Making Non-readers Read: using stylistic analyses to explore the literary engagement of low-attainers in Key Stage 3

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This project will compare the stylistic sophistication of children's literature with texts commonly set bythe KS3 curriculum through a variety of stylistic analyses. It will address how some texts engage, or failto engage, the target readership of Year 7 students, particularly concerning low-attainers within thatcohort.I shall begin with a comprehensive analysis of a variety of children's texts, selected for their stylisticsalience, critical acclaim and existing popularity among the target audience of 7-12 year-olds. Buildingon my MA dissertation, I aim to identify recurrent techniques that help children of this age engage withliterature, such as personalised narrators, familiar characters and viewpoint. As academic study onthis material is virtually non-existent, this work in itself will be ground-breaking. I shall then apply thesame analyses to texts commonly used on the KS3 curriculum (including pre-1914 material) toestablish whether contemporary children's literature offers a comparable degree of stylisticsophistication. I shall assess the stylistic complexity of both sets of material and examine whetherstylistic features are key to engagement and understanding for Year 7 students. This will enable me toconsider whether some aspects of KS3 English might be as effectively addressed throughcontemporary children's literature, and whether this would increase engagement in schools,particularly among low-attainers. I will then test these findings with a pilot study of interviews with Year7 students.This is a logical continuation of my existing research, in which I have consistently taken a stylisticapproach to literature for 7-12 year-olds, as stylistics offers a unique way of assessing engagement byfocusing on reader-response. The University of Nottingham has an established reputation in the fieldof stylistics, with leading experts such as Peter Stockwell and Violeta Sotirova, who has relevantexperience conducting reader-response based research.