SITUATED ACTIONS DURING READING LESSONS - A MICROANALYSIS OF ORAL READING ERROR EPISODES

A microanalysis was completed of 3,003 oral reading error episodes dur ing 72 small-group reading lessons involving 116 students in three sec ond-grade and three third-grade classrooms. Factors were investigated that influenced (a) oral reading errors made by readers, (b) the reade rs' reactions to their own errors, and (c) the teachers' feedback foll owing errors. Characteristics of errors were influenced by such factor s as the individual reader's comprehension ability, the difficulty of the text, and teacher rates of feedback. Readers' reactions were gener ally influenced by the same set of factors, together with the characte ristics of the errors themselves. The patterns of teachers' feedback s uggested that they were juggling several goals: maintaining pace, pres erving meaning, and helping students who were having difficulty with d ecoding. One way in which teachers appeared to reach a compromise amon g these aims was to employ stereotyped feedback routines. The results support the idea that the actions of students and teachers during erro r episodes are situated in social contexts, emerging in response to a dynamic interplay of factors that converge at particular moments.