AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFORMATIONAL TEXT GENRE IN BASAL READERS

Abstract

This study examined the quantity of informational literature found in six basal readers at grades two, four, and six. Constant analysis was used to analyze the literary forms present in each student text. The authors identified each genre in each basal at each grade level by determining 1) the number of selections representing each genre and 2) the number of pages devoted to each genre. The most frequently found selections at all levels were fiction (45%), poetry (29%), and informational literature (18%). The mean percentage of selections devoted to informational literature ranged from 16%-20% across grade levels. The largest number of pages was devoted to fiction (66%), followed by informational literature (20%), biography (6%), poetry (5%), and plays (3%). The mean percentage of pages devoted to informational literature ranged from 18%-24% across grade levels. Overall, 20% of the pages at all grade levels was devoted to informational literature. The findings confirmed those of earlier studies, and demonstrated the need for publishers to devote more attention to information literature.