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Ella Wydrzynska
Research Student,
Contact
Research Summary
Current Status
PhD (full-time) - currently registered
Research Topic
Making Non-Readers Read: using stylistic analyses to explore the literary engagement of low-attainers in Key Stage 3.
Research Summary
My thesis considers the language of children's fiction, an area of literature that has historically been dismissed as too easy, or beneath the intellectual value of serious academics. However, in reality children's fiction is rife with linguistic and structural complexity, and I have previously examined the works of Pseudonymous Bosch to highlight this point (at UG and MA level). I now intend to build on my existing research, applying stylistic analyses to a much wider range of texts aimed at children aged 7-12 (Junior Fiction/Younger Readers). These I shall compare against material commonly used to satisfy the National Curriculum and, in conjunction with empirical research involving student interviews, I aim to establish whether there is enough stylistic complexity in popular children's fiction to warrant it being used in the classroom to help engage low-attaining students.
Research Supervisors
Prof. Peter Stockwell
Dr Violeta Sotirova
Primary Funding Source
Midlands3Cities