What are teenagers reading? Adolescent fiction reading habits and reading choices PDF

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Literacy November 2005 113 What are teenagers reading? Adolescent fiction reading habits and reading choices Rosemary Hopper Abstract classroom, means that the term ‘reading’ can be seen to have a very broad application here. We deliberately What are adolescents choosing to read? This is an took a h...

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What are teenagers reading? Adolescent fiction reading habits and reading choices Rosemary Hopper

Abstract What are adolescents choosing to read? This is an important question because of potential divergence between school students’ reading interests and reading expectations in school. This article considers the findings from a study of the reading over one week in May 2002 of 707 school students aged between 11 and 15, undertaken in 30 schools in the south-west of England. The findings are related to earlier research by, amongst others, Whitehead, Benton, and Hall and Coles. The article reflects on adolescent reading choices, influences on those choices and the importance of validating all reading experience, including the new literacies. Key words: adolescent, reading patterns, gender, fiction, choice, parents and teachers

Introduction What, if anything, are teenagers choosing to read? This is a frequent question for debate in the UK. Parents ask the question; English teachers ask it of each other; and England’s education inspection system, OFSTED, has identified this as an area of concern. This question formed the starting point for a small-scale research project involving postgraduate student teachers of English at the University of Exeter, in July 2002.

classroom, means that the term ‘reading’ can be seen to have a very broad application here. We deliberately took a holistic overview of reading to include not just fiction, but also non-fiction and electronic reading material. We were keen to elicit information about the fiction being read, but it seemed to us that it was also important for the student teachers to understand that the development of a reading habit in adolescence might have many starting points, including ‘popular culture’ (Marsh and Millard, 2000).

Background The reading habits of adolescents have been a focus for academic research over more than fifty years. Currently anecdotal evidence indicates that it is popularly believed that there is a drop in reading habits amongst the young, with television, mobile phones, computer games, videos, DVDs and all other new and current distractions from the book seen as contributing to this. It is also seen as a fact that there is a gender difference in reading habits, and that girls choose to read more than boys.

As educators in Initial Teacher Education, we believe that giving PGCE student teachers the opportunity to reflect on an area of practice for themselves during their training enhances their understanding of continuing professional development. It also gives them an opportunity to engage in action research and use it to develop their own professional practice. To give substance to the individual findings, we collate and disseminate the group findings as a starting point for discussion and further professional reflection.

Research actually shows (Benton, 1995a, 1995b; Hall and Coles, 1999; Jenkinson, 1946; SCAA, 1995; Whitehead, Capey and Maddren, 1977) that the patterns of what adolescents select for their private reading over recent decades have remained relatively stable. From Whitehead’s national questionnaire survey in 1971 (Whitehead, Capey and Maddren, 1977) and subsequent studies of the reading habits of children it is, however, apparent that preferred titles and authors do change significantly. Such change has been particularly evident from the early 1970s, which saw a growth in the publication and marketing of literature aimed specifically at adolescents. What also appears to alter is what is being read in terms of fiction and non-fiction books and what are referred to now as ‘magazines’; Jenkinson’s (1946) ‘bloods’ and Whitehead et al.’s (1977) ‘periodicals’.

The circumstances in which this study was conceived and executed are therefore appropriate and worthwhile, both in the deliberate approach to forefront action research as a tool for developing classroom practice, but also as a starting point for more substantial research. Our primary focus was on the private, chosen reading of fiction by the school students in the sample, but the very nature of the research method, based in the

Hall and Coles (1999) indicate that we must now take into account patterns of computer use and also magazine, newspaper and comic reading habits, ‘vernacular literacies’ as they term them. Millard (2002) describes modern technologies as part of new and developing literacies. She recognises these as areas in which boys’ achievement may well exceed that of girls and also as providing a potential launching pad for

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boys to engage with more traditional forms of reading. This is an extension of Hall and Coles’ (1999) idea of using the ‘vernacular literacies’ as a starting point for school literacy. Millard argues for a definition of reading that allows for progression from personal choice to shared appreciation of texts, and which will enable a development of critical skills alongside pleasure. Starting at the point that children and young people have reached in their own reading choices emerges as significant in encouraging reading in Hall and Coles’ (1999) research. Sarland (1991) validates all reading in terms of emotional response: ‘‘I, too, was convinced that the emotional satisfaction that children and young people gained from reading material that was not highly regarded was none the less just as ‘genuine’ as that supposedly offered to the few by literature’’. (Sarland, 1991, p. xi) He cites Chambers’ (1980) view that ‘‘we need a critical method which will take account of the child-as-reader; which will include him rather than exclude him’’. He considers that young people can be ‘‘remarkably perceptive about the texts that they enjoy’’ (p. xi). He identifies their ability to understand intertextuality, to look at issues such as cliche´s and to engage with issues relevant to them through the medium of popular texts. In order to make sense of their reading patterns it is helpful to consider why adolescents actually select particular texts to read. Young readers are seen to have particular emotional and academic needs. Jenkinson (1946) identifies this, presaging recent developments in issue-based adolescent fiction and the upsurge of the genres of fantasy and magic realism: ‘‘Why do children read? This conclusion is that children read for two main reasons: because they are growing up and because they are having difficulty growing up . . . we read either in order to realise ourselves or in order to forget ourselves’’. (Jenkinson, 1946, p. 153) This is a view supported in psychological constructs of adolescence such as Erikson (1974) has developed. He sees the adolescent years as a search for identity through experimentation with role. Sarland writes of ‘the fictional that offers readers virtual futures’ (1991, p. 110). Reading choices can provide opportunities to engage with different roles at an imaginative level. Spufford gives us insight into this: ‘‘I always turned to books as the medium into which I was used to pouring my troublesome emotions’’ (Spufford, 2002, p. 159). Gender differences are evident in adolescent patterns of reading and choices of reading material; this too may be connected with emotional and developmental needs. Whitehead et al. (1977) identified that, at all ages, girls read more than boys, and fewer girls than boys are non-book readers. Wragg (1997) states that boys see reading as a ‘female rather than a male r UKLA 2005.

Adolescent fiction reading habits and choices

activity’. The recent OECD report of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), looking at the literacy of 15-year-olds in forty-three countries, finds that globally girls read more than boys: ‘‘There appears to be only limited engagement in reading among 15-year-old males beyond what is required of them . . . More alarming is the finding that twice as many males as females see reading as a waste of time’’. (OECD/ UNESCO, 2003, p. 155) Sarland (1991) explores commonality and difference in boys’ and girls’ choice of and response to fiction. His initial research confirmed the conventionally perceived preferences for, for example, animal and love stories for girls, and adventure and violence for boys. With regard to non-fiction choices, Benton (1995b) illustrates a gender divide: boys choose magazines on sport, computers and video games, compared with girls, whose interests can be summarised broadly as fashion, pop, romance and television. In the light of this, Hall and Coles’ (1999) idea of starting with the child’s own chosen reading matter can again be seen as important in encouraging the development of reading patterns. This implies English teachers understanding and knowing about adolescents’ reading preferences and being cognisant of gender differences. There can be a tension between what adolescents choose to read and what their parents and teachers want them to read. Sarland shows that adolescents engage very fully and critically with reading matter of all kinds including ‘literature’ – a term he finds value-laden and therefore problematic – and make their own cultural judgements ‘‘measuring against their cultural needs as growing and developing people’’ (1991, p. 103). Benton (1995a, 1995b) considers the question of the loss of the accepted canon (Whitehead et al.’s (1977) ‘quality’ literature) and notes that the young people in his study largely base their reading choices on recent publications. The possibility of developing school students’ reading interests through teachers learning more about the current literature available for teenagers was raised in a SCAA (1995) report: One week in March: A study of the literature pupils read. This possibility was echoed by Hall and Coles (1999), and more recently, by OFSTED (2003). The idea then of what we understand by quality reading materials for adolescents and the criteria by which we judge new publications needs further exploration. Thus it appears that in understanding adolescents’ reading habits there are two crucial threads to grasp: what influences their reading choices, and a detailed knowledge of the texts they choose to read.

The present study In 2002, PGCE Secondary English student teachers from Exeter University participated in a study into adolescent reading patterns in order to inform and improve their own teaching. School students were

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asked to self-assess their reading habits and to identify areas for improvement through individual targetsetting. Thirty student teachers and 707 school students participated in the project. Data were drawn from a convenience sample, based on the student teachers’ placements, which included middle schools (non-selective state schools for students from 9–14), single-sex grammar schools (selective state schools for students from 11–18) and mixed comprehensive schools (non-selective state schools) for both ages 11–16 and 11–18, drawn from a geographical area including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, and representing a broad social, but not ethnic, mix. The sample reflected school organisation in the south-west of England, and was predominantly a comprehensive school sample. Each student teacher selected the year group for the study, based on timetable arrangements. The majority of the groups selected came from Years 7 to 9 (11–14-year-olds), with a small element from Year 10 (15-year-olds). Data were gathered through self-assessment questionnaires completed by school students. The five questions on the questionnaire (Appendix 1) were constructed to elicit data relating to patterns of fiction reading, including details of titles and authors of these books, other kinds of reading, particularly non-fiction reading and Internet use, perceptions of self as a reader and suggestions on how the individual might improve personal reading. These questions included both structured responses and semi-structured responses, which allowed school students to use their own words. The study sought to identify whether school students had read a book of fiction in the week of the study, but it did not ask them to specify time spent reading. The research project was set up as part of a PGCE teaching session on adolescent reading patterns. The student teachers were informed about reading patterns identified in major research studies, and discussed these in the light of their own experiences and observations during a term and a half of school-based experience. A week was nominated for the survey, and the student teachers were deliberately given autonomy in their selection of a sample class, since the prime focus of the questionnaire was to involve school students in self-assessment of their reading. It was therefore important that the needs of the school students were placed in the foreground. We had to be aware that the evidence gathered through the questionnaires might not be totally reliable. There are inherent problems of reliability in questionnaires of this nature, in whether the school students write the truth or what they believe the teacher wishes to read. The questionnaire sheets themselves did address both the issue of truthfulness and anonymity in the heading, although it is also impossible to know whether the overall effect of foregrounding these issues would encourage honesty or not. Of course, the reliability of r UKLA 2005.

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self-reporting is an issue in previous studies, and other data sources, such as library borrowing figures or book purchasing patterns, are also unreliable, in that children do not necessarily read what they borrow or buy. Much was dependent on how the questionnaire was set up by each student teacher, and how much help the school students were given in understanding the questions. This became particularly evident in confusion that arose over the interpretation of the terms fiction and non-fiction. Not all school students responded to all questions. Nevertheless, the student teachers involved in collating the data believed that the data, taken as a whole, were a valid reflection of current reading patterns and attitudes to reading amongst their school students.

The findings Choosing to read at home Of the school students surveyed, 61% claimed to be reading a book at home in the week of the study. The divisions of this reading by age and gender are in line with what Hall and Coles (1999) reported about the gender difference in reading habits and the decline in reading as children move through adolescence: 67% of girls were reading compared with 54% of boys, and the percentage reading a book at home in Year 10 is markedly less than the rather similar percentages for Years 7, 8 and 9 (see Table 1). Readers at this later age are in the minority. This may be an unreliable result, because of the small sample size in Year 10, but it may support concerns that examination reading precipitates a decline in independent reading (Jenkinson, 1946; Whitehead, Capey and Maddren, 1977).

Table 1: Numbers and percentages of school students reading a book at home during the week of the study Year group

Y 7 (11/12-yearolds) Y 8 (12/13-yearolds) Y 9 (13/14-yearolds) Y 10 (14/15-yearolds)

Number reading a book at home

Percentage of year group sample

127

64

142

61

147

64

16

36

The picture is very different when the reading of texts other than books is considered. Following the assertions by Hall and Coles (1999) and Millard (2002) that reading is actually taking place, even when the text is not the traditional book of fiction, the data show that

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93% of school students indicated that they had chosen to read material other than books in the course of the week. This reading included magazines, newspapers and the Internet. In this, the Year 10 students were in line with the general trend. The data suggest that school students’ reading of texts other than books is significant. This may be a substantially under-recognised aspect of their reading habits. Hall and Coles (2002) make this point when they state that ‘‘school literacy practices should complement and enhance home and community literacy practices’’ (Hall and Coles, 2002, p. 107). The OECD/UNESCO (2003) report confirms this view, arguing that ‘‘those who spend more time reading for pleasure, read a great variety of materials and show more positive attitudes towards reading’’ (OECD/ UNESCO, 2003, 5.15.3).

Popular texts and authors chosen New films of both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Lord of the Rings had just been released at the time of the study: these books dominate the list of books school students chose to read during the week (Table 2). In addition, there are two of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman, two books by Jacqueline Wilson, and two books, Holes by Louis Sachar and Talking in Whispers by James Watson, that were being read as homework tasks in the course of the week. One school student commented that he liked Holes and went on to read it himself: ‘‘I started reading it in class and I was interested’’. Another had chosen a book by the same author on the strength of pleasure in Holes, indicating that it can be possible for school class texts to provide enjoyment and promote pleasure in reading.

Table 2: Numbers reading the most popular texts during the week of the study Book title

Author

Harry Potter Lord of the Rings Northern Lights Talking in Whispers The Hobbit Holes Double Act Girls in Love Goosebumps The Amber Spyglass

J. K. Rowling J. R. R. Tolkien Phillip Pullman James Watson

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J. R. R. Tolkien Louis Sachar Jacqueline Wilson Jacqueline Wilson R. L. Stine Phillip Pullman

Number of school students reading the book 36 27 7 7 5 4 3 3 3 3

Our study showed a complete change in popular authors and texts from the findings of Hall and Coles (1999), where seven of the ten most popular books in their study were written by Roald Dahl. They also differed from Benton’s (1995a) study, where the Point Horror series was significantly popular. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is the single example of a title that appears across the decades. This reflects trends in earlier findings, and supports Benton’s (1995a, 1995b) conclusion that adolescents choose their reading from recent publications. The popular texts in our study indicate a significant interest in a choice of genre rather than a single author – here, magic and fantasy, represented by books by Rowling, Tolkien and Pullman. These authors also offer texts of varying degrees of reading challenge: the Harry Potter series is generally agreed to be less complex than the books of either Pullman or Tolkien. Both the latter demand high-level reading skills, and also include intertextual references, and allow complex engagement with narrative, at several levels of challenge. This genre may be seen to fit the adolescent’s desire to escape, or even to experiment with role and identity. The issues-based book genre also features significantly in our list. Both of Jacqueline Wilson’s novels a...