A Reader\u27s Experience: How Teachers Can Utilize Literature Circles and Reader Response Theory in an All-Male Environment to Evaluate Reader Engagement, Motivation, and Identifying with a Text

This teacher-research project was implemented in an all-male eighth grade English Language Arts classroom in order to identify reader motivation, engagement, and identifying with a text through literature circles; utilizing reader response theory. The researcher wanted to discover if the pedagogical practice of literature circles was effective in motivating and engaging readers so that they could better identify with a text and their peers in a classroom setting. The researcher is defining reader response theory as an examination of the transaction between a reader and a text. To determine the effectiveness of these strategies, the researcher introduced a unit that incorporated literature circle roles and meetings three times a week for four weeks. During the unit, the researcher collected beginning, middle, and end-of unit surveys, semi structured interviews from the five groups, student writing assignments, and took observation notes. This study was conducted for approximately one month in an 8th grade English class in the southern region of the United States. This qualitative project’s approach was to examine if a student’s cultural background affected how they identified with a text and intrinsic motivation, particularly with a text of their choice; utilizing the reader response theory. This study also evaluated the practices of literature circles in the all-male environment and its effects on reader engagement and collaboration