Tài liệu Some techniques in improving students’ ielts general reading skill in doing matching headings into paragraphs task for 11 specilalized high school

TI G H H I : 15 CHUYÊN ĐỀ Some techniques in improving students’ IELTS General Reading skill in doing matching headings into paragraphs task for 11th English major students in Son La Gifted High School. 1 TABLE OF CONTENT I. INTRODUCTION ` 1. Rationale 2. Aim of sudy 3. Scope of study 4. Methods of study 5. Significant of study 6. Results of the reading pre-rest II. CONTENT 1. Literature review 1.1: Definitions of reading comprehension 2. Introduction into IELTS 3. IELTS reading skills 3.1: Scanning and Skimming 3.1.1: Skimming 3.1.2: Scanning 3.2: Identifying main ideas and details 3.3: Understanding opinion 4. Description of the matching headings into paragraphs task 4.1. How to prepare for this task 4.2. Some suggested techniques to do the IELTS reading matching headings into paragraphs task 5. Lesson plans III. CONLUSION 1. Results obtained 2. Suggestions for futher study IV. REFERENCE 2 I. INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study. In Vietnam, English has been brought into the school curriculum as a compulsory subject, and the teaching and learning of that international language has been recently paid great attention to. When teaching English, the teacher teaches his students not only the English language but also its usage. Moreover, under the right guidance, right help of the teacher, the students have to try their best to master 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to communicate in English successfully. In Son La Specialized High School, there are 210 periods in the cirriculum of English subject for English major students, especially there are 70 thematic periods. It means that students have a lot of time to practise 4 language skills in class. With the teacher’s guidance, student get used to doing IELTS test in thematic periods. Futhermore, they have to face with many difficult exerices taken from IELTS, TOEFL... in some examinations for gifted students. Recognizing the importance of how to improve students’ reading ability when doing IELTS Reading Tests , I decide on choosing “ Some techniques in improving students’ IELTS General Reading skill in doing matching headings into paragraphs task for 11th English major students in Son La Specialized High School.” 2. Aims of the study The specific aim of the study is as follows: - Suggesting useful techniques to improve students’ IELTS General Reading skill, in partically, matching headings into paragraphs task for 11th English major students in Son La Specialized High School.” 3. Scope of the study Due to the limitation, all the techniques suggested are used in thematic periods for reading skill. And the object of this study is the 11th English major students at Son La Specialized High school. 4. Methods of the study To implement this study, the following methods are used: - Consulting related materials: For the sake of getting knowledge and useful ideas, I read many IELTS books especially about IELTS reading. 3 - Trial teaching reading lessons: Teacher teach some lessons based on the suggested techniques. 5. Significance of the study. The findings of the study are believed to be useful for students to improve their reading skills in doing IELTS reading test. 6. Result of the reading pre-test (without teacher’s guiding) Excellent Good Fair Weak Total Number % Number % Number % Number % 2 7,7 6 23,0 8 30,8 10 38,5 26 II. CONTENT 1. Literature review 1.1. Definitions of reading comprehension In teaching reading, it is necessary to understand the nature of reading comprehension. What the teacher understands about it will have a great influence on what he or she teaches in the class. He would know what to teacher and how to make his reading lesson effectively. In fact, methodologists have been providing different definitions of reading comprehension. ccording to Grellet (1981: 3): “Reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible.” The author means that reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding the meaning of word combination in the text in the most efficient way. Also concerning the reading comprehension, Richard and Good (1978:9) provide a clearer point of view: “Reading comprehension is est descri ed as an understanding etween the author and the reader. The emphasis is on the reader understanding of the printed page based on the individual reader’s unique ackground of experience. Reading is much than just pronouncing words correctly or simply what the author intends. It is the process whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to an individual” According to the above authors, reading comprehension is not only simply understanding what is written, but also is what stimulates students to remember from their 4 experiences. That knowledge is then used to get meaning out of printed page, but in the mind of the readers which included not only facts or details but also emotion, belief and critical evaluation. From these opinions, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is a process of understanding what is conveyed in the text. It does not mean that the reader needs to understand every single word in the text but actively work on the text and extract the required information efficiently. 2.INTRODUCTION TO IELTS IELTS stands for international English Language Testing System. It is a test of English language skills designed for students who want to study in the medium English either at university, collegue or sesondary school. There are two versions of the test: the Academic Module and the General Module. Students wishing to study at postgraduate or undergraduate level should take the Academic Module. The General Module is designed for those candidates who plan to undertake training or secondary school education. Overview of the test The test is in four part reflecting four basic language skills: + Listening taken by all candidates + Reading: Academic or General training + Writing: Academic or General training + Speaking taken by all candidates However, in this reaserch I only focus on teaching IELTS reading in General Training thus I only provide the overview of the IELTS READING TEST. General No of Traing items Dissscourse type Questions types Target reading Skills Reading 60 mins 40 Total of 2,000 – 2,750 Up to 4 per cent words 5 13 – 14 Section 1 Social or transactional + Social texts taken Survival everyday Paragraph + scanning and from headings skimming situations. + Short answers + reading for Up to 3 texts are + Multiple choice detail possible. +Sentence + understaning completion main ideas 13 – 14 Section 2 Course related texts + Notes/ summary/ + understanding Course drawn Reading educational or traing table completion from an diagram/ flow chart/ opinion context but focusing + Maching attitude lists/ + on survival needs of phrases students. and inferring meaning + True/ False/ Not 13 - 14 Given Section 3 Descriptive or + Classification General narrative reading extended prose on a writer’s text of + Identification of topic of geral interest. views/ claims + Yes, No, Not given 3. IELTS READING SKILLS Because I make a reseach a out how to improve students’ IELTS reading skill in doing maching headins into paragraphs type. To do well this type students need to have a good reading skill. Good reading skills are vital for academic studies. The IELTS exam test students ability to use a variety of reading skills. It is very important to identify which skills arew being tested in each question and to apply them appropriately. The main reading skills tested in IELTS are: + Skimming and scanning + Understanding main ideas + Reading for detail + Understaning opinions 3.1: Scanning and skimming 2.1.1. Skimming 6 Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension. It is one of specific reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading. There have been many definitions of skimming. Grabe and Stoller (2002:266) state that skimming is a specialized type of reading in which thereader reads quickly for general understanding of the text and for the gist of the passage. In line with this, Nutall (1982:34) states that skimming means glancingrapidly through a text to determine its gist. Further, Brown (2004:213) also definesskimming as the process of rapid coverage of reading matter to determine its gist or main idea. In other words, skimming is reading for gist. In this term, Douglas Brown has the same opinion but it is clearer than that of above author. He wrote: “Skimming consists of quickly running eyes across the whole text for its gist. Skimming gives readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic, or massage, or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas.” Considering the two opinions, it can be concluded that skimming is a skill that enables readers to get the main point of the text without being concerned with details. They only go through the text very fast to get general sense or the gist of it. In brief, skimming is a very useful study technique to help the learner organize his thoughts and specify what information he can get from a book, so that his reading is more efficient. Hence, skimming should be applied in teaching reading to help students have an overview of what they read. 2.1.2. Scanning Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in reading efficiently. Douglas (2001:308) defines scanning as follows: “Scanning was quickly searching for some particular piece or pieces of information in a text” Sharing the same opinion with Douglas Brown, Williams (2001:100) emphasizes: “Scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a particular point of information.” It reveals the key to scanning is to decide exactly what kind of information we are looking for and where to find it. In addition, Grellet (1981:19) gives a more detailed definition of scanning: “When scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow the linearity of 7 passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose.” These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does not need to read form cover to cover, they only look for the information they want by running their eyes rapidly along the lines. It can be practised with the great range of texts such as dictionaries, map, advertisements, labels, etc. This kind of reading is very useful in reading selectively. In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques for quick and efficient reading. It is advisable to make use of them to improve reading comprehension skills for students in reading classes. They are important skills to use on the IELTS exam. However, they are used for different goals. Skimming should be used during the IELTS when students need to quickly read for just main idea of a text, without thinking about specificdetails. It involves selective reading of the most important parts of thetext to find out how the text is organized and get general idea of what the text is about. Scannning should be used when you need to read to find specific pieces of information such as names, dates and facts. Skimming and scanning are called “ ena ling skills”. This means that they will help students tackle most questions in the IELTS reading test, including for example: multiple choice questions, completing a table, maching opinions and phrases, labelling a diagram. 3.2: Identifying main ieads and details. Text are divided into paragraphs to make them easier to read. A text is usually organized in the following way: + Introduction: theme, statement and objective + Paragraph 2: topic, supporting point or details + Paragraph 3: topic, supporting point or details + Conclusion: summary and restatement of main iead In the introduction, the writer usually outlines what he or she is going to write about and the main issues to be raised. Each paragraph usually deals with one key issue, which is stated in a topic sentence and possibly summarized in the last sentence of the paragraph. Supporting details are used to develop and explain the main idea of the paragraph. In the IELTS reading test, students’ understanding of main idea will e showed y matching headings into paragraphs in a text, in contrast students’ understanding of main idea may e 8 tested in sentence completion, short answer questions, multiple choice or summary completion exercises. 3.3: Understanding Opinion An opinion is a personal belief which may or may not true. It is different from a fact, which is a statement known to be true or based on generally accepted evidence. In texts, opinions are usually introduced by phrases such as: + Professor Jones argues that... + Several experts claim that... + It is a commonly held belief that... + In Harriet’s view, ... + Many scientists suspect that... Facts, on the other hand, might be introduced by phrases such as: + According to the latest statistics, ... + Scientists have discovered that... + Research findings confirm that... + As has been frequently demonstrated,... When answering questions related to the writer’s opinion, candidates should e careful not to allow their own opinions to interfere with their choice of answer. As IELTS passages are acadenic texts, they usually contain arguments and opinions. Sometimes, a passage presents the writer’s opinion on a su ject; sometimes a passage presents the wrtiter’s view and other experts. A number of different questions may test how well candidates can identify opinions including, for example, matching questions, multiple choice questions and Yes, No, Not given questions. 4. Description of the matching headings into paragraphs task In this task type, which often appears in the exam, candidates are given a text with 5 to 7 paragraph headings missing. They must select the right paragraph headings from a list. 9 Depending on the length and difficulty of the text and the number of paragraph headings, they will have between 5 and 8 minutes to do this task. There are always more paragraph headings than paragraphs, so they won't need to use all of the paragraph headings that are given. There will always also be some other different reading tasks for detailed understanding to do with the same text. 4.1. How to prepare for this task As this task tests candidates’ ability to read a text quickly and get a general understanding of it, they will need to practice reading newspapers etc. quickly and naturally without a dictionary. Most native speakers do not read every newspaper article through to the end, as all the important and new information is usually given at the beginning of the article. Reading a newspaper or magazine this natural way can help with this IELTS task and save their time and effort. Every time students do this task in their textbook or as part of a real IELTS exam reading, make sure that they know how to manage their time and keep to the time limit. After they have finished all the tasks for the text they can then go back and read more slowly and use their dictionary if they like. Planning all their writing in English (and even in your their language) carefully before they start writing and deciding a clear topic for each paragraph or section can also help them understand how texts are organised in this way. 4.2. Some suggested techniques to do the IELTS reading matching headings into paragraphs task + Read through all the paragraph headings first to familiarise with them . + Start reading the first paragraph quickly. Underline the most important information in the paragraph as reading, especially things that seem to match one of the paragraph headings. + Re-read paragraph A and the example heading. + Re-read paragraph B and select the heading that best fits this paragraph. If you think there is more than one, mark them both and come back to this paragraph later. + Repeat this procedure with the rest of the paragraphs. 10 5. Lesson plan 5.1 TOPIC 1: Energy from Biological Sources Class: 11 English Time: 45 minutes Main reading skill: Identifying main ideas Reading level: IELTS READING TEST (GENERAL MODULE) Specific objectives: At the end of the lesson Ss will be able to do the task with the highest correct answers. Prior Knowledge: students know about sources of natural and alternative energy through unit 10 in English 11 advanced textbook. Teaching aids: - Reading text - Handouts - Pictures about sources of energy Procedure: Teacher’s activities Students’ activities I. Pre-reading (5 mins) *) Matching pictures with sources of energy: -Tell Ss to look at the pictures about wind, -Listen to the teacher’s guide carefully then coal, soalar energy, oil, bio gas..... and match answers them with words or phrases for the sources of -Give answers energy. -Check with the whole class. -Ask Ss which source of energy they use for home cooking and heating and the reason why. II. While-reading (35 mins) - Deliver handouts for students (SEE -Listen to the teacher’s guide carefully 11 APPENDIX) - Guide students how to do the task. + Read through all the paragraph - Take note. headings first to familiarise with them . + Start reading the first paragraph quickly. Underline the most important information in the paragraph as reading, especially things that seem to match one of the paragraph headings. + Re-read paragraph A and the example heading. + Re-read paragraph B and select the heading that best fits this paragraph. If you think there is more than one, mark them both and come back to this paragraph later. + Repeat this procedure with the rest of the paragraphs. - Ask students to do the task in 20 minutes individually -Do the task individually - Ask them to exchange answers with their partners - Exchange answers with partners - Ask students to read out their answers - Provide correct answers and give feedback. KEYS: 1. Paragragh B: vii -Read out their answers -Check correct answers 2. Paragraph C: i 3. Paragragh D: v 4. Paragragh E: iv 5. Paragragh F: vi 6. Paragragh G: ii 7. Paragragh H: viii 12 8. Paragragh I: x III. Post-reading (5 mins) - Ask students to work in pairs. - Give them a copy of some paragraphs and -Work in pair and do the task as guided then ask them to think of a suitable title for each paragraph. - heck students’ answers and give feed ack. - Give answers *) APPENDIX HANDOUT: The following reading passage has nine paragraphs A – I. Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B – I from the list of headings below. NB: There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any of the headings more than one. Energy from Biological Sources A. Radiation from the sun is the earth’s primary source of energy. ore than 99 per cent of the processes that are happening on earth are energized by the sun either directly or indirectly. As solar radiation is a permanent and renewable source of energy , why, then, do we have an “ energy crisis?” The pro lem, of course, lies in how to utilizethis energy. It is diffuse and intermittent on a daily and seasonal basis, thus collection and storage costs can be high. But we already have at our disposal a means of capturing and storing a proportion of this energy, and we have always had such a means. It is plant life – the “ iomass”. The process involved is photosynthesis. B. This capture of solar energy and conversion into a stored product occurs, with only a low overall efficiency of about 0,1 per cent on a world-wide basis but because of the adaptablity of plants, it takes place and can be used over most of the earth. C. We should remember two things about this energy source. First, the world’s present and precarious dependence on fossil fuels – first coal , then oil – is only about two hundred years old. Before that, most of the energy required by human beings for heating , coooking, and industrial purpose was supplied from biological sources. By this, we mean mainly wood, or its derivative, charcoal. Secondly, wood still accounts for one sixth of the world’s fuels supply. In the non-OPE developing counties, which contain 40 per cent of the world’s population, non-commercial fuel often comprises up to 90 per cent of their total energy use. 13 With the increasingly doubtful future of fossil fuel supplies fuel from biological sources may have to become even more important. D. Traditional fuels of biological origin include wood, charcoal, agricultural residues such as straw and dried animal dung. With the growth in the world population, there has been increasing pressureon these resources, leading to what is sometimes called the “second energy crisis”. This is more drastic for mandkind than the “first”, or oil crisis. It takes the form of deforestation, with loss of green cover in hot lands, leading to desiccation and the loss of fertile land to desert. E. The threat from both energy cries can be partly met by utilizing the enormous supply of energy built up annually in green plants. The question is, how should this be done? In the past, photosynthesis has given us food, fuel wood, fibre and chemicals. It has also, ultimately, given us the fossil fuels – coal, oil, and natural gas, but these are not renewable while the other products are. Recently, however, with abundant oil, the products of present-day photosynthesis are mainly evident to the developed world as food. We should re-examine and, if possible, re-employ the previous systems; but, with today’s increased population and standard of living, we cannot revert to technology and must instead developnew means of using present-day photosynthesis systems more efficiently. F. Fortunately for us, plants are very adaptable anf exist in great diversity – they could thus continue indefintely to supply us with renewable quantities of food, fibre, fuel and chemicals. If the impending fuel problem which is predicted within the next ten to fifteen years comes about, we may turn to plant products sooner than we expect. Let us be prepared. G. Some basic research can be done centrally, without reference to the conditions in any one country. For example, all plant energy storage depends utimately on the process of photosysthensis. Experiments are being made to see whether this process can either be speeded up, or even reproduced artificially, in order to produce a higher efficiency in energy extraction. Most research should be done locally, however, because of the climatic and vegetation differences, and also because of the difference in the needs and emphasis in varying countries. Such reseach and development is an excellent opportunity to encourage local scientists, engineers and administrators in one field of energy supply. Even if biomass systems do not become significant suppliers of energy in a specific country in the future, the spin-off in terms of benerfits to agriculture, forestry, land use patterns and bioconversion technology is certain to be valuable. H. What are the methods currently in use or under trail for deriving energy from biomass? The first is the traditional use outlined in paragraph C, which may be termed the 14 “non-commercial” use of iomass energy. The second also has a long traditional history: the use of wood-fuel under boilers to generate steam. This has now been revised on an intensive scale. In a study from the Philipines, it has been estimated that a 9,100 hectare fuel wood plantation “ would supply the needs of a 75 megawatt steam power station if it were not more than fifty kilometres distant.” Such a plantation would use a species of fast - growing tree – leucaena leucocephala, or the giant “ipil-ipil”. The investment requirements and cost of power produced looks favourable and competitive with oil-fired power stations of similar capacity. In addition, residues from cropland after harvest and from sawmills could be used as steamproducing fuel. The steam could then be used to generate electricity. I. There are also bioconversion processes to produce liquid fuels such as oil and alcoho. Some fuel oils can be pressed directly from certain crops. Alcohos, on the other hand, can be produced by converting plant material by fermentation. Ethanol (ethyl alcoho) can be extracted from growing plants such as sugar cane, from waste plant material, or from whole grain. Methanol (methyl alcoho) can be produced from coal, wood, sewage, and various waste products. These alcohos have several industrial uses and can also be used as fuels in the internal combustion engines of vehicles. Technology is already advanced, and the main problem is devising ways of collecting enough organic material to make the installations commercially viable. Some crops can be grown specifically for this purpose. In other cases, the installations can make use of the residue, or “trash” produced in the large-scale plantation farming of such crops as sugar cane an pineapple. Another fuel product produced by a fermentation process is fuel gas of various kinds, including a biogas called mehane. Several of these processes can be applied to household or municipal wastes anf refuse – a large and concentrated source in all big towns and cities. *) HEADINGS i. Fuels from biological sources ii. Research and development into biomass systems iii. Solar energy and its utilization iv. The energy crisis and photosynthesis systems v. The second energy crisis vi. Plant power. vii. Efficiency of the solar conversion process viii. Tree biomass ix. Other forms of renewable energy 15 x. Liquid and gaseous fuels from biomass Example: Paragragh A. iii 1. Paragragh B 2. Paragraph C 3. Paragragh D 4. Paragragh E 5. Paragragh F 6. Paragragh G 7. Paragragh H 8. Paragragh I 5.2: TOPIC 2: Children’s Literature Class: 11 English Time: 45 minutes Main reading skill: Identifying main ideas Reading level: IELTS READING TEST (GENERAL MODULE) Specific objectives: At the end of the lesson Ss will be able to do the task with the highest correct answers. Prior Knowledge: students don’t know much a out this topic. Teaching aids: - Reading text - Handouts Procedure Teacher’s activities Students’ activities I. Pre-reading (5 mins) -Ask students to work in pairs and discuss -Work in pairs to discuss about the about the books/ stories they like reading books/stories they like reading most. -Call some students to present their ideas -Present ideas - Give comments II. While-reading (35 mins) 16 -Deliver handouts for students (SEE APPENDIX) - Guide students how to do the task. -Listen to the teacher’s guide - Do paragraph A as a model for students -Take note + Step 1: Read paragraph A carefully and identify the main topic. + Step 2: Look at each option and decide whether it matches the main topic of the paragraph. Suggest some questions for students to answer thw question easily. Questions i – x refer to the corresponding options i – x. i. Is the paragraph mainly about what the writers of children’s ooks believe? ii. Does the paragraph focus on what certain adults think of children’s literature? iii. Does the paragraph mainly talk about what features of children’s literature make it attractive? iv. Does the paragraph focus on a difference between two things? v. Is the paragraph mainly about someting that people incorrectly elieve a out children’s literature? vi. Does the paragraph focus on what people normally say about children’s literature? vii. Does the paragraph mainly compare different features of children’s literature? viii. Is the paragraph mainly about what 17 causes a book to be classified as children’s literature? ix. Is the paragraph mainly about the way various subjects are dealt with in children’s literature? x. Does the paragraph focus on a different view of children’s literature from one already mentioned? + Step 3: When students have chosen their answers for paragraph A, check that it is correct by answering this question: which -Do the task as guided word in the heading you have chosen means the same as “ standard” in paragraph ? -Compare answers with partners + Do the same steps with the rest of questions. -Read out answers - Let students do the task in 20 minutes -Check correct answers individually - Have them compare answers with partners - Ask students to read out their answers - Provide correct answers and give feedback. KEYS: 1. Paragraph A: vi 2. Paragraph B: x 3. Paragraph C: iii 4. Paragraph D: viii 5. Paragraph E: i 6. Paragraph F: iv 7. Paragraph G: ix III. Post-reading(5 mins) - Summarise what students have learnt in the period. - Ask them to share whether they have any -Sharing their difficulties difficulties when doing the task. *) APPENDIX 18 HANDOUT: CHILDREN LITERATURE The following reading passage has seven paragraphs A – G. Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B – G from the list of headings below. NB: There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any of the headings more than one. List of Headings i. Optimistic eliefs held y the writers of children’s literature ii. The attitudes of certain adults towards children’s literature iii. The attraction of children’s literature iv. A contrast that categorises a book as children’s literature v. false assumption made a out children’s literature vi. The conventional view of children’s literature vii. Some good and ad features of children’s literature lassifying a ook as children’s literature viii. ix. The treatment of various themes in children’s literature x. nother way of looking at children’s literature 8. Paragraph A 9. Paragraph B 10. Paragraph C 11. Paragraph D 12. Paragraph E 13. Paragraph F 14. Paragraph G A. I am somtimes asked why anyone who is not a teacher or a librarian or the parents of little kids should concern herself with children’s ooks and folklore. I know the standard answers: that many famous writers have written for children, and that the great children’s books are also great literature; that these books and tales are an important source of archtpye and symbol, and that they can help us to understand the structure and functions of the novel. B. ll this is true. But I think we should also take children’s literature seriously ecause it is sometimes subversive: because its values are not always those of the conventional adult world. Of course, in a sense much great literature is subversive, since its very existence implies that what matters is art, imagination and truth. In what we call the real world, what usually counts is money, power and public success. 19 C. The great su versive works of children’s literature suggest that there are other view of human life besides those of the shopping mall and the corporation. They mock current assumptions and express the imaginative, unconventional, noncommercial view of the worldin its simplest and purest form. They appeal to the imaginative, questioning, rebellious child within all of us, renew our instinctive energy, and act as a force for change. This is why such literature is worthy of our attention and will endure long after more conventional tales have been forgotten. D. An interesting question is what – besides attention – makes a particular story a “ children ook”? With the exception of picture ooks for todders, these works are not necessarily shorter or simpler than so-called adult fiction, and they are surely not less well written. The heroes and heroines of these tales, it is true, are often children: but then so are the protagonists of Henry James’s What Maisie Knew and Toni orrison’s The Bluest Eye. Yet the arrier etween children’s ooka and adult fictionremains; editors, critics and readers seem to have little trouble in assigning a given work to one category or the other. E. In classic children’s fiction a pastoral convention is maintained. It is assumed that the world of childhood is simpler and more natural than that of adults, and that children, though they may have faults, are essentitally good or at least capable of becoming so. The transformation of selfish, whiny, disagreeable Mary and hysterical, demanding Colin in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Gadern is a paradigm. Of course, there are often unpleasant minor juvenile characters who give the protagonist a lot of trouble and are defeated or evaded rather than reeducated. Nut on occasion even the angry bully and the lying sneak can e reformed and forgiven. Richard Hughes’s A High Wind in Jamaica, though most of its characters are children, never appears on lists of recommended juvenile fiction; not so much because of the elaborations of its diction ( which is no more complex than that of, say, Treasure Island), but because in it children are irretrievably damaged and corrupted. F. dults in most children’s ooks, on the other hand, are usually stuck with their characters and incapable of alteration or growth. If they are really unpleasant, the only thing that can rescue them is the natural goodness of a child. Here again, Mrs. Burnett provides the slassic example, in Little Lord Faunleroy, (Scrooge’s somewhat similar change of heart in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, however, is due mainly to regret for his past and terror of the future. This is one of the things that makes the book a family rather than a juvenile romance; another is the helpness passivity of the principal child charater, Tiny Tim.). G. Of the three principal preoccupations of adult fiction – sex, money and death – the first is a sent from classic children’s literature and the other two either a sent or much muted. 20