOple on the cruise ship wasn't [sic] much involved. . . And I was visualizing sitting back in the chair. . . and throwing my (fishing) pole out. . . (While) the poor dog is paddling away. It seems that Gail placed herself in the scene as she read the article. Gail, then, has "evoked" or imaginatively experienced the scene from the author's text. 162 This activity is at the heart of the aesthetic transaction Rosenblatt has described in The Reader, The Text, The Poem and which she has more recently described as part of all reading events, whether primarily aesthetic or efferent in nature. When asked if this visualization (evocation of the scene) was a relatively new dimension in her reading or something which she has "always" experienced, Gail revealed some surprising information about her growth as a reader. Gail reported that the visualization while reading started to occur when she became more confident as a reader, i.e., when she had practiced reading enough that she started to "see" pictures while she read. Further, Gail remembers experiencing this aspect of the reading process, which many readers may take for granted, only as an adult. Gail explained that she was "a very poor reader" in school. She married at an "early age" and she had not improved her reading skills until ten years ago. Gail read stories to her children, but she was frustrated and embarrassed when she could not help her children with school work because she could not read their text books. In addition, while her friends read novels, Gail did not because it would take her "two months or three months to read it" (the novel). Dissatisfied with her reading ability, Gail began to 163 practice by reading her children's books (whether their text books or story books, I cannot say) aloud. This occurred perhaps as long as fifteen years ago because "I have been reading a lot in the last ten years. And I enjoy it. I never had anything to replace it. I really taught myself." Gail decided to make herself a better reader, i.e., to comprehend what she read, by using the same technique herself which she had used earlier with her son to help him improve his reading: to read aloud so that she would recognize and comprehend the words on the page. (It seems that Gail's decoding skills were so meager at this point that she could not recognize many words if she read silently.) I don't (read aloud) now because I read faster, and you can catch more by reading to yourself. But to hear myself (i.e., to recognize and comprehend words which are unfamiliar in print, though not necessarily orally) I need to hear myself say the word. Gail continues to use her ear to help her eye when she encounters unfamiliar vocabulary in her reading even today. She divides the word into syllables and pronounces it aloud so that she can recognize and comprehend what she is reading. Having taught herself as an adult how to decode text in order to read with greater comprehension and, therefore, more confidence (in line ‘with Perfetti and other theorists, I believe), Gail experienced the pleasure 164 of visualization. This new experience did not seem "natural" to Gail at first. "I didn't know you could get so much enjoyment out of reading. . . I really was finding myself involved in the story, visualizing." Sheila also reported a very vivid sense of visualiza- tion which is often coupled with a strong auditory dimension as she reads both fiction and nonfiction. Sheila describes herself as a very visually oriented person, her propensity to evoke narrative scenes visually is not surprising. Sheila also reports that she visualizes a great deal while reading informative articles during her leisure time; Sheila does not, however, usually "hear" the voices of fictional characters because she has no frame of reference, no model of the fictional person's voice. Sheila, however, tends to often "hear" the voices of the real people she reads about because she has heard the voices on television, for instance. All in all, then, each of the four readers revealed an extensive amount about his (n: her typical reading processes. During their Think Out Loud sessions when these readers were reporting on his or her actual reading event with an article he or she had chosen to read. However, as Figure 4.8 indicates, quite a number of other strategies were employed during the session. Near the end of the session, Martin volunteered some of the most interesting information about his development 165 as a reader. As mentioned earlier in this report, Martin believes that his surroundings influenced his inclination to read magazines for pleasure. Prior to entering high school, "reading wasn't my thing." However, there were always ti great many magazines available. In addition he had the example of both of his parents, especially his father, and his siblings reading. Finally, he was invited to read by his older sisters and brothers. During the summer before he entered high school, they would bring him a magazine article they had read and say, "Check this out, Marty." Martin remembers: "And I'd check it out, read it" (about an article a week). Their urging was followed by Martin's involvement with the high school paper, and "it (reading) kicked in right there." Reading Strategies Employed in this Study (Figure 4.8) When the four participants (Martin, Gail, Rosemarie and Sheila) described the reading strategies they usually employ when reading magazine articles during their leisure time, they identified twenty-one different strategies. (See Figure 4.7.) In my analysis of the oral and written protocols produced during and immediately following the Think Out Loud sessions as well as the students' comments during the final interview and my observations during the TOL sessions, I identified forty-two strategies employed by the four informants. (See Figure 4.8.) 1636 B .uosa=.a>m uco vouoz co.um5coucu co moouaom x mo:om.: unoccou o» com: mc.oaoco¢ vco x ucoucoo :. amoroucm :0 women opu.sr< mono: co—mmocaWW\) xpo>wuoopow uo~_..=m.> m— acoucww\a Ev Book 5 noun: 16333 .6 3:0on 3.3365 0 ~.v open» cv poem—p uoc xmoumcum eo om: mouao.oc~ ~.v ecu» xcommuao cop..e.m x—pu.ucommo co co_uwu.aom\\\) x .8838; ro.ra so.) covuoscoecu no: Go co.uo—oomm< .ouo .mucoemom coroner: .mmc.uoorn=w “auscou o—o_uc< ou mucouu< Sconces uu.umra o» monoga\mco.s -o.»m=..~ mom: Aeaarm will =1. malameemem azlaeme acoucoo uovumce o» mucoucoo to also» ca a.mnocxm mom: a B x «acoucoo so «mac—neon: a mama—:uzuac» ozone one: one mucosomrafi .murox —o:n¢>.nc~ no oc—caox 3335‘ mm x pooco.coaxw pocomcmc an.) covuaeLoscu so: uo co.uo.oommV\) opvorw o.ca¢omo¢ p.00 c.3rox ~.v acumen c. ovum.p uoc xcomouao mouco_oc~ a o>Puooecm area to ace nous—aeou o>ar mucouaum amuse U x ocauoscum a scarce »c_s=oo~ o» mo_>am a mo~.m s=_ra uo omuopxocx mom: B 0.3.» co roman ucoacoo muu¢uoue .momcaoo mc.ucoc mu_o.sr< 9.526% 1.” .lsmll u—pmcm _o_coeomoz __.ao .c'ucax 1637 B acoeuoacoucn 0:» tenements: Louuvm Du cacao c. acoucoo «.mpo.ac< momoczooz ucopugncohca so: won—cacooz E u>cupanouo> ca——.asuc= so mc.ccox oosuoo oo acoucou mom: E exec—:aooo> cow—.Eauc: uaon< o>vmcowoo m—omu x _ x — x x «opovuc< :— ommon smog» racemes: on course on no: use mcovumoao «moucocouc~ ero mzoco accesses: x x accesses: ou are: uoc moon «coupe ozwxo: rues) m.coooo¢ co—uoELoccu c.oucpo: muomcou ou pom: >po>_uoo—om mcoac.u «no.» ncorocoeou omoococu ou noaorcxmcovu accum:_—~ mxoorooz 0 —ao¢croop co» co cc_umocou:~ yo: 5— opovuc< mcoucumV\a B «acoucoo cacao m . 858»: :30 moo—o>oo «:30 re.) opn.unceoo uoc u— omoacac m.coru:< m.ococm~ 3 o0-0—uc< :. rocoxmc< uoz acovumosa n.0moc E «:0,» Inasmuasou omaouuc~ 00 «00050: u—.ozm o—caeomoc —_ma :vugo! ap—ozm o_caeomo¢ —¢co =.srux a once 1: ¢.v scam—u 1658 one: a. new: as scoss.asao .o:_u stores cameos o.o.ur< «sumac x meGOOOua uc.rumz no o—o.uc< so co—uooc.o sea ocoow so carom moo—osoo nomoacse a.corus< morocmn use mouvcuoooz nououooc< pu—u_c~ «zoom u0.o.uu< .c. toes: ou cocoons; c. nausea «acoucou co roman aco.uuuooaxw —¢.u—:~ numanu< «muoooocc ac.nuo¢ an oo—o> :30 5:.coo: sarcasm .co.uosu.m consumer or» so coconcomco >_oonoca no) xu—>_uon m_ch x amco.umosa msocoesz currency onto: commpch use mt.xm sp—-_u—c~ .Aoocoscua. _.s==. o_u.sr< .8385 use..rum. mono: «acoucou ”OnOLSQOLOA up—aco aucsom o.o.uc< c. noopo> a.m.nooc so: moreoua~ B «mavens: woo—soc ou mousse um:.>&a.aow uoz cor: ou.o;o puvuvcu acouccn< B «mso.> m.corus< o» uso¢> cso mocooeoo op—orw o_cseomo¢ ——co crate: ~ c—vorw o.conooo¢ —.co cwugox n once II o.v ocau.u 169 Overall, I think that the increased reporting of double the number of strategies during and following the TOL session reflects the influence of at least three factors. First, the particular reading event may engender various responses and strategies which are typical of an individual reader's process but which the person did not remember when describing how to read a magazine article during the Tell Me How session. Also, the text itself may elicit varying strategies which are suited to processing that text but perhaps not others. Finally, the research situation probably affected the readers' metacognition and, perhaps, their actual reading ‘processes as ‘well. Since the informants were asked to pay attention to their own processes, something which is not usually a high pri- ority as one reads, their metacognition may have been enhanced. Furthermore, the readers' awareness of their participation ix: a research study may have affected the strategies they employed, i.e., there may have been some desire to "help" the researcher by striving to "do a lot" with the article rather then doing "a little." Furthermore, this disparity between the participants' descriptions of how they "usually" read magazine articles during their leisure time and the data elicited during this study suggests that each reading experience is indeed a unique event in time, which is conditioned by many factors, such as the reader's emotional state, the 170 composition of the text, the pressure of time, and so on (Rosenblatt, Petrosky, Fish). Ethnographic research, of course, assumes the uniqueness of events and, thus, seeks to examine the particulars of an event in order to under- stand it in its entirety (Substantive Theory). Only after many unique events have been described can the ethno- graphic researcher present Formal Theories, Theoretical Models, and, finally, a Grand Theory or paradigm. (See discussion of ethnographic research in Chapter Three.) This study, as has been pointed out previously, is concerned with individuals and their unique transactions with specific, self-selected texts. So, while the participants' descriptions of their typical reading processes are important in so much as they provide a frame of reference for understanding each reader's theory of reading, these descriptions are not the primary focus of the study. In any case, the participants did employ the forty- two strategies which are presented in Figure 4.8. And of those forty-two strategies, only six seem to roughly correspond to strategies identified as typical of their reading process when reading magazine articles during their leisure time. These six are the following: (1) study techniques such as making the title a question and skimming were used; (2) attention was given to the meaning of individual words; (3) the content was visualized by the 171 reader; (4) regression and rereading were used to correct miscues; (5) articles were abandoned if the vocabulary became too technical or the article was uninteresting; and (6) illustrations and photographs were rechecked during the reading event in order to increase comprehension. In the following segments, I will describe and discuss some of the most important of the forty-two strategies employed by the participants in this study. To begin with, I will describe Gail's use of a number of these strategies while reading the article from People magazine concerning Lyme Disease. A Description of Gail's Reading Event As soon as Gail turned to the article, she began to preview it. Gail immediately noticed the photographs on both pages of the article, and she also noticed the article's question/answer format. She went on to read the subtitle "An Expert Explains the Danger Signals of Lyme Disease" and predicted that the article would either answer questions "people may have" or the "most asked questions." Based on her understanding and expectations, Gail decided to read the article. Thus, Gail used active reading techniques to preview and select the article to which she would devote the majority of her TOL session. As she read, Gail reported her observations and stated the questions which occurred to her. For instance, she reported not knowing that the disease can be contacted 172 "by (while) walking in the woods (because it is trans- mitted by the deer tick)." Gail also reacted to the dramatic rise in figures--almost double from 1988 to 1989. In addition, she noted that when she looked again at the photographs accompanying the article she realized that the pictures "kind of repeat what I have read." When asked at the conclusion of the TOL session if she had skipped around in the reading, Gail reported that she read the article straight through, even reading the address of the Centers for Disease Control, the sort of information she usually does not read. (Perhaps an indication that she was very interested in the subject.) Gail went on to pose some questions about how the deer ticks, which carry the disease, are caught for labor- atory use» (Another indication of Gail's active reading process.) She next mentioned the question/answer format of the article and reported that as she read each question and answer she compared the information to what she knows about her friend's situation. Gail also reported having her own question/hypothesis about the disease: that Lyme Disease progressively worsens--there is no cure. (Gail, it seems to me, is an active reader who expects to find answers to her questions in the material she reads.) In response to a question about her eye movement, Gail reported that she was rereading a question because 173 she usually does not remember the questions posed in a magazine article and, thus, she needs to reread them. This is not the case, however, with her own questions which she can "easily remember." Gail also reported that because the question in the article mentioned the rash which accompanies Lyme disease she rechecked the photograph which shows the rash on a patient's leg. (Once again, it seems to me, Gail is using all available visual information in order to achieve comprehension.) Gail went on to say: "If I continue reading a question and the answer without stopping, it all runs together. I usually try to stop and then reread the question and, you know, understand again 'what. I Ihave read." This attempt to understand does not, however, involve rereading the answer: I'm not reading. . . I'm kind of thinking about it, but I reread the question itself so it gives a better meaning to me. Reading an article like this it would be necessary to understand what I am reading. Reading about an actress it doesn't matter if you understand what is going on or not. You know, unless it is something important. Thus, in the above statement, it seems that Gail is making a number of distinctions about her reading process and purpose(s). First, she notes that she selectively rereads material; second, she differentiates between the need to comprehend important and less important content; and, finally, Gail implies that she has different purposes for reading, i.e., for entertainment and for information. 174 (Note: I will argue, however, that for Gail as well as other readers in this study the acquisition of knowledge is itself satisfying and may, in fact, be entertaining/ pleasurable as well.) Gail then mentioned the confusion caused by the unfamiliar vocabulary. "Sometimes the reading upsets me," Gail reported because the vocabulary seems difficult. In fact, Gail voiced the opinion that she thinks authors try to "impress peOple by using words that could be confusing to people like me." I was surprised to hear Gail say this, especially in light of her attention to vocabulary as part of teaching herself to be a better reader. I was also surprised because, in the midst of her negative reactions concerning authors' diction, Gail inferred that since a repellent (Permethrin) was in a spray form it probably would not stain when applied to clothing. Finally, I was surprised by Gail's defensiveness because she is a rather practiced, though mostly self-taught, reader who possesses quite a number of sophisticated reading strategies as well as a large amount of inform- ation about individual magazines and typical formats used in various magazines. Gail's reactions, then, seemed to indicate that she was feeling quite vulnerable and not as confident as she appeared to be. Gail went on to say that at times she feels "annoyed" by authors who try to impress "higher class educated 175 people," but that she still tries to figure out the mean- ing of unfamiliar vocabulary by rereading the sentence or regressing to read a couple of sentences prior to the appearance of an unfamiliar word. In effect, Gail tries to deduce meaning by using contextual cues. Finally, in response to a question about any connection between the article's content and the friend who suffers with the disease, Gail revealed that she thought of her friend when she read about the stages of the disease. She suddenly realized that her friend has progressed through some of the stages already. Gail's post TOL written protocol describes, in brief, the process she reported aloud as she read the article. Two additional bits of information do appear in this protocol. First, Gail writes: . . .I have learned the Lyme Disease has almost doubled in a year's time. It makes me wonder why all of a sudden Lyme Disease is so high. How til-12?)! people had it before they put a label on I am not sure if these questions occurred to Gail after reading, perhaps as she wrote the protocol, or if they occurred to her as she previewed and/or read the article. In the transcript of the TOL session, Gail, as she reads the first page of the article, mentions the increase in the number of cases of the disease. She does not, however, mention noticing this information as she previewed the piece, nor does she voice the questions quoted above. 176 Second, while Gail only mentions in the TOL session that she read the complete address of the Centers for Disease Control, in the written protocol she writes: I can tell this article will be kind of true to life because they use the 'expert's' name, (the) reporter uses his name, and statements are made from the Centers for Disease Control. Perhaps Gail's use of the future tense ("will") indicates that as she wrote the protocol she imaginatively placed herself back in the reading event and reported this information as if she had not read the article yet, but only previewed it. In any case, Gail makes it clear that she accepts the veracity of the article, at least condi- tionally, because of the sources. Gail's conditional acceptance of the article's truth- fulness echoes her statement that she has learned to read more critically since being in college. Gail's TOL protocol also indicates that she was motivated to read each article by her curiosity and her desire to acquire specific information. The transcript also indicates that Gail read very actively by applying strategies she had been taught in an Effective Reading course. Some Conclusions Overall, then, I think that Gail's TOL session reveals that Gail is an inquisitive, skeptical, and self- motivated reader who applies reading strategies she has been taught in order to answer her questions and acquire the information she desires. In addition, the information 177 in the TOL transcript and the written protocol corroborate Gail's earlier statements in the TMH session that even during her leisure reading she attends to the meaning of individual words rather than ignoring unfamiliar vocabulary. Finally, Gail's TOL session provided evidence that during this particular reading event Gail employed twenty strategies which she had not described during her Tell Me How session. Many of the strategies Gail employed during the actual reading event are "active" reading techniques taught in the developmental reading courses at Delta. These strategies are primarily based upon a psycho- linguistic view of reading and are mostly geared to acquiring information (efferent reading) whether for personal purposes or as an approach to studying text books and other informational material. As she read the article about Lyme Disease, Gail used the title and various visual details to predict the overall content. She also identified the format and structure of the article based upon the various print sizes and other textual details. She reported that she associated the new information from the article with her own prior knowledge and personal experience. In addition, Gail read critically: she judged the truthfulness and the usefulness of the content. She also rephrased the article's content as she read and orally paraphrased the 178 material in order to increase her comprehension. Gail paused to reflect on the meaning as she read, and she actively developed a sense of the scope and direction of the article as the reading proceeded--the experience which Rosenblatt has described as the reader's ongoing adjustment of his or her tentative framework or sense of the structure and scope of the material being read. Visualization In addition to all of the above strategies, Gail reported visualizing various aspects of the article, not only the narrative elements which were the only elements she had mentioned during the Tell Me How session that she visualized. Martin also reported a great deal of visual- ization as he read, while Rosemarie and Sheila reported some visualization. Sheila while reading the profile of the actor Mel Gibson also described. a *vivid auditory dimension to her reading not reported by any of the other informants. _ When reading the Redbook article "Fix It Quick! Twenty-five One Minute Home Remedies Doctors Recommend," Martin reported visualizing particular scenes, actions and people. For instance, while reading item three "Shrug Off Shoulder and Neck Tension" in the section entitled "Head- to-Toe Relief," Martin said, "They're showing (describing) two exercises, and I'm picturing people doing this." 179 From this point on, visualization played a major role in Martin's evocation of the text. Thus, he reported: picturing the location of the soft and hard plates at the roof of the mouth; visualizing the location of rubbing alcohol and other supplies in his house; trying to 'picture' gnats, chiggers, and fleas; visualizing the burns he and his coworkers suffer; and, finally, picturing a person flushing sand out of his or her eyes. During the final interview, Martin elaborated on some of these initial reports of visualization. For example, when I asked Martin during the interview what specifically he had seen when he was reading about the tension relieving exercises mentioned above, he responded by characterizing himself as a person who has "a really big ' As a result, Martin had imagined a faceless imagination.‘ person engaged in the two exercises described. in the article (raising and lowering one's shoulders and tilting one's head in order to relieve "stress-induced stiffness". Martin proceeded to characterize this visualization activity as "kind of like a demonstration or a demo model." Based upon Martin's next remark, it would seem that this visualization--at least at times--is produced by Martin's own volition: "And I just try to picture the 180 actions that they are going to be doing or would be doing in my mind." However, when Martin described an experience with visualization he had just that morning as he had read an article about long distance shooting in the sport of archery, the details seemed to indicate that some visualizations are not discretionary; they merely occur in response to some stimulus. These ‘visual reactions, whether a self-directed response of an involuntary reaction, serve to clarify information read and/or provide alternatives to textual information as part of Martin's critical reaction to the text. I also asked Martin if he always experiences this type of visualization, and he said that he does not. Martin believes that the visualization tends to occur more often with reading material which presents action of some sort, but that the visualization "just pops in there for no reason." During the interview, other instances of visual- ization while reading the Redbook article were recalled. For example, Martin reported visualizing his mother soaking her feet in a tub. He also recalled having a mental image of stimulating the ulvala, the point on the roof of the mouth where the soft and hard palate meet, with a cotton swab in order to suppress the hiccups. Finally, Martin also recalled his visualization of the various sorts of insects mentioned in the article and the 181 action of removing a tick which is embedded in the skin. In each case, Martin reported that the mental images came to him unbidden, though in the case of visualizing the insects he was aware of asking himself a question: "Do I see them (particular insects) around here?" and then having various images come to mind. And in a pattern similar to his at-home reading of an archery article, Martin "saw" the action describing removal of a tick from a person's arm. Thus, it seems to me that Martin's trans- action with the article (and also other reading events, according to his reports) combines the imaginative response of visualization with other reactions as he experiences not only the narrative and descriptive elements in the text, but also as he comprehends the explanations provided in the article. The Auditory Dimension As mentioned. previously, Sheila. not only reported some visualization during her reading of the article "My " an interview with Mel Gibson. She Six Kids Come First, also reported that as she read she continued to look back at the actor's picture to help both her visualization and her auditory imaginings. In fact, she reported that she both visualizes and imagines the auditory a lot when she reads. As Sheila said: 182 . . .if there is someone in there (the magazine photo) that I think is decent looking, I'll keep looking up at them while I am reading. I do it a lot. . . I (also) usually try to visualize or hear as much as I can so I can get into what I am reading. Like when I read my (fictional) stories, I like to see everything so I can actually place myself so I can, you know. . make it more dimensional than just reading. This auditory and visual fantasizing is something Sheila has done "for as long" as she can remember. She reported that she didn't know if "it was just self-taught" because she enjoys reading or whether it is just a "natural" part of reading for pleasure. She does not, however, use these techniques when she is studying such material as a history textbook. When describing what might happen when reading such a text, Sheila stated: "I can't see the wars going on, or I can't hear a certain person talking because I don't care to." An indication, it seems to me, that Sheila believes that she consciously controls her visualization process when reading such material. Visualization is a common experience for proficient readers, and many readers hear their own voices saying the words as they read. (During the TMH session, Sheila reported that she usually hears her own voice reading narration and description in both fictional and non- fictional material.) I am not aware, however, if many readers report that they "hear" the voices of either fictional characters or actual people, as Sheila had while 183 reading the profile of Mel Gibson. Thus, Sheila described the interplay of her visual and auditory experiences in the following manner: The first time I did it (looked back at the photo of Mel Gibson) was when I read "the Technicolor blue eyes." I just looked back up and said, "Yeah, yeah," you know. So I kept on reading and then when he was talking, it was like he would say something and I would look up at him and maybe picture (visualize) him saying it, or hear his voice saying it because he has got a heavy accent. . . and besides I think he is pretty cute. Not bad (looking). Sheila went on to say that she tends to keep looking at photographs of "decent looking" men she reads about and she visualizes them doing the things she is reading about. In addition, at times she has an auditory experience as mentioned above. She is also aware that she does not experience this auditory fantasy when reading fiction because she has no way of knowing what the characters' voices sound like. Her auditory experience is different when she reads such things as a magazine about rock'n roll. Then she is familiar with the person's actual voice from television, the movies, or records. Her experience with the article about Mel Gibson was similar to her reading of the music magazines. Sheila is familiar with Gibson's voice from his films, and the word "mate" in the article triggered the auditory fantasy for her» Once she read the word, she "heard" Gibson's voice whenever he was quoted in the article. 184 Even though Sheila had both auditory and visual experiences with the article, she did not finish reading it because it presented a lot of material about the actor's wife, and Sheila "didn't care to read about her." Sheila selected the article because she is attracted to and interested in Mel Gibson. The focus on Gibson's family life did not please her. Overall, then, Sheila's reading of the article was unique among the four participants in that she not only experienced the article visually but auditorily as well. On the other hand, Sheila's active involvement or trans- action with the text was not unique. Each of the other readers also actively read the text he or she had selected. Active Involvement In one way or another, during the TOL session, as well as the final interview, each of the participants reported that he or she had been actively involved in the reading event. Rosemarie reported her visualization of a person undergoing the magnetoencephalography (MEG) test. She also wondered aloud about the make-up of the machine and volunteered her opinions as to the possible uses of the technology in the future. Gail searched for answers to her questions about the disease which has afflicted her close friend. Sheila, as has already been pointed out above, imagined Mel Gibson's appearance and voice while 185 reading about him. Martin, as has been mentioned previously, also was actively engaged in his own trans- " for various action with the article about "home remedies injuries and discomforts. One aspect of Martin's active involvement was his questioning to both provide direction in his reading and to maintain a critical stance as he evaluated the informa- tion provided by the article. For instance, Martin read one of the subtitles "Squelch .Jellyfish Stings" as .a question. Later he also displayed incredulity when he read the suggested cure for a stuffy nose (a quarter teaspoon salt in a cup of warm water). Then in response to information about dealing with jellyfish stings, Martin verbalized a question about the effect of water and vinegar on the wound. Another aspect of Martin's active involvement with the text was his statement about the overall content of the article after surveying the text but before reading it: (The) larger portion of what it (the article) contains from heart burn to sunburn, bug bites to blisters-~here are safe, easy ways. to stop the hurting and start the healing. . . (Martin reads the blurb on the first page of the article.) Something for a commercial. This association to something beyond the text (commercials) was a recurring pattern during Martin's reading of the article. Thus, Martin reported thinking of other cures for a sore throat, dealing with bee stings by 186 plucking out the stinger, and the popularity of articles such as this because of the overall interest in health related matters. Another aspect of Martin's active involvement as he read was his reporting of personal connections to the information presented in the article. Martin stated many such connections as he progressed through the article. For instance, he remembered seeing his mother soothing her feet by soaking them; he also reported thinking of his nieces and nephews when he read the heading "Kids' Calamities." These and other statements reveal that Martin has enjoyed a personal, subjective involvement similar to the literary or aesthetic reading experience even though he was reading for information. While reading the first and second of the twenty-five cures, "Clear a Stuffy Nose" and "Soothe a Sore Throat," Martin noticed the "larger" words ("pseudoephedrine, epinephrine or phenylephrine," and so on). Martin, possibly remembering the title and the initial paragraph of the article, mentioned that "a doctor" (actually there were five) was the information source. Later, when Martin was reading the third page of the article, he verified this perception by glancing at the list of sources on the bottom of that page. Martin's reading of the article seems to fit Judith Langer's characterization of reading for information as 187 "Maintaining a Point of Reference." Langer says that "Readers clarify their ideas and construct their text worlds by relating what they read to their relatively stable sense of the topic or point of the piece" (251). We can see this in Martin's use of both his personal memories of experiences with ailments such as bee stings and in his judgmental remarks about various cures such as not wanting to use the suggested remedy of touching the soft palate of the mouth with a cotton swab in order to alleviate the hiccups. On the other hand, Martin also read the article with a literary orientation: "Reaching Toward a Horizon of Possibilities" which Langer describes as readers "explor(ing) both their local envisonments and their overall sense of the whole as they enter into and reflect upon their text worlds" (251). Martin's visualizations indicate that this "envisonment" or evocation, to use Rosenblatt's term, occurred quite often as Martin read the article. Martin's next comment during the TOL session also seems to indicate that he was reading the segment about soothing a sore throat in order to confirm that his particular remedy for a sore throat has been mentioned: "'Soothe sore throat,’ I thought of honey. People do (enjoy) drinking hot tea with lemon. Here's mine (Martin's remedy), 'and honey.'" 188 Finally, as has been described previously, Martin, as had each of the other informants, reported visualizing particular scenes, actions and people. Martin also seemed to read very subjectively, i.e., the text evoked various personal memories for Martin. He reported memories of a canoe trip, coping with bee stings, seeing his father suffer with heat rash, and noticing a child touching a jellyfish on a beach. While reading about bee stings, Martin interjected a report on his method of removing the stinger. He then proceeded to the segment about insect bites, ‘but when he realized that this passage would not deal with bee stings Martin regressed to the previous paragraph. He read the rest of the passage and noted that he "never thought of putting an ice pack on it (the sting). It never seemed that bad. . ." Through his reading of the article, Martin continued to be quite involved because he stated how his own experiences match the information in the article. Thus, he recalled with humor the process of unclogging his ears when he was on the swimming team in high school. Martin also remembered with irony seeing people on a canoe trip apply suntan lotion after they had been burned. The text engendered recall of experiences which seemed to help Martin comprehend and relate to information in the article. 189 This recall also served as part of Martin's judgmental reactions to the article. For example, Martin took issue with the article's advice to "vigorously" run water over skin exposed to poison ivy, as well as the action of unclogging one's ears by placing a few drops of rubbing alcohol in the ear ‘with. an eye dropper» In response to the latter advice, Martin stated: "That would be more dangerous than just letting it run out by itself." Further evidence of Martin's active involvement with the text showed up in decisions he made as he read. First, Martin skipped passages--actually turning to another page--in order to avoid material (information about "Dealing with Beauty Disasters") which he did not want to read because he thought the content inappropriate because he is a male. Second, he regressed in order to correct a miscue. Martin originally said "elevate" instead of "alleviate" when reading aloud the segment about treating bruises: "Warning: Do not try to elevate pain or swelling with. . . to alleviate pain or swelling with aspirin. ." Noticing the small rectangular box at the bottom of the third page of the article, Martin skimmed the sources of the information provided in the article. He then inferred the type of references, saying they are likely to be "handbooks, for instance." (Actually, only one book is mentioned among the references, the rest being names of 190 the physicians who contributed information to the article.) After finishing his commentary during the reading event, Martin prepared to do the written protocol, but he stopped in order to voice a few final thoughts. First, Martin mentioned his hypothesis that this type of article is popular because of the current interest in health related issues. He also volunteered the observation that the article is "ridiculous" because it presents inform- ation "any mother" or any person "with common sense would usually do." The reading event for Martin was not a passive occurrence, an event to which he gave little attention or scant involvement. Instead, Martin actively sought meaning, visualized content, remembered personal experiences, and evaluated the effectiveness and safety of the proposed remedies. Looking Back and Looking Ahead It would seem then that Martin, Gail, Rosemarie, and Sheila each actively engaged the text he or she had selected. Furthermore, each of the readers employed more and different strategies while actually engaged in the reading event than he or she had described as typical during the Tell Me How session. In addition, none of these readers lost sight of his or her goal(s) for selecting a particular article (see Figure 4.9). Finally, 191 each reader expressed some satisfaction with the article he or she had chosen (see Figure 4.10). Motivation For Reading a Particular Article (Figure 4.9) As indicated by Figures 4.1 and 4.2, the participants' purposes for reading magazine articles can be categorized using the terms developed by mass media researchers. During the Think Out Loud session, all four of the participants reported purposes which fit the surveillance category, while Rosemarie also indicated that she read in anticipation of future interaction. And, as the following data will demonstrate, while Sheila's main purpose was for diversion, that diversion included an interest in learning more about the subject of the article she selected (surveillance). In keeping with the use of the term in mass media research, in this study "purpose" refers to the reader's overall goal while "motivation" refers to his or her specific reason for reading. To illustrate: Sheila wanted--in fact, she needed--to read to divert herself from the stresses she had endured on the day of the TOL session; her particular motive, however, was to entertain n herself by reading about Mel Gibson, an actor she likes a lot." 192 vocmduuuucm on ca madman x x x x x x x x nozaoc< 0» naunqoz anon ou usunuoz unusuacoaom huusuacoaom codadluOucu sawed-hounm codes-mourn cauuooem onusoo< 00 chance onusuo< a» madman ouusoo< o» oedema 283% so: 28:: “322.52; < czsfim mom 2223.8: uuuorm causlomoz Aqua casts: E ass 193 As Figure 4.9 indicates, each of the readers had at least one motive in mind when reading. Both Martin and Gail were motivated to read a different article for the same three reasons: (1) the desire to acquire specific information; (2) the desire to acquire information which could be useful to him or herself; and (3) the desire to acquire information which could be of use to another person. Rosemarie shared Martin and Gail's desire to acquire personally useful information, plus the hope that she might acquire information which would be of use to someone else. Sheila, on the other hand, believed herself to be totally focused on her desire to be "entertained." As Sheila's comments make clear, however, entertainment included a desire to learn more about the subject of the article. That is to say, although Sheila did not equate her desire to learn more about Gibson as an individual (surveillance) with her concurrent desire to be entertained (diversion), her comments reveal that the two purposes are not mutually exclusive: "I wanted to know more about him (Gibson) not his wife." (Each of these motives is identified more specifically in the discussion which follows.) As pointed out previously, Sheila arrived at the TOL session having already undergone a very stressful morning. Although she very much wanted to meet her commitment to 194 participate in the research study, as Sheila attempted to select and read an article, she found it difficult to concentrate. Consequently, she rejected three magazines before selecting Redbook, and she abandoned two articles before deciding to read the profile of Mel Gibson. Those articles (one about Gorbachov's role in bringing about world peace, for instance) seemed to demand more attention and energy than Sheila could muster under the circumstances. As a further indication of her need for relief from the stress, Sheila even read several of the humorous anecdotes from Reader's Digest. As Sheila selected and began to read the Redbook article, I noticed several nonverbal indications of relief and anticipation. When she noticed the small photo of Gibson on the cover of the magazine, Sheila smiled. As she turned to the table of contents and read the preview of the article, her voice took on a more relaxed tone. Finally, Sheila seemed to anticipate an enjoyable reading experience because she was smiling as she turned to the first page of the article. Thus, Sheila wanted and expected the article to be "fun" rather than more serious. This is understandable when one remembers the sources of her stress: the diffi- culties she had gone through concerning the repairs to her new car; the frustrations related to her attempts to collect money owed to her; the uncertainties concerning 195 her move to California; and the anxiety she felt when it seemed that she might be late for our scheduled TOL session. In light of all of the above, Sheila's desire to be entertained and to enjoy reading about an actor to whom she is attracted because of his good looks is quite understandable. This desire is, however, uncharacteristic. Sheila's leisure time reading is usually given over to her ongoing quest to answer the "big" questions in life, and even the less serious reading she does during her leisure time is in one way or another usually related to self- improvement in some way. (See the description of Sheila as a reader at the beginning of this chapter.) When the article disappointed her, Sheila stopped reading. She reported that she did not want to read about Gibson's family, especially his wife. She wanted to read about him--almost as if he had not been married for ten years or fathered six children at the time the article was published. The title of the article, as well as the preview material and subheading, all make it clear that the focus of the profile will be on Gibson's family life. Sheila seems to have ignored the import of all of this information. At that point, she wanted to be entertained by focusing on the handsome actor alone, i.e., to learn about (and to fantasize about?) him without regard to the realities of his family life. 196 Rosemarie, on the other hand, hoped to acquire information about a specific subject--treatment of brain disorders. Furthermore, Rosemarie hoped to learn some- thing which potentially could help treat her mother or a close friend, both of whom suffer from such disorders. (See initial segment of this chapter.) One might argue that while Rosemarie did not think of her motives in this way, her desire to learn about effective treatments can also be described as a desire to learn something which could be of help to her in the future if she has to make any decisions regarding care for her mother who is quite elderly. Questions of unconscious motivation aside, consider- ing Rosemarie's stated motives for reading were such that she did not expect to be entertained. She wanted "useful" information. The same, of course, can be said of Gail and Martin. Each wanted and hoped for "useful" information of several types as Figure 4.9 indicates. Gail primarily hoped to satisfy her need to know more about the disease which has afflicted a close friend of hers. Martin wanted to add to his store of knowledge concerning first aid, both for his own satisfaction, as well as possible treatment for family members, especially nieces and nephews, who might be injured or hurt. Although their specific motives varied, each of the 197 four participants experienced some satisfaction upon completing or deciding not to complete the article he or she was reading. Reader's Satisfaction After Reading (Figure 4.10) Gail was the only one of the four participants who reported being very pleased with the article she had chosen. During the final interview, Gail reported that she had learned "a lot" about Lyme Disease from the article in People magazine. In fact, she felt "much better knowing what was happening" to her friend than not knowing and only guessing. (This is important to Gail because she has not felt comfortable asking her friend for specific information.) Each of the other three readers reported being somewhat pleased with the article he or she had read even though Martin, Rosemarie, and Sheila each chose not to read parts of their articles. These segments were ignored because they were perceived as "too technical," uninteresting, or inappropriate, i.e., information per- ceived as not appropriate in light of the reader's gender. (Note: Only Martin expressed this point of view.) As Martin reported during the final interview session, . . .it's a female magazine, so I said, 'Beauty Disasters?’ I think [sic] 'Well, if you accidentally discolor this, or you are curling hair and it doesn't do this, or your like more female type things.' 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