A Comparison of Three Techniques of Teaching Literature: Silent Reading, Solo Performance, and Readers Theatre.

The purpose of this study was to compare the responses of students to three techniques of teaching literature: silent reading, solo performance, and readers theatre. Three hundred seventy-one students in three classes each in ninth and eleventh grades in three high schools in the north Texas area received three presentations of three short stories. Each class read one short story silently; each class heard one short story presented in the technique of readers theatre; and each class heard one short story presented by solo performance. Immediately after each presentation the students were administered a semantic differential test (to determine which technique of presentation stimulated the most appreciation of literature) and a short objective comprehension test. Retention and appreciation were tested ten days later with the same tests. Some of the results indicated that appreciation was higher for the readers theatre technique than either solo performance or silent reading, and solo performance evoked a higher level of appreciation than did silent reading. Loss of comprehension was smaller for readers theatre than for the other methods of presentation. The results of the experiment remained consistent regardless of which story was presented. (Author/MKM)