From “acting reading” to reading for acting: a case study of the transformational power of reading

Barden, Owen (2009) From “acting reading” to reading for acting: a case study of the transformational power of reading. Journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 53 (4). pp. 293-302. ISSN 1936-2706

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Abstract

In this study the author charts the trajectory of an adolescent student's identity, from being a struggling reader to a competent reader and successful young actor. The author argues that reading is central to our ability to make sense of both our inner selves and our surroundings, and that it is therefore imperative that unskilled readers are given opportunities to improve. A modified Neurological Impress Method Plus is shown to contribute to the focus student's substantial improvements in reading, and to the positive evolution of her sense of identity. Qualitative and quantitative data are combined to provide a vivid account of the student's relationship with reading. Analysis of this relationship helps to challenge some assumptions about the relationship between adolescence, identity, and dyslexia. The article finishes with suggestions for teaching reading with teenage students who have been labelled poor readers.