Answer to Question #234427 in English for Thombie

Question

1.1 The purpose of studying theories is to help you gain deeper insight into and understanding of various ideas that theorists hold, the debates and discourses involved in reading, as well as how behaviour and motivation are interrelated and influence the reading process. With this in mind, provide a critical analysis of the effectiveness of the reader-response theory. (5)

1.2 Pressely and Allington (2015) and Pretorius at al (2016) agree that children who emerge from poor communities generally have smaller vocabularies than children who emerge from more affluent communities. Justify this statement. (5)

Answer 1

1.1 Reader response stresses the importance of the reader's role in interpreting texts. Rejecting the idea that there is a single, fixed meaning inherent in every literary work, this theory holds that the individual creates his or her own meaning through a "transaction" with the text based on personal associations.

At its most basic level, reader-response criticism considers readers' reactions to literature as vital to interpreting the meaning of the text. However, reader-response criticism can take a number of different approaches. A critic deploying reader-response theory can use a psychoanalytic lens, a feminist lens, or even a structuralist lens. What these different lenses have in common when using a reader-response approach is they maintain "...that what a text is cannot be separated from what it does" 

1.2 Language development, reading ability, and academic success are all heavily influenced by socioeconomic position. Poverty is undeniably linked to differences in reading and language development. Poverty levels are associated with a decrease in phonological awareness, vocabulary, and syntax throughout the various stages of development. Children's physical and mental health, as well as their learning ability, are greatly influenced by family or parental emotional turmoil. Similarly, low-income parents are stressed out by their job or a lack of work, as well as stress from not having enough money to pay for basic essentials like rent, food, and clothing. As a result of this emotional anguish, harsher, more authoritarian parenting practices emerge, perhaps reducing opportunities for loving and affectionate interactions. As a result, youngsters feel worried and emotionally affected, resulting in poor reading and language development skills. Parental involvement is critical to their children's academic achievement. Parents who participate in their children's schooling have a favorable effect on their reading and language development. Low-income parents, on the other hand, frequently lack the time to help their children meet their fundamental needs. Even if low-income parents want to be involved in their children's education, getting their children aid might be difficult if they lack fundamental knowledge, language skills, time, or money.