The Effect of Genre on Reading Ability: A Study on Psychological Aspects of Reading Assessment

By Chris Roberts

Early Thoughts• Assessment• Common Core State

Standards in language arts

• Common difficulty scaling between genres

Past ResearchAdolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) present deficits in literacy skills, in part because their disruptive behaviors interfere with task engagement (Vostal &Lee 2012).“Currently, measures of ORF are frequently used to monitor reading progress and predict performance on future reading outcomes, which are often used to make decisions about intervention placement and retention” (O’Connor, Swanson, & Geraghty, 2010).

Past Research (cont.)Genre has been explored to study conscious awareness and it was found to have no effect on immediate thoughts of readers or trigger certain reactions (Koopman 2015).Greater exposure to the genre of fiction was found to correlate with increased gender role egalitarianism and reduced gender role stereotyping (Fong, Mullin & Mar 2015).

Accuracy and Speed

The genre of a reading passage has an effect on the measurements of a student’s accuracy and speed in reading assessment.

Hypothesis:

Operational DefinitionsAccuracy

A statistic that focuses on how correct the student read the passage.Statistical Definition:

Words between errors (wbe)

SpeedA statistic that presents the measurement of how quickly a student is able to get through the passage.Statistical Definition:

Words-per-minute (wpm)

MethodParticipants read three passages out loud and were recorded by the AudioNote applicationIn-between readings the participants were told to take a minute to take a deep breath and relax. Upon the conclusion of this time period, the individuals were given the next passage. After the three passages were read the participants were given the chance to ask any questions about the study and told they could exit the testing room.

First Passage

Second Passage

Third Passage

Order 1 Nonfiction Poetry Fiction

Order 2 Poetry Fiction Nonfiction

Order 3 Fiction Nonfiction Poetry

Order 4 Fiction Poetry Nonfiction

Order 5 Nonfiction Fiction Poetry

Order 6 Poetry Nonfiction Fiction

Protecting my findings from both practice and fatigue effects

Method (cont.)

Method of Data Collection

Listening through the recording, the following data was collected:

Time frame of readingTime taken to read each passageNumber of errors

These were used to calculate:Words between errors (wbe)Words-per-minute (wpm)

Equations for calculations:Wpm=Words in passage/Seconds taken to read x 60Wbe=Words in passage/Number of errors in reading

Materials

Three text passagesFictionNonfictionPoem

AudioNote application

Operational Definitions of Genres

Realistic FictionA story that is not based on a true story but could have happened and is true to components of reality.

NonfictionLiterature based off of factual components that follows a method of informing the reading about a focal aspect.

PoetryWords arranged in a rhythm or rhyme that can create imagery and emotion.

DataParticipant F (Speed)F (Accuracy) P (Speed)

P (Accuracy) N (Speed)

N (Accuracy)

1 176.066 59.667 151.578 32.333 186.545 572 179 59.667 143.704 97 165.484 42.753 167.813 59.667 130.787 24.25 160.313 85.54 167.813 89.5 159.452 27.714 165.484 24.4295 233.478 179 197.288 97 213.75 1716 185.172 179 190.82 194 151.578 32.3337 202.642 44.75 168.696 64.667 201.176 42.758 185.172 29.833 143.704 38.8 173.898 34.29 191.786 29.833 161.667 24.25 186.545 24.429

10 219.184 59.667 181.875 64.667 193.585 17111 219.184 171 187.742 194 197.308 17112 210.588 179 171.176 48.5 190 85.513 202.642 179 184.762 194 205.2 17114 182.034 44.75 155.2 38.8 197.308 85.515 185.172 89.5 143.704 64.667 162.857 5716 219.184 179 190.82 194 213.75 17117 179 59.667 161.667 32.333 162.857 5718 182.034 89.5 143.704 64.667 197.308 85.519 202.642 89.5 190.82 64.667 190 5720 210.588 179 161.667 38.8 197.308 5721 185.172 44.75 155.2 194 162.857 171

Data

Fiction Poetry Nonfiction0

20406080

100120140160180200

WpmWbe

DataMeasures Fiction (wpm) Poetry (wpm) Nonfiction

(wpm)Averages 194.589 165.525 184.529

Measures Fiction (wbe) Poetry (wbe) Nonfiction (wbe)

Averages 99.774 85.386 88.281

Fiction and

Poetry

Nonfiction and Poetry

Nonfiction and Fiction

ConclusionThese findings show that genre has an effect on one’s ability to read through passages of literature.The measurement of words between errors (wbe) is not significant when compared by genre.

This takes away a possible confound.

Individuals are able to read through fictional passages at a faster speed than those of poetry and nonfiction.

When compared by using t-tests, each match of these three genres are significant and the order of difficulty (when seen as a result of reading speed), is fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Questions?? Questions?