by R.Fredes & P. De La Llera
“I enjoy reading when the story catches me from the beginning.”
(Deborah, age 17).
Adolescents usually know what they like to read, but teachers do not always know what their students like. This paper will show what type of texts a group of students like to read so that the teacher from the English class or teachers from other subjects can choose the appropriate reading material for their classes.
Having into account students’ opinions about different types of books can be helpful for teachers to know about adolescents´ needs as regards reading. By means of this research survey made to a group of adolescents, teachers would be able to select fresh interesting reading material for every English Foreign Language (EFL) class and eventually for other subjects. In this way, students can be engaged in an interesting class by reading stories which are attractive for them. The survey was carried out in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, can provide teachers with some information about adolescents’ likes in connection with Young Adult Literature (YAL). This type of literature is defined by Donelson and Nilsen as “anything that readers between the approximate ages of twelve and twenty choose to read (as opposed to what they may be coerced to read for class assignments)”.
Interesting reading material for students can play a very important role in the classroom. In Herz & Gallo’s views,” YAL has proven to be an effective means to motivate adolescents”.
Methodology
The collection of data for this quantitative study was carried out on one day during the EFL class. The students who took part of this survey were about seventeen years old. They were in fifth year of secondary school in the social studies orientation in Argentina. The focus group was composed by seven girls and one boy. This data was collected during the third period of the school year.
The survey consisted of a question about the type of texts students like to read. By means of a multiple choice students can choose one o more options. The analysis of the data was carried out deductively.
The following is the survey that the students answered:
What type of text do you refer to read?
- Horror stories - Novels
- Adventures stories - Poetry
- Love stories - Noir stories
- Science fiction stories - Comics
Results
The main results obtained in this survey show that 32 % of the students preferred to read Love stories, 26 % of the students preferred to read Horror stories, 16 % of the students preferred to read Noir stories. The options referring to Science Fiction and Comics were not chosen by the students.
The following graphic outlines on average what type of texts adolescents prefer.
Attending to the results of this survey, we can realize that the most interesting type of book selected by the students was Love stories. This result was understandable because the focus group was composed mainly by girls. Taking into account that this was not a group with an equal number of boys and girls, the selection of the reading material may include boys’ interests. However, horror stories have been chosen in the second place and this percentage also reflected the students’ interest.
Discussion
Adolescents choose the books they read according to the experiences they live. Beach’s words confirm this relationship saying that “a reader might identify with characters, visualize images, relate personal experiences to the text or construct the world of the text” (p.8).
It is not surprising to realize that the love story option is the one chosen by the majority of the focus group because they were female. In addition, adolescence is the moment in which girls and boys are going through their love experiences. Koelling’s opinion about this idea is that “there is a strong focus on relationships, especially romantic, and teens spend a great deal of time navigating this territory.”
Horror stories were also attractive to read by the respondents. Adolescents “like to explore the unfamiliar” (Koelling, 2004) world and take risk through fantastic stories.
In the EFL class, sometimes teachers find that there are students reluctant to read the texts taken from the textbooks or the classic ones. Having into account students’ interests and applying them in the classroom can be useful to engage students so that they improve their knowledge, especially in the English class or in other subjects.
This study can give teachers some clues that may help them to select reading material for their classes according to students’ preferences so that they can enjoy the lesson. We can highlight that by means of interesting reading material, students can improve themselves in the study of a foreign language or other subjects.
References
- Herz, S & Gallo, D (1996). From Hilton to Hamlet: Building bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
- Beach, R. (1993). A teacher’s introduction to reader/response theories. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
- Koelling, Holly (2004). Turning teens on to Great Literature. Libraries unlimited, Westport, CT
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