In headline terms, the most important things to focus on, in my view, are:
– Introduction: the introduction should clearly lay out the context of and rationale for your research. Your introduction is both too vague in some parts and too specific in others; we don’t learn enough about what reading aloud is (by whom, for whom, in what contexts and platforms?) Provide a definition of what Reading aloud to children is, where does it take place, who does it and to whom.
And what age group you are interested in, I want to cover children from 3- 14.
What different media are used in the mediatization of reading aloud to children, how its mediatization has changed since the 1920s, radio, TV, recorded CD or cassettes or DVDs.
What scholarship has thus far focused on (literacy etc), and the gap your project will therefore explore. Literacy, media, aesthetics,Missing here is an explanation for the timeframe (why 1920 to 1990). And why finish the analysis in 1990, first mediated reading aloud happened through the radio show Children’s Hour by the BBC which began broadcasting this program in 1922 after the WWI. The scope of study ends in 1990 because that WWW (World Wide Web) was introduced which adds a whole new scope, however, including this new scope of digital media might actually be giving more patterns and points to unravel. So I might go back to include the period from 1922 upto today. which would, I presume, just be covering television, radio and perhaps records? Would digital medial not give you more scope?
- The performance aspect needs to be developed; I think it would be better, instead of a fairly basic theatrical model of script-actor -audience, to use the Schechnerian performance studies model, which would help you define reading aloud to children AS performance as it is an action-behaviour-event define reading aloud to children as performance by using Schechnerian performance studies model
- “Literature review”: for the purpose of the proposal, this does not need to be a very detailed literature review at this point, but an overview of the existing scholarship of relevance to your project and the field of knowledge which will be increasing through the research. Your discussion of the educational scholarship on reading aloud is perhaps a little too detailed for the purpose of this proposal (and would be better perhaps as part of the literature review you are developing); it would be better to provide an overview of the different schools of thought or positions that are of relevance here, rather than giving too much detail. Missing also still are the other fields of debate that are of importance to this project, eg. media history and performance studies, for which you have done a fair amount of reading. Include in this part the education and literacy field + media + performance studies in trying to talk about mediated reading aloud to children.
- Methodology: while the comparative-historical approach is relevant, it not clear WHAT you will be comparing. Will you be focusing on certain case studies (eg. specific radio or television shows)? If so, which? Or will you provide a survey of mediated reading aloud formats that were important at the time? Or will you identify certain medial shifts (eg. introduction of television; the invention of the CD, etc) and how they impacted on reading aloud? I intend to cover the highlighted sentences which is provide a survey of mediated formats through out time and identify certain medial shifts and their impact on reading aloud. The study is also a social science study by choosing comparative historical method that takes into consideration the cultural, socio-economic, political aspects.
- And what will you be analysing them for? Are you looking at how reading aloud is delivered? I am looking at patterns and shifts, similarities and differences in their mediated deliverance and the reasons behind them to have a better understanding of how culture defines and redefines mediated reading aloud to children through the period of a century.
What audiences are addresses?etc
For the actual analysis, whether that be of case studies or format or medial developments, you will need additional methodological tools, eg. media analysis, media history these areas need to be included in the study or performance analysis tools, which need to be explained here too.
It is important that you go back to your research questions and really consider what methods will help you to answer them. Questions and methods need to be closely aligned.
- How and why did mediated reading aloud to children develop in the UK between 1920 and 1990?
- What media platforms and settings have been applied, and to what effect?
- What evolutionary stages can be identified in the development of mediated reading aloud to children between 1920s and 1990s?
- how does the mediation of reading aloud impact on its performance?
And be clear about the different steps you will take methodologically – What specifically will you be paying attention to? How will you go about this? And how will this inform your timetable? What will be your first step (eg. identification of case studies), what your second (eg. analysis of case studies according to certain criteria); etc.
- Research questions: need fleshing out. I have made some suggestions.
- Argument: Try to be clearer on what you will be aiming to argue. That literacy learning depends on the aesthetics or event-ness of performance in reading aloud? That reading has to be engaging before it is educational? That reading aloud has cultural or aesthetic or social value as well as educational? Or that reading aloud is historically changing, by way of using different media, and that these media have impact on how the reading aloud is received? Or…? And how might theories of performance applied to reading aloud as live or mediated acts increase understanding of the role aesthetics or performance plays in literacy learning?
The highlighted above part is what I seek to prove in this study.
