A Contrast of Fiction and Non-fiction Texts

Entry #9

What types of texts exist in our world? Newspapers, encyclopedias, magazines, textbooks, poetry, research articles, novels, short stories, essays, graphs, data tables, billboards…the list abounds with both narrative and expository works. More and more, younger students are being exposed to expository texts as well as works of fiction. How might this pose challenges to English language learners? Some text features are helpful to ELLs and some cause challenges.

Double Bubble Map Comparing Fiction and Non-fiction Text Features

RED = challenges ELLs

GREEN = supports ELLs

SUPPORTS:

Pictures and Picture Captions: ELLs should find text that has pictures and picture captions easier to read than text that has none. Pictures provide ELLs with a different access point to the text, and they are able to use the pictures to add to their knowledge.  If a student is reading a text with no pictures, the student should try to create a nonlinguistic representation to aid them in their comprehension.

Table of Contents & Index: A table of contents at the beginning of the book and an index at the end helps students locate information in a work of fiction or nonfiction quickly. These can be challenging to an ELL student if they are unfamiliar with the text feature, but once they are explicitly taught how to use these features, they are supports.

Glossary: Glossaries can be good for students to immediately access a definition for an unfamiliar word. However, because only specific words are included in the glossary, ELL students would find a dictionary more comprehensive for their needs and would experience less frustration.

CHALLENGES:

Setting & Theme: In works of fiction, the setting for the story and the theme or message being conveyed may be difficult for ELL students due to cultural bias. Children’s books selected by schoolteachers in the U.S. are often set in familiar places or places the students are learning about. Themes may be colloquial or use idioms. An ELL must first overcome the cultural bias of a book, and then make meaning of it.

Varying Font Type: Authors use different types of font to draw a reader’s attention to text or to delineate differences in the story parts. ELLs may see the differences in fonts and become frustrated because they will know that there is some reason for the difference but cannot decode the meaning.