Forms of Discourse in Basal Readers

Although claims have been made that contemporary basals include a variety of types of writing, a thorough analysis of eight reading basals shows that their content is almost exclusively literary. 65% of the selections and 72% of the pages in these eight programs are either narratives or poems. Expository and nonfiction selections are rarely included. Basal readers of the future need to include more varied discourse forms to ensure exposure to and instruction in various writing types before students are asked to read complex content-area textbooks. Furthermore, the designers of content-area texts need to include provisions in their texts for helping students to develop and extend the reading skills they learned in their basal reading programs.