The Same but Different: Making Meaning from Modified Texts with Cross-cultural Themes

Abstract

Reader response theory provides the framework for the present study that explored literary elements and cultural responses of fifth-grade students to two modified versions of a cross-cultural text, Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz. One group of students read the first chapter of the book and another group read a modified basal reader version that had deleted cultural information. Group discussions of the texts were videotaped and transcribed. Through constant comparative analysis of field notes and transcripts, two themes emerged: (a) personal interest and connections to stories and (b) cultural implications and misinterpretations.