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TOPIC 4

SELECTION CRITERIA OF TEXTS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS



4.0 SYNOPSIS
This topic discusses some of the factors you should consider when choosing
books for children; childrens reading preferences and interests; visual elements
of artistic design/styles/media/techniques and the integration of visual arts and
literature; suitabality of the content in terms of culture and level of proficiency;
and moral values.

4.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this Session, you will be able to:
select suitable texts for children in terms of cultural content, visual effects,
language, interest and moral values
design a checklist of criteria for book selection

4.2 FRAMEWORK OF TOPICS


Select ion
Criteria of Texts
for Young
Learners



Language
level and
potential




Interest



Cul tural
content/
suitabi lity



Visual
features

Moral Values
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Choosing the right book may be the most difficult, and most important, part of
teaching literature. In a study of the increasing popularity of using literature in the
second language classroom, Radhika O'Sullivan (1991, Selecting Literature section,
para. 1) observed that, "It is all very well to point out the advantages of teaching
literature but the key to success in using literature in the ESL classroom depends
primarily on the works selected." If the selection is too easy, students will feel bored
and you will have difficulty designing enough activities. If the selection is too difficult,
students will feel frustrated and you will be overwhelmed. There are a few factors to
consider when selecting books for children and they are discussed below.


4.2.1 Language level and potential
How do you select texts or books that are suitable for your students? The
text should neither be too difficult nor too easy for them. Thus, you might
have to consider materials that are more suitable for your students level of
proficiency. When selecting texts you will need to consider their readability
level. Readability refers to the combination of lexical and structural difficulty
(McRae, 1991; Nutall, 1982). A text should be at the right level of difficulty for
the students. The focus here is on the linguistic difficulty of the text which
includes both lexical and structural difficulty. Lexical difficulty refers
vocabulary or words while structural difficulty refers to the sentence length,
complexity and grammatical structures.

How do you assess the students language level? You need to know your
students well in order to have an accurate idea of what vocabulary and
structures that the students are familiar with. You can note down all the new
and difficult words or phrases that are found in the literary text that you are
considering for the class or the library. By doing this, you are able to gauge
the level of the language of the book for your students.

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When we assess the language level of the childrens book , we need to bear
in mind the following:
i. Is the language of the book simple and direct?
ii. Does it use simple phrases or sentence patterns,
iii. Is there a limited amount of text on each page,
iv. Does the repetitive text offer a reader-friendly experience for
English learners at a beginning proficiency level.

Students In the Malaysian classroom are of mixed ability. Therefore, it is
advisable that the teacher solve this problem by choosing books for the
majority of the class. At the same time, students at a lower level of proficiency
can be given books that are deemed suitable for them.

Age group, per say, will not necessarily render completely in your choices, as
many levels and types of levels in both reading and developmental, will
probably be presented in each group of children. Whether the books you are
choosing will be read or read to your child or group of children, will also be a
factor. Other questions to ask on your search for the right books are,
Are the books you are choosing going to provide enjoyment, an overall
positive experience, and teach them something along the way?
Will it get them asking appropriate questions?
Will you be able to draw from it or transition into other activities, if that
is a goal?

4.2.2 Visual features
When choosing books for children, it is vital to consider the visual features
that a book has. Many children mentioned the illustrations when asked about
what attracted them to a book. The bright colours of an East African setting
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may entice children into searching camouflaged animals. J agged lines and
dark colours may excite children with the prospect of dangerous adventures
while delicate lines and pastel colours may set children to dream about
fairyland.


Line
Artist use lines to suggest direction, motion, energy and mood. Herring (1997,
p.40) in Norton (2003) defines the importance of line when he states, I
regard line as essential to beauty in any work of art. Lines can be thin or
wide, light or heavy, feathery or jagged; straight or curved. According to
authorities in art and art history, line is extremely important in childrens book
illustration. Feldman (1992) states that line is the most crucial element for the
following reasons:

i) Line is familiar to virtually everyone because of experience with a
drawing and writing;
ii) Line is definite, assertive, intelligible; it is precise and unambiguous; it
commits artists to specific statements;
iii) Line conveys meaning through its identification with natural
phenomena;
iv) Line leads the eye and involves viewers in the lines destiny;
v) Lines permits eyes to do as children do when getting to know the
world; handle objects and feel their contours.

Feldmans discussion of the relationship between line and natural phenomena
is relevant to people involved with children and the illustration found in
literature for them. Vertical lines, for example, look like tress in a windless
landscape or like people who stand rather than move. Consequently, they
suggest lack of movement. Horizontal lines, such as the surface of a placid
lake or a flat horizon, suggest calm, sleep, stability, and an absence of strife.
Most young children use a horizontal baseline in their drawings to convey the
idea of the firm ground upon which they walk.
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Vertical lines and horizontal lines joined at right angles depict artificial
elements that differ considerably from the natural world of irregular and
approximate shapes. In contrast, diagonal lines suggest loss of balance and
uncontrolled motion unless they form a triangle that rests on a horizontal
base, which suggests safety. In both human design and nature, jagged lines
have connotations of breakdown and destruction. Consequently, jagged
lines suggest danger.

Colour
Colour plays an extremely important role in illustration. Combining lines and
colour is perhaps the most common way in which artists convey mood and
emotion in picture books.

Many colours are associated with natural phenomena. Red, yellow and
oranges are most associated with fire, sun and blood and they usually have
warm or hot connotations; friendliness, high energy or anger. Blues, greens
and some violets are most associated with air, water and plant life and their
coolness or coldness can suggest moods and emotions ranging from
tranquillity to melancholy.

To select childrens books, one has to evaluate the illustrators use of colours
by considering how well the colour language of the artist conveys or
complements the mood, characters, setting and theme that the writer
develops in words. For example, Paul Goble uses bright colours and black,
in addition to strong line, to illustrate a desert setting and the tension and
movement of animals and forces of nature in The Girl who Loved Wild
Horses. Similarly, rich, vivid colours attract attention and reinforce the happy
mood of exploration in Denise Flemings In The Small, Small Pond. Printed in
black the text stands out against the colourful illustration.

Shape
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Shape is defined geometrically circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, triangles
and so on. A good artist is aware of the predominant shapes in an illustration
and these shapes help to elicit emotional reactions. Rounded shapes may
suggest emotional reactions similar to those of the curved and circular lines,
that is comfort, security, stability. Squarish, angular shapes may elicit more
excitable responses, agitation, alarm, confusion. Bemelmans illustration of
Madeline (refer pg 126, Figure 7.1 in Russell, 2006) contrasts the squat
shapes of the little girls with their flat, wide-brimmed hats, with the tall,
commanding shape of the nun her figure is nearly as long as the entire line
of girls.

Texture
One of the illusions the artist creates to give a flat surface (the paper) the
characteristics of a three-dimensional surface the suggestion of fur, wood,
grain, smooth silk, and so on. This artistic quality is referred to as texture.
An artist who wants to emphasize the realistic quality of a picture may pay
great attention to texture. For example, by using the furry texture. However,
the less realistic styles may make use of texure to enrich the visual
experience and to stimulate the viewers imagination.

Composition
The composition of an illustration refers to the arrangement of the details in
the picture. Composition is important to the narrative quality of the picture as
well as to its emotional impact. One of the first concern of composition is the
organization of the shapes. For example, grouping many shapes may
suggest stability, enclosure, or confinement or perhaps awkwardness. On
the other hand, lighter, delicate shapes more loosely grouped may suggest
movement, grace, freedom.

In addition to the organization of objects, artists must also consider where
best to place the focal point, from what angle the picture is to be viewed, and
what mood is to be conveyed.

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Books with a lot of visual features help provide scaffolding as students begin
by reading the pictures. This method can build confidence and
independenceclearly, an important consideration in building a just right
library for English learners (Hadaway, Vardell, & Young, 2002). In addition,
teachers might want to try a stairstep approach with picture books that
address the same topic or theme at various levels of complexity. Repetition of
vocabulary and ideas is an excellent technique for language development. For
instance, when studying wolves, teachers might begin with J im Arnoskys
Wolves (2001). This book provides a simple introduction to wolves with one
line of text per two-page illustrated spread.


4.2.3 Interest
Interest is an extremely important factor to be considered when selecting texts
for children. Margaret Early (1992/1993) states, Decades of experience have
shown that children are more likely to develop as thoughtful readers when
they are pursuing content that interests them.

The results of a good number of studies reveal agreement of types of subject
matter that appeal to students of a particular age level and support the notion
that interests change with age. Monson and Sebesta (1991), found that
children in the first and second grade (age between 6-8 years old) prefer
stories about animals, nature, fantasy while children in the third and fourth
grade (age between 8-10 years old) continue to be interested in nature and
animals and begin to develop interest in adventure and familiar experiences.

Boys and girls also seem to have different interests. Boys in the fifth and sixth
grade are interested in war, travel and mystery while girls prefer animal
stories westerns and fairy tales. As they grow older, boys prefer science
fiction, mysteries, adventure stories, biographies, history and stories about
animals and sports. In contrast, girls prefer mysteries; romances; stories
about animals, religion, careers, humorous stories and biographies. Both girls
and boys have an increased interest in historical fiction, romantic fiction,
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nonfiction and books dealing with adolescence. On the whole, all children like
books that contain humour and adventure.

While this information can provide some general ideas about what subjects
and authors that children of certain ages, sexes and reading abilities prefer,
teachers should not develop stereotyped views about childrens preferences.
Without asking questions about interests, there is no way to learn for
example, what a ten year old child likes to read since research into childrens
interest does not indicate that a ten year old child likes to read Shakespeares
plays. Therefore, informal conversation is one of the simplest ways to uncover
childrens interests. Ask a child to describe what he or she likes to do and
read about. Usually, teachers should record this information when working a
number of children.

4.2.4 Cultural content/suitabil ity
It is important that the content of the book should be interesting enough for
the students to want to read it (Wallace, 1999; Nutall, 1992). There are
differences in what will captivate and delight different readers. Whatever it is,
childrens literature book should motivate the students to read on. The
content also needs to be familiar enough so that students have the relevant
schemata or prior knowledge. The content should be written in such a way
that it challenges the students thinking and promotes new knowledge or
perceptions. Ideally, the content should also not be culturally biased.

Rafiah (2000), states that to help readers in comprehending text, the content
of text must be culturally familiar to the students especially at the initial
stage. Second language readers with a low level proficiency or beginners
need to be given texts that are culturally related to help in understanding.
This is because if the language is simple and they can associate the content
to their culture, comprehension will be easier to take place. However, readers
with high level proficiency or fluent readers can be given text that are
culturally unrelated because fluent readers can both identify forms and
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interpret meanings. Fluent readers pay more attention to overall prediction of
meaning rather than reading word by word.

Reading texts which have ideas far beyond the students' comprehension
would be deemed unsuitable. If the students are given a culturally unfamiliar
text, they would have difficulty in effective comprehending because they
presuppose cultural background knowledge and experiences that they do
not have. Therefore, teachers need to be careful in text selection
especially if the students come from diversed cultural background. Fiction
titles that spring from the students cultures are ideal in providing familiarity
for ease of comprehension as well as for identifying with story characters.


4.2.5 Moral values
Acquiring moral standards is an important part of a childs social development.
Preschool children start to develop concepts of right and wrong when they
identify with their parents and with parental values, attitudes, and standards
of conduct.

There are so many books out there that we can read to our children to help
teach them important values in life. Its hard sometimes to see what the value
may be in some books, so we want to make sure that what we are teaching
our children is important and something we ourselves hold dear.

Literature that has been written especially for children reflects the philosophy
of the culture in which it is written. The purpose is to entertain, teach a
valuable life lesson and lay a foundation for future learning. Puritan children's
literature was intended to provide religious and moral education, but in
modern times that purpose has diminished in importance, and the focus has
turned to teaching children about valuing themselves and respecting others.

Values can be communicated to children at all stages of development. Even
early as the first stage, birth to kindergarten, children become familiar with
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literature through "nursery rhymes, folktales, picture books, cereal boxes and
anything else that shows that fun and profit can be gained from the printed
word. Children at the concrete operations stage between grades three to six
can learn great truths while experiencing imaginative works of literature for the
sheer joy they provide.

Childrens literature contains moments of crisis, when characters make moral
decisions and contemplate the reasons for their decisions. If adults expect
children to understand the decision-making process of characters in a story,
they should be aware of the level of the decisions that the characters are
making and consider whether or not the children are at a stage when they can
appreciate those decisions.

Based on the above discussion, it is pertinent that when selecting childrens
books, teachers need to ensure that there are moral values which children
can distinguished from the characters, plot or themes. Apart from that,
highlighting moral values amongst children is necessary as it part of the
Malaysian primary school curriculum. Moral values need to be mentioned
explicitly after children have read their books.

Books selected for English second language learners should be appropriate
for the age and interest level of the children. This task is more complex than it
sounds because the typical grade level suitability may not apply. The maturity,
backgrounds (family, cultural, language, and knowledge), and interests of
these learners vary tremendously from rural to urban.
Therefore, when evaluating potential books, teachers should look at:
The length and complexity of the story. Simple, short stories with
repetitive language work best for young learners.
Does the book look overwhelming? Type that is too small, or too many
words on a page, can intimidate young students.
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The level of vocabulary. How much of it will be review for your students?
If students know less than 75% - 80% of the vocabulary, they may lose
confidence in their ability to understand the story.

Illustrations should be interesting and should help students understand
both the vocabulary and the story.
Finally, select a book that you think you will enjoy. It will be difficult to
convince students to be enthusiastic about a story you don't like.




Task 1
In your folio, record what you understand by line, colour, shape, composition and
texture?
For further reading on this topic:
1. Chapter 7, Russel l, L. (2005). Literature For Children. A Short Introduction.
2. Chapter , Norton, D.E. (2006). Through the eyes of a child. An introduction to
Childrens Literature.


Task 2
1. Design a checklist for selecting texts for young learners. What key features
would you include?
2. Look at the texts selected in Tutorial 1. Do they meet the criteria in your
checklist?







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REFERENCES
Brown, (2004) Using Chlidrens literature with young learners. The Internet TESL
Journal, 10:2. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Brown
ChildrensLit.html

Mcrae, J . (1991). Literature with a small l. London: MacMillan Publishers.

Norton, D.E. (2006). Through the eyes of a child. An introduction to Childrens
Literature. (6
th
Ed.). New J ersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Nutall, C. (1987). Teaching skills in a foreign language. London: Heinemann.

Rafiah Abdul Rahman. (2000). The effect of cultural familiarity on reading
comprehension performance. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Universiti
Putra Malaysia.

Russell, D.L. (2005). Literature For Children. A Short Introduction. (5
th
Ed.)
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Vardell, S.M., Hadaway, N.L. & Yong, T.A. (2006). Matching books and readers:
Selecting literature for English learners. The Reading Teacher, pp. 734-741,
59:8.

Babbley, F. (2012). What factors and criteria to consider when selecting and
evaluating books for children. Retrieved on J uly 15 2012 from
http://friedababbley.hubpages.com/hub/factors-for-selecting-and-evaluating-
books-for-children


Take a break first before you move on to the next topic.


Prepared by:
Rafiah Abdul Rahman, PhD
IPG Kampus Tun Hussein Onn