When children begin their careers as readers, the hope is that they bring their childlike excitement to this new skill. Most children seem to enjoy the books they read in the primary grades. Most elementary school teachers rely on a heavy use of high quality, high-interest, age-appropriate trade books to help stimulate their student interest in reading. However, somewhere along the line for many students, the desire to read for enjoyment begins to dissipate. As many students reach the middle and high school level, their interest in books diminishes. This lack of desire to read can conceivably affect every aspect of a student’s academic performance, as every discipline relies heavily on a student’s ability to read and comprehend written material. According to the National Assessment Governing Board (1992), “Reading is the most important, fundamental ability taught in the nation’s schools. It is vital to society and to the people within it. It is the door to knowledge and a capability that can liberate people both intellectually and personally” (p. 1).
Statement of the Problem
Studies of middle and high school students reveal that a decrease in interest in reading for pleasure takes place as students reach adolescence. As students reject the world of books, all areas of their education are affected. In terms of exposing students to YAL, most high school English classrooms have not been sufficiently serving the reading interests of the students in their classrooms. The belief held by many high school English teachers has been that by their high school years, students should be ready to intellectually attack the challenging world of the literary canon. While many may be ready to do so, most will need their teachers to create a bridge from the classics to their own experiences through the world of young adult fiction. The question posed by this researcher is can students’ perceptions and attitudes about reading be improved through the use of student choice of reading material and consistent exposure to Young Adult Literature (YAL)?
Significance of Study
Student reading comprehension skills are now more crucial than ever in the current world of high stakes testing. English/Language Arts and Math are the only two subject areas examined by the federal government for a school’s Adequate Yearly Progress report under the No Child Left Behind Act. A student’s ability to read and understand written concepts clearly affects his or her performance in every subject area. Increasing the frequency of adolescents reading for pleasure will undoubtedly positively affect reading comprehension levels. With this improvement, all areas of the child’s academic performance would be enhanced.
Hypotheses
Unlike elementary school, as students grow older, most middle and high schools rely less and less on the use of age-appropriate, high interest reading material, and depend greatly on content area textbooks. As students reach high school, many are expected to simply read selections from the literary canon, and their opportunities to choose books that are of interest to them are extremely limited. It is the contention of this researcher that it is this lack of priority on finding high-interest reading material for middle and high school students that leads to their declining affinity for pleasure reading and the subsequent weak reading skills that inevitably occur in the upper grades. By allowing students more freedom to choose books that will peak their interests, educators in the upper grades must attempt to meet state mandated standards by creating a blend of young adult fiction and nonfiction to supplement more traditional works of literature being taught in schools. As students reach adolescence, secondary teachers must put forth the same amount of effort as elementary school teachers do in finding interesting and engaging texts that will maintain student interests. Educators must attempt to create a blend of books that are interesting and accessible to our secondary students to allow them to make the necessary connections with the complex world of great literature. It is only through doing so that readers with the skills to read Shakespeare and Dante will be created. From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges Between Young Adult Literature and the Classics is a book in which Sarah Herz and Donald Gallo (1996) discuss the importance of integrating Young Adult Literature (YAL) into the secondary English curriculum. In the Introduction to the book, Herz states, “ YAL’s value lies in its ability to draw students’ attention into the story immediately, because it deals with real problems in their own lives. It helps teenagers in their search for understanding in the complex world of today” (p. xv).
Definition of Terms• Literary Canon –“The literary canon is a collection of works and authors who have a general seal of approval from academic and cultural establishments” (Purnell, 2009).
• Young Adult Literature (YAL) – “YAL includes literature that has been specifically written for and marketed to young adolescents, as well as ‘anything young adults are reading of their own free will.’” (“What is Adolescent Literature?”, 2008).
Review of Literature
Donald Gallo (1982) surveyed reading interests of almost 3,400 students in elementary through high school grades to determine how students feel about the literature they are assigned to read in school. In his surveys he discovered thirty-five percent of girls and forty percent of boys in junior high schools, “indicated that they seldom or never liked required reading selections. In senior high schools, forty-one percent of the boys and twenty-three percent of the girls said seldom or never. In comparison, only one student in every five usually or always liked the assigned books” (p. 20).
Hughes-Hassel and Lutz (2006) surveyed two hundred fourteen urban middle school students in grades six through eight about their reading habits. Out of the students surveyed, seventy-two point eight percent were African-American, two point nine percent were Hispanic, two point five percent were Asian-American, forty-four point four percent were male, and fifty-three point seven were female. The survey results revealed that seventy-three percent said they engage in leisure reading, twenty-four percent said they read “constantly” while forty-nine percent “read when they get a chance”. Twenty-two percent of students said they read only what is assigned for school while six percent said they did not read at all (p. 40).
In their examinations of the reading attitudes of different genders they discovered that girls tend to read more often than boys with thirty-two percent of girls stating that they read “constantly”, twenty percent (largest group) said they read three to five books per month, and seventeen percent said they did not read at all except for school assignments. However, of the male students surveyed only twelve percent said they read “constantly”, twenty-six percent (largest group) read two to three books per month, and twenty-eight percent said they did not read at all except for school assignments (Hughes-Hassel and Lutz, 2006, p. 40).
One of the questions posed to the students was, “If you don’t read, why not?” The responses ranged from forty-one percent who liked other activities better, forty-four percent would rather play video games, fifty-six percent would rather watch television, fifty-two percent would rather spend time with friends, thirty-three percent had too much schoolwork, and thirty percent had no time to read. However other responses were as follows: twenty-five percent said reading made them tired or gave them a headache, twenty-five percent said they had trouble concentrating, nine percent said they were not good at reading, twenty-eight percent of boys said it was boring, twelve percent of girls said it was boring, four percent said friends made fun of them for reading (Hughes-Hassel & Lutz, 2006, p. 40-41).
G. Robert Carlsen’s (1980) Books and the Teenage Reader analyzes the interests and habits of student readers as they make the transition from childhood to adolescence. He determined that most students go through stages of interests that can be associated with their age, maturity, and emotional and intellectual development. His findings were that at ages eleven through fourteen student readers enjoyed books about animals, adventure, mystery, the supernatural, sports, home and family life. At ages fifteen through sixteen, their interests moved more toward nonfiction adventure, historical novels, mystical romances, and stories of adolescent life. By ages seventeen and eighteen, Carlsen (1980) found that older teen readers were interested in reading material that dealt with the search for personal values, social topics, strange human experiences, and the transition to adult life (p.36-42).
Carlsen (1974) also states that readers go through five stages of development. The first of these stages he calls “unconscious delight”. In this stage, younger students read on this level and enjoy reading without much analysis of the reasons why they enjoy it. The second stage is deemed, “living vicariously”. The belief is that middle school readers are more prone to be interested in books that have action and provide an escape for them. In late middle to high school readers enter the stage entitled, “seeing oneself”. Students enjoy books at this stage that have characters with which they can identify. They enjoy reading about teens who may encounter similar situations as those that confront them in their own lives. Carlsen (1974) labels his fourth stage as “philosophical speculations”. At this point, older high school students begin to look at the world with a wider scope and have an interest in reading about people unlike themselves. They look for relationships and ponder the reasons why things happen. Finally, readers reach the level of “aesthetic delight”. In the latter part of adolescence and into adulthood, readers begin to recognize universal themes, can appreciate the power of specific language and can analyze literary elements (p. 23-27).
Readability Formulas
During the 1940s, mathematical formulas for determining the “readability” or reading level of a particular piece of writing were created in the hope of better assessing what material would be appropriate for particular students. Such devices as the Fry Graph, the Flesch-Kincaid tool (now built in to Microsoft Word), and the Lexile Framework, all attempt to better determine which books are best for selected students (Temple, Ogle, Crawford, and Freppon, 2008). However, researchers now understand that a student’s interest and prior knowledge also profoundly affects his or her ability and willingness to read certain materials. Marilyn Thypin’s (1979) article for the Journal of Learning Disabilities criticized “’standard’ readability formulas”. She cites four reasons from two different researchers who stated in their research that: “The formulas ignore the concept load, organization of the ideas, and format of the material. Measurements of the readability of the same material yield different results depending on the formula used” (Jongsma, 1972). She also cites Hittleman (1978) who states, “The formulas do not consider the interests, background, cognitive skills, and language competence of the target reader. The formulas may be inaccurate when used with target readers or printed material dissimilar to that used in computing the formulas” (p. 75). Her conclusion was that reading material for adolescent learners who struggle with reading comprehension should be given material not based on those traditional readability formulas, but by using material that is “appropriate and relevant to the interests and/or informational needs of the target reader.” She also states that, “The level of content difficulty should be differentiated from the level of reading difficulty” (p. 75).
Phillip Crawford (2008), a high school media specialist in Essex, Vermont wrote a refreshing article entitled, “Why Gossip Girl Matters”. This article reveals his experiences in engaging students in pleasure reading by offering them high-interest subject matter even if it may not be as academically challenging as some educators would like. He states, “To help these resistant readers, I avoid stigmatizing value judgments about reading materials….This often means putting into their hands books that many librarians, teachers, and children’s literature experts snub: YA problem novels, slim books about sports figures and celebrities, graphic novels, lurid biographies of serial killers, series fiction, comic strips, and how-to books” (p. 47).
Karen Hicks and Beth Wadlington (1994) explored the issue of shared reading in their article, “The Efficacy of Shared Reading with Teens”. They suggest that teachers, “Select books that reflect the interests and experiences of adolescent students. Talk to your students. Find out what makes them tick, what they love, what they hate, and what they fear. Remember that by the teenage years these students have experienced a broad range of complex emotions and feelings. Find books that express these” (p. 4-5).
In “’I Want to Read’: How Culturally Relevant Texts Increase Student Engagement in Reading”, Mary-Virginia Feger (2006) explores the dilemma of finding books that keep the interest of her students who are primarily Latino adolescents who speak English as their second language. Feger (2006) uses texts that she believes are directly related to her students’ experiences and attempts to bring in the cultural experiences and backgrounds by using Latino writers. She found an overwhelming success in getting students engaged in silent reading with these texts, and she declared that, “The engagement that was demonstrated in reading the text communicated that culturally relevant literature had made an impact” (p. 18-19).
Duigan, Klioris, Porter, Rockett, and Vogwill (2002) surveyed kindergarten, middle, and high school students about their reading habits, attitudes, and interests in “Increasing Academic Growth Through Motivating Students to Read”. They contend that, “Educators must help students sense that they can read and build on their own interest and curiosity about different topics…Students’ reading is best enhanced through successful experiences. Having students pick their own choices of reading topics and materials is an important way to stimulate their interests and curiosity through reading” (p. 22).
In their “Study of Reading in Indiana, Middle, Junior, and High Schools”, Earlene Holland and Jack Humphrey (2004) rated the priority on reading in Indiana schools. They determined that schools with a higher reading priority, “have four times as many books added annually to their media center”, “have more members of the school staff who frequently read and discuss books”, and “have a larger school library book circulation rate” (p. 23).
Methodology
Selection of Subjects
The proposed subjects of this qualitative study would be three regular level twelfth grade British Literature classes at a medium sized high school in middle Georgia with a population of approximately twelve hundred students. These classes contain students who are a mixture of those who have chosen a College Preparatory seal for graduation and those who have pursued a Technical/Career Preparatory diploma. These students are not classified as honors or gifted and have chosen not to take part in the school’s option of an Advanced Placement Literature course, which serves most of the honors and gifted population. As the researcher has no control over class makeup at the beginning of the new school year, the sample will be random and computer generated. These classes will contain some students who will be served by the school special education programs and many who are regular education program students.
Instrumentation
Students will be given a Reading Interest Survey (Hildebrandt, 2001) that will gauge their attitudes and opinions about reading as well as their reading habits. It will also ask specific questions about subject matter that students might find interesting and therefore motivate them to read.
Design of Study
After obtaining parental consent and student assent students will be given the “Reading Interest Survey” (Hildebrandt, 2002). After collecting the data, the teacher will share the anonymous data results with students so they will be able to see for themselves trends in their reading interests and habits. Students will also be given the “Student Reading Habits and Perceptions Journal Topic”. This survey will allow the researcher to determine students’ responses and perceptions about reading while also examining their reflections about why their attitudes about reading were created. By establishing a clear understanding of students’ perceptions and the manner in which those perceptions are shaped, a later study can be done to determine how to improve those attitudes and perceptions.
Administrative Procedures for Collecting Data
This researcher will be seeking IRB approval and school administrative approval. The teacher/researcher will handle all data collection. Students will identify themselves on the survey so that the teacher may advise them of particular books or materials that may be of interest to them.
Treatment of Data
The data retrieved from the survey will be divided into three categories: interests, attitudes, and habits. It will be disaggregated by sex and racial groups simply to determine trends in behavior and interests.
Table 1. Method of categorizing student responses from survey.
Interests Attitudes Habits
9 questions on survey 4 questions on survey 7 questions on survey
Questions # 7,8,10,11,13,14,15,16,18 Questions #
1,17,19, 20 Questions # 2,3,4,5,6,9,12
Survey results in the habits category will seek to quantify the following information: amount of time students spend reading, number of students who have a library card at the beginning of the study, how often they use them, how many books students own, how often they use the school library, how many students read the newspaper, and how much time students spend watching television. The interests and attitudes categories will be more qualitative in the nature of analysis. The researcher will look for interests that are being met and are not being met by current school literature and look for areas that can be enhanced by outside reading material. The post survey information will also allow the researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions implemented.
Limitations of the Study
The greatest limitation of the study would be the limitation of available young adult literature or high-interest material to put into the hands of students. Some students may not have the transportation to continually travel to the public library, and some students may still have difficulty finding reading material on their reading level in our school library or in classroom libraries. However, this study may assist in determining what kinds of materials could be added to school collections for students in the future.
Results
Forty-six students completed the “Reading Interest Survey” (Hildebrandt, 2002). Twenty-eight boys and eighteen girls comprised this group. The survey questioned students’ habits, attitudes, and interests. In response to the question, “Do you like to read?”, the results were evenly spread. Fifteen students replied, “yes”, fifteen students responded, “no” and an equal fifteen responded that they enjoyed reading “sometimes”. One student did not answer the question at all. While an equal number of boys and girls responded in the affirmative, with seven in each group, eleven boys firmly responded no, they did not like to read, as opposed to only four girls who made the same negative response. When questioned about how much time they spend reading, only four students responded that they read every night. Five students replied that they spend at least an hour a day reading. Four students claimed to spend at least thirty minutes a day reading, In a startling contrast, twenty-nine students stated that they spent less than thirty minutes a day or no time at all reading. When students were asked to check boxes that would describe what kind of books they would like reading best, the results were as follows:
Table 2. Student Interest Survey Results
Genre Boys Girls
Sports 14 0
War 13 2
Adventure 15 7
Romance 1 18
Science fiction 8 1
Detective 10 8
History 9 5
In response to the “Student Reading Habits and Perceptions Journal Topic”, thirty-six students were surveyed. In this journal topic students were given the following topic:
Take a few minutes to think about your experiences with reading in your lifetime. Do you remember being read to regularly as a child? Were books in the house or made available to you easily? Did you ever go to the library or the bookstore to select books to read for pleasure? How do you feel these experiences have shaped your current attitudes and habits in regard to reading?
Students responses were plentiful. The most prevalent responses were that students were read to and that books were available to them. The interesting trend in most surveys has been consistently that students can and do enjoy reading if they are allowed some choice in the subject matter and if books of appropriate interest and reading level are available. One male student stated,
I use [sic] to read every day when books were what I picked. Then as I got older, I started getting told that I had to read certain books. I began to lose interest…Now I feel as though I don’t want to read because it was forced on me. I feel that I don’t like reading because when it was forced, it wasn’t fun.
Another student expressed, “ I like to read on my own terms.” A third student commented that, “Middle school readings along with ninth grade made me not read different genres, all because the books were super boring!” Several students acknowledged their lack of reading during their formative childhood years and discussed that they now regretted their reading habits because they felt that it had adversely affected them academically. One male student explained, “If I would of [sic] started reading earlier, then I feel that it would be easier for me. My parents read to me, but it wasn’t often…I went to the library at school and never the public library. That’s why I feel that if I started out reading earlier, I would be a better reader.”
REFERENCES
Carlsen, G.R. (1980). Books and the teen-age reader: A guide for teachers, librarians, and parents. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
Carlsen, G.R. (1974). Literature Is. The English Journal, 63 (2), 23-27.
Crawford, P. (2008, January). Why Gossip Girl matters. The Horn Book Magazine, 84(1), 45-48. Retrieved July 9, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1412864111).
Duigan, et al., S (2002 May). Increasing academic growth through motivating students to read. Saint Xavier University, 1-58. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from GALILEO.
Feger, M (2006). ’I want to read’: How culturally relevant texts increase student engagement in reading. Multicultural Education, 1-4. Retrieved July 7, 2009, from GALILEO.
Hicks, K. and Wadlington, B., (1994 March). The efficacy of shared reading with teens. Childhood educational international study conference, 1-12. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from GALILEO.
Hildebrandt, D (2001). ’But there's nothing good to read’ (In the Library Media Center). Media Spectrum: The Journal for Library Media Specialists in Michigan, Retrieved July 7, 2009, from http://www.mame.gen.mi.us/member%20resources/Spectrum/f01hildebrandt.pdf
Herz, S.K. and Gallo, D.R. (1996). From Hinton to Hamlet: Building bridges between young adult literature and the classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Holland, E. and Humphrey, J. (2004). Study of reading in Indiana, middle, junior, and high schools. Middle Grades Reading Network, 1-52. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from GALILEO.
Hughes-Hassell, S. and Lutz, C. (2006). What do you want to tell us about reading? Young Adult Library Services, Winter 2006, 39-44. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from GALILEO.
Purnell, A (2009). Some Common Literary Terms. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Homework Central Web site: http://www.apurnell.com/LitTerms.htm
Temple,C., Ogle, D., Crawford, A., Freppon, P. (2008). All Children Read: Teaching for Literacy in Today's Diverse Classrooms. Boston. MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Thypin, M. (1979). Selection of books of high interest and low reading level. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 12(6), 75-77. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from GALILEO.
National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). (1992). Reading framework for
the 1992 national assessment of educational progress. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
(2008). Definition: What is Adolescent Literature? Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Literacy Matters Web site: http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/overview/definition.htm
Teenreads.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from Teenreads.com Web site: http://teenreads.com/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment