The Study of Literature Education


The Study of Literature Education *

1968–1973

The major objective of the study was to assess the influence of schools and teachers of literature on the achievements of their students. The test included measures of the literary response to specific literary texts and literary comprehension. Attitudes towards and interests in literature were also investigated. The data were collected in 1970–1971.

Target Population

This was 14-year-old students and students in the final grade of the secondary school.

Participating Educational Systems

Belgium (Flemish), Belgium (French), Chile, England, Finland, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, United States.

Key Findings

  1. The major factor associated with achievement in literature in all countries except Sweden was the home background of the students. However, this factor did not act in isolation from the interests, attitudes, and the verbal abilities of the students.
  2. The students who expressed interests in literature were those who read much, who read a variety of selections, and who came from a home that was oriented towards books.
  3. The patterns of students’ responses to literature varied between the systems on two dimensions. One dimension involved personal (Iran, Finland, New Zealand, England, Chile) versus impersonal interpretations (Belgium (Flemish), Italy, Belgium (French), United States, Sweden). The second dimension involved content (Chile, Belgium (French), England, Iran, United States) versus form (Italy, Belgium (Flemish), Finland, New Zealand, Sweden).
  4. In most countries and at both age levels, the gender of students was consistently an important factor in accounting for differences in literature achievement, with girls outperforming boys. These differences were consistent with differences between boys and girls in literary interests.
  5. The patterns of student responses to literature were influenced by the literary nature of the selections that students were given to read. Different literary samples elicited different responses from students, with some consistency across cultures and school systems.

Major Publications

 

Purves, A.C. (1973).

Literature Education in Ten Countries.

Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell; New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

Walker, D.A. (1976).

The IEA Six-Subject Survey: An Empirical Study of Education in Twenty-One Countries.

Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell; New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

* Part of the Six-Subject Survey

 

 

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29.08.2007 || URL: http://www.iea.nl/literature_education.html