Culture and Comprehension: A Mixed Methods Study of Children's Responses to a Fictional Story About Interracial Conflict

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between early adolescents' understanding of social issues and their comprehension of a fictional story about interracial conflict. It combines qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine the ways in which social awareness and reading comprehension skills may be interrelated when children and adolescents read texts that deal with social issues. Results suggest that adolescents use their social awareness skills to comprehend fictional texts, but reading skill moderates the effect. Poor readers who demonstrate a capacity for high levels of social awareness comprehend the story as well as their better reading peers. The authors discuss implications for educational practice and the need for an integration of research in social development with language and literacy.

Notes

¹See Selman (2003) for a full description of this study.

²This guide, part of a multicultural literature program designed to promote elementary grade children's literacy and values as well as to prevent violent behavior, was developed by Voices of Love and Freedom, Inc., a not-for-profit educational organization. Our practice-based research group—the Group for the Study of Interpersonal Development—helped to design the part of the Voices of Love and Freedom guide that focused on the promotion of students' social awareness.

Note. Source: Selman & Dray (2003).

^a n = 14.

Note. Source: Selman & Dray (2003).

^a n = 14.

Note. Gender and bilingual status are dummy variables scored 0 = male, 1 = female (gender) and 0 = no 1 = yes (bilingual status). The mean of a dummy variable is the percentage of the sample coded as 1. Bivariate plots were examined to confirm linearity before correlation and regression analyses were conducted. GRADE = Level 5 Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation.

^a n = 184.

^Ψ p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note. Two-, three-, and four-way interactions were tested for all variables. Ethnicity was entered as a general linear hypothesis test and then tested individually. Predictors that were not significant were not retained. M = model.

^a n = 184.

^Ψ p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.