TY  - UNPB
KW  - Reading
KW  - Radical education
KW  - Critical sociology
KW  - Study methods
TI  - Critical reading: a socio-cognitive approach to selective focus in reading.
UR  - http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.601311
AV  - public
EP  - 335
N1  - Unpublished
ID  - discovery10018449
M1  - Doctoral
A1  - Braga, Denise Bertoli
PB  - Institute of Education, University of London
Y1  - 1990///
N2  - This research discusses selective focus in reading a text in
relation to the philosophical guidelines of critical education. To
pursue this question a model for critical reading is initially
sketched, and the literature on selective focus in text reading is
reviewed. The existing literature analyses selective focus under the
framework of two perspectives: reader-based and text-based. This
thesis proposes a third possibility: a social-based perspective. A
socio-cognitive conception of selective focus is delineated on the
basis of theories that explore the effect of social factors on
literacy, language use, and higher cognitive processes.
The issues raised at the theoretical level are also investigated
in an empirical study. Expert reader's insights about their own
reading practices are taken into consideration. Three studies are
reported. Two exploratory studies - designed to refine
methodological procedures - analyse the response of two groups of four
readers. The interview questionnaire that guides the main data
collection is based on the results obtained in these initial
investigations. The main study considers the data provided by fifteen
structured interviews. The sample include readers from three type of
course in higher education: initial teacher training for pos-graduate
students, master degree students, and doctoral students. A
qualitative analysis describes in detail how reader-based, text-based
and social-based factors interact within the context of these readers'
reading practices.
Considering the empirical evidence, the thesis proposes that
neither the reader nor the text should be investigated without an
appreciation of the social context. However, socio-cultural context
is shown not only to provide a further set of variables but also to
permeate the development of text-based and reader-based factors. This
has important theoretical and educational implications. The final
argument of this study is that classroom practices that aim to promote
critical reading should give a proper emphasis to the socio-cultural
aspect of selective focus.
ER  -