Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators

Young people’s frequency of engagement in reading books for pleasure markedly decreases as they move through the schooling years, reducing their exposure to this beneficial literacy practice. Young people’s perceptions of the value of reading can be socially mediated, and positive perception of the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Merga, Margaret, McRae, M., Rutherford, L.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67774
_version_ 1848761654729244672
author Merga, Margaret
McRae, M.
Rutherford, L.
author_facet Merga, Margaret
McRae, M.
Rutherford, L.
author_sort Merga, Margaret
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Young people’s frequency of engagement in reading books for pleasure markedly decreases as they move through the schooling years, reducing their exposure to this beneficial literacy practice. Young people’s perceptions of the value of reading can be socially mediated, and positive perception of the value of reading is associated with frequency of engagement in reading. As such, considering how to generate positive social interactions around reading is an important concern when seeking to increase young people’s reading frequency. We sought to investigate adolescents’ attitudes toward talking about books in order to identify reasons for engagement in discussion about books, as well as factors that constrained engagement in such discussions, with a view to informing best practice for educators seeking to engage adolescents in reading. The findings suggest that adolescents’ enjoyment of discussion about books may be related to common interests, enjoyment of discussion to facilitate critical exploration and comprehension, and the possibilities provided for recommendations and access. Adolescents’ interests in and ability to engage in book discussions was shaped by mutual text exposure, opportunity, personal preference, disinterested peers and social status maintenance. Findings are considered in relation to classroom practice, with formation of Special Interest Reading Groups within the classroom considered.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:35:07Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-67774
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:35:07Z
publishDate 2018
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-677742018-08-13T06:53:47Z Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators Merga, Margaret McRae, M. Rutherford, L. Young people’s frequency of engagement in reading books for pleasure markedly decreases as they move through the schooling years, reducing their exposure to this beneficial literacy practice. Young people’s perceptions of the value of reading can be socially mediated, and positive perception of the value of reading is associated with frequency of engagement in reading. As such, considering how to generate positive social interactions around reading is an important concern when seeking to increase young people’s reading frequency. We sought to investigate adolescents’ attitudes toward talking about books in order to identify reasons for engagement in discussion about books, as well as factors that constrained engagement in such discussions, with a view to informing best practice for educators seeking to engage adolescents in reading. The findings suggest that adolescents’ enjoyment of discussion about books may be related to common interests, enjoyment of discussion to facilitate critical exploration and comprehension, and the possibilities provided for recommendations and access. Adolescents’ interests in and ability to engage in book discussions was shaped by mutual text exposure, opportunity, personal preference, disinterested peers and social status maintenance. Findings are considered in relation to classroom practice, with formation of Special Interest Reading Groups within the classroom considered. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67774 10.1111/eie.12144 restricted
spellingShingle Merga, Margaret
McRae, M.
Rutherford, L.
Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
title Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
title_full Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
title_fullStr Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
title_full_unstemmed Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
title_short Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
title_sort adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: implications for educators
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67774