This mixed-methods dissertation study investigated the hypothesis that, above and beyond what they may have learned in school about garden-variety reading comprehension strategies (e.g., predicting, visualizing, summarizing), by the time they reach 6th grade most adolescent readers possess declarative and procedural knowledge of diverse and sometimes idiosyncratic modi operandi (MOs) for reading. On the basis of pilot work and a review of relevant research, these reading MOs were hypothesized to be experientially distinct, subjectively coherent, and habitual ways of orchestrating reading activity that typically comprise reading strategies but also comprise other elements and features (e.g., culture- and subculture-specific attitudes, topic knowledge, epistemic beliefs, affective investments, experience with particular types of social interaction around texts). It was further hypothesized that these diverse MOs readers know and use are superordinate to conventional reading strategies and in fact regulate their application, such that a reader’s MO selection constrains her selection, and guides her application, of reading comprehension strategies, not the other way around. More generally, it was hypothesized that adolescent readers experience reading, and view whatever conscious choices they make regarding reading, through the prism of these MOs—as opposed to through the prism of whatever reading comprehension strategies they know, or through the prism of a universally applicable, generic goal of comprehending text.These hypotheses were investigated through (a) structured written interviews with 30 randomly sampled 6th graders in one school district and (b) follow-up case studies with six 6th graders randomly sampled from the initial 30. Analysis of interview responses and case study data (comprising transcripts of conversations as well as think-aloud protocols of participants reading diverse self-chosen and researcher-provided texts) indicated that 100% of students had declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge of two or more MOs for reading, with students on average reporting more than six MOs. Across participants there were significant differences with regard to types of MOs used, preferences for particular MOs, and criteria used to distinguish among MOs. At the same time, all participants demonstrated ability and willingness to describe and discuss their MOs—this despite the fact that none recalled receiving any explicit instruction or mentoring to develop distinct “ways of reading.” In sum, the study’s findings give substantial, preliminary support to the hypothesis that adolescent readers know and use a diverse array of reading MOs, and that MOs rather than reading comprehension strategies constitute the level at which adolescent readers make strategic choices and adjustments in reading.Implications for cognitively focused models of reading comprehension are discussed, as are possible implications for classroom instruction.
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