School of English

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Image of Ella Wydrzynska

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

School of English

Trent Building
The University of Nottingham
University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5900
email: english-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk