Young Adult’s Reading: A Reseach About Their Preferences

by Florencia Gonzalez and Karina Moreschi

“Dark settings. Love and all that... Generally love-themes with a good plot-line (For MOST females). And PLEASE no more vampires! Though some of the girls here are saying vampires, I beg you don't. More than 3/4 of the writing site I'm on hate stories that includes 'Vampires'as it's a bit overused after the twilight series + vampire diaries and 'vampire' this 'vampire' that.
Generally something romantic for females with a bit of action and a dreamy type of guy (being the stereotype). But not all the girls I know read stories about romance, anything that is eye-catching, new and with colored, realistic or likeable characters. Stories that are well-written and something a reader can sympathize with”…(Silver V.)

This answer, taken from a web page about what teens want to read, may prove that adolescents from here, there and everywhere share the same feelings. This paper will show the preferences of some Argentinian students from secondary school when reading outside the classroom’s walls without parents or teachers’ guidance. Many surveys carried out in Argentina alert parents and teachers about the lack of young adult’s interest in reading. The development of this skill is fundamental in this stage of maturity, when adolescents can achieve formal and critical thought. The analysis of the results of this survey will provide us with an important source for the classroom when deciding proper reading material for our students in order to find a possible solution to the lack of young adult’s interest in reading.

Theoretical Framework

There are many variables to take into account when carrying out the task of selecting reading material for our classrooms. First, our job as teachers is to undestand teens as growing people and to acknowledge the stage of development they are going through. Their growth is not only physical but also emotional, psychological and intellectual. They are dealing with body changes; they have to adjust to a new intellect and they are developing their identity (Koelling, 2004). Their needs are as complex as their developmental process. Besides, their necessities for entertainment and information are different, so that the reading that once captivated adolescents does not longer attract them.

At this point, it is worthwhile to make an overview of the characteristics of Young Adult Literature (YAL). The Young Adult Service Division of the American Library Association defines “the age range of an adolescent or young adult as 10-19”. Young adult literature is usually given the birth date of 1968 with the advent of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. Other forms of  literature prior to this date may have had young adult protagonists (such as Huck Finn), but it was usually intended for an adult audience. Characteristics of a young adult novel usually include several of the following: a teenage (or young adult) protagonist, first-person perspective, adult characters in the background, a limited number of characters, a compressed time span and familiar setting, current slang, detailed descriptions , positive resolution, an approximate length of 125 to 250 pages. (“Public Iastate”, accessed October, 2011 http://www.public.iastate.edu/~dniday/394syllabuss99.html) as main characteristics. 

Recent Research Studies Involving Young People and Reading

In our country, a recent study alert about the lack of interest in reading by adolescents. One may think they would prefer TV instead of reading, but,   what caught the researchers’ attention greatly was that there is no linear relationship between reading and watching TV. Those who are from four to six hours per day in front  of the TV, read the same number of books per year than the ones who watch TV for just one hour per day. The same study did not evidence any correlation between reading and the use of computers, so the reason why adolescents don’t read is neither the computer nor the TV.  (“Consumo cultural de los argentinos de 11 a 17 años, accessed on October, 2011, htttup://portal.educ.ar/debates/educacionytic/debate/consumo-cultural-de-los-argentinos-de-11-a-17-anos.php).

Other research which was carried out in Australia, that involved interviews with 14 secondary English teachers and 53 of their students, showed that

(…) the majority of young people experienced a ‘disconnection’ between home and school reading. These young people mostly read popular rather than classic fiction. (Collins, Kenway & McLeod, 2000)

These researches are examples of reasons why adolescents don’t read in general or at school. In our survey we tried to find out about their preferences as regards literary genres. If you know about them, it is possible to find a way to solve the lack of interest or the “disconnection” between home and school reading. 

Methodology

This survey was carried out in order to learn about the Ituzaingo’s teens’s preferences as regards literary genres. Data for this qualitative and quantitive research were collected in two different schools, one private and one public. Both schools were located in Ituzaingó, Argentina. The focus group was formed by boys and girls aged from 15 to 18 years old. The survey was carried out with a questionnaire made of of a combination of close and open questions.The analysis of the data was carried out deductively and inductively. Finally, the answers of boys and girls were compared.

Results

To the first question of the survey about adolescent preferences as regards literary genres (see Appendix A), 30,19% of the students chose “Horror” as their first alternative, 16,98% chose “Science Fiction”, and 13,21% chose “Romantic” (see Graphic 1).

It is important to notice that the “Romantic” genre was placed in the first position only by girls, while boys’ preferences pointed to “Horror”, “Science Fiction” and “Detective or Crime novels” as their first option.

As regards the open question which asked for a justification of their first option, most of the girls answered that they like romantic stories because they enjoy of “love”, “stories about princesses and princes” and “happy endings”. “Horror” which was the first option for most students was chosen because they liked “to be scared”, they liked “mystery” and “suspense” (See Appendix B).

The last alternative chosen by the majority of the focus group’s members (30,77% of the sample) was the “magazine or newspaper article”. The “Romantic” genre, “Fables” and “Historical Fiction” follow it (see Graphic 2).

It is necessary to mention that the “Romantic” genre was left in the last place by most of the boys; this is the reason why this literary genre was placed both among the first and last options in the adolescents’ preferences. This would make evident the differences in the student’s interest according to their genre. It seems that, while girls like romance, boys like guns.

The complete information expressed in percentages is presented in table A.

Table A. Percentage of genre preferences.

Genre/Position Science fiction Horror Drama Romantic Fable Magazine/newspaper article Historical Fiction Detective novel Legend

1 16,98% 30,19% 11,32% 13,21% 0,00% 1,89% 7,55% 11,32% 7,55%

2 18,87% 15,09% 15,09% 16,98% 1,89% 1,89% 3,77% 15,09% 11,32%

3 7,14% 17,86% 16,07% 16,07% 10,71% 7,14% 8,93% 8,93% 7,14%

4 16,36% 7,27% 20,00% 9,09% 10,91% 3,64% 5,45% 18,18% 9,09%

5 20,75% 7,55% 9,43% 7,55% 5,66% 9,43% 11,32% 13,21% 15,09%

6 3,64% 5,45% 12,73% 7,27% 18,18% 7,27% 16,36% 12,73% 16,36%

7 7,27% 3,64% 3,64% 3,64% 20,00% 10,91% 20,00% 10,91% 20,00%

8 5,56% 3,70% 9,26% 7,41% 14,81% 27,78% 14,81% 5,56% 11,11%

9 3,85% 9,62% 1,92% 19,23% 17,31% 30,77% 11,54% 3,85% 1,92%

Another way to interpret the results of this survey is to consider the total values of each genre to show a ranking as in table B.

TABLE B

1 Horror

2 Science Fiction

3 Drama

4 Detective

5 Romantic

6 Legend

7 Historical Fiction

8 Fable

9 Magazine/Newspaper article

Pondering the results in this way, we can see that “Drama” appears in the third place. Students who favoured this choice said that they liked it because it was “more connected to reality”.

Discussion

The importance of engaging the students in the process of learning makes us think about the necessity of including the horror genre in our programmes. This genre not only matches most of the students’ likes, but also it can be related to YAL and it can serve a very important function in the cognitive development of our students. As perceived by many of the students who expressed their opinion in this survey (see Appendix B), this kind of fiction combines imagination and rational thinking attracting the young reader with unexpected and creative situations that have to be overcome with the use of logic and intelligence. This aspect of horror stories is much relevant for adolescents who are in the stage of developing increasing academic skills, critical and formal thought. So, it is possible to say that horror fiction can foster young adults’ mental growth (Florencia Gonzalez & Karina Moreschi 2011).

Another educational implication of this research is to consider Science Fiction and the Romantic genre, which were widely chosen by boys and girls respectively. If time is enough, it is advisable to incorporate at least one exponent of each genre in the curriculum. By gathering samples of this kind of texts, the preferences of the majority will be satisfied. The inclusion of these literary genres in the classroom will have significant effects in students’ motivation as well as in their “connection” between school reading and leisure reading.

Although, this research has its limitations due to the size of the sample, we believe that the focus group can be representative of many Argentinean students from Bs. As. and these findings can have important consequences for the broader domain of education, because if teachers consider their students’ needs they may facilitate their cognitive development. 

References:

• Bucher, K.  and M.L. Manning (2011), “Genre and reading preferences”
• Silver V. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/What do teens want to read about?) 
• Florencia Gonzalez & Karina Moreschi (2011), “Horror Fiction And Yal: A Successful Combination Which Can Perfectly Suit The Demands Of A Difficult Decision-Maker Segment, Adolescents”.
• Holly Koelling (2004), “Classic Connections. Turning Teens on to Great Literature”, Libraries Unlimited, Page 73.
• Josephine Ryon (2005), “Young People Choose: Adolescents’ Text Pleasure.” Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Volumen: 28. Issue: 1. Australian Literacy Educators’ Association, Gale Group.
• “Consumo cultural de los argentinos de 11 a 17 años, accessed on October, 2011, htttup://portal.educ.ar/debates/educacionytic/debate/consumo-cultural-de-los-argentinos-de-11-a-17-anos.php

Appendix A

Questionnaire
          Nombre:..........................................
          Edad: .............................................
          Sexo: M  F
          Escuela:..........................................
          Encuesta:
- ¿Qué tipo de género te gusta más? Ordenar siendo 1 el que más te gusta y 9 el que menos te gusta.
• ...... Ciencia Ficción
• ...... Terror
• ...... Drama
• ...... Romántica
• ...... Fábula
• ...... Artículo Periodístico
• ...... Ficción Histórica
• ...... Policial
• ...... Leyenda
- Justificar por qué elegiste la primera opción. ¿Qué características te atraen de ese género?
..................................................................................................
..................................................................................................
..................................................................................................

Appendix B

Answers to question: Justificar por que elegiste la primera opción. ¿Qué características te atraen de ese género?
First option: Horror
Nombre: Barbara
Edad: 17
Sexo: F
Escuela: Lourdes
“me gusta porque me gustan las historias que se cuentan, el suspenso que se le dan e imaginarme la historia”
Nombre:Brenda
Edad: 16
Sexo: F
Escuela: Lourdes
“de este genero me atrae porque me da ganas de leer mas hasta terminarlo”.
Nombre: Rocio
Edad: 16
Sexo: F
Escuela Lourdes
“me encanta sentir el suspenso a esperar a asustarme y me gusta sobresaltarme”.
Nombre: Facundo
Edad: 16
Sexo: M
Escuela: Lourdes
“del genero me atrae todo lo irreal, y la incorporación de objetos imaginarios que no existen.”

Teen readers’ choices: An analysis of teen students’ reading preferences within a pedagogical framework

by Angélica Santi and María Silvina Rago

Lord! When you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.  ~Christopher Morley

Students in general, particularly teenagers, undergo many changes during their process of maturation. This changes result in new preferences as regards literature as well. This paper will describe students’ preferences as regards different literary elements. According to Holly Koening,

“Teens like to explore the unfamiliar, they like to learn, they like to escape. Many teens like to challenge themselves to “read ahead” of their level-both technically and experientially.” 

To obtain data about students’ reading preferences we conducted a survey with two different focus groups. We chose students attending public schools in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires. Students of 11 or 12 years of age were part of one of the focus groups. The other focus group ages ranged from 15 to 17 years old. This survey deals with different literary elements or a variety of features concerning characters, genre, type of text and preferred story-endings. An analysis of the results will help teachers choose reading material when preparing their lessons. It will also add some understanding of teens as developing beings and save time to teachers who are planning to start a reading programme. 

Theoretical framework

What is your favourite ending in a story? What kind of genre do you like most? What about the main character? Do you prefer a human being or a talking animal? Any measurement tool has its own built-in biases, regardless of rigorous attempts on the parts of its creators to remain objective and the collected data can be interpreted in many ways.  But asking these questions to teens themselves we can determine their likes and preferences and from there, we can then look for books that deal with all aspects of adolescence. This is a tool of great help when trying to establish a connection with them.

According to psychologists and educators, the term adolescent has been defined as the stage that starts at the onset of puberty  and finishes at the end of physical growth. But this growth is not only physical, it is also emotional and intellectual and, even if changes are little noticeable on the outside, they might be dramatic in the inside. During this stage, concepts of personal identity and selfhood are formed in dialogue with society, with language and with other people, and while this dialogue is happening, ideas about and representations of subjectivity pervade and underpin adolescent fiction. 

Teens as growing people have particular interests and personal emotions. Of course, each individual develops at his or her own pace depending on many factors – genetics, cultural values, upbringing, socioeconomic status, etc. – but as this development takes place within a larger construct, they share a common workload in their growing-up process. 

Therefore, as future educators of young adults, the first thing we need to have in mind is the fact that teens have their own choices and preferences. Most importantly, their experiences need to be taken seriously. Only when able to understand they are in a constant process of maturation, can we benefit considerably from interacting with them. Taking into account their concerns will lead us to select the appropriate material for them. 

Methods

In order to analyse the preferences of young adults at the moment of reading we elaborated a short questionnaire to conduct a survey on two groups of students attending public schools situated in lower middle class suburbs in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires (See Appendix I). These students were from different schools, twenty students from primary school and twenty more from secondary level of education. Students’ age ranged from 11 to 17 years of age, being them separated into two focus groups. For the sake of clarity we will call them Focus group 1- students of 11-12 years old, and Focus group 2- from 15 to 17. Both focus groups were allowed to answer freely according to their reading experience. Each question in the survey was formulated in order to obtain data to be analysed both qualitatively and quantitavely. These questions refer to several literary features such as characters, genre, story-endings and main character’s personality. 

Results

Collected data can be interpreted in different ways. At this point, it is important to mention that using young adult readers within a classroom context do not truly turn teenagers into readers. They might be able to fulfil the task of reading any text if they are told to but avoid even the sight of a book during their leisure time. Even so, this research demonstrates that when it comes to reading, both focus groups have agreements and disagreements, similarities and differences.

Poems, newspapers and fables were the most widely chosen among focus group 1, being poems the most voted with 23%, 18% for newspapers and 14 for fables. Within the same topic, focus group 2 chose novels and short stories most, getting 26% each of them. Poems were the third choice, with a 22 %.  

Horror books were among the most voted by both focus groups. The interesting point in this case is that this genre got a 44% in focus group 1but only 22% in focus group 2.

Tragic and happy endings disputed the first place for preferred type of ending in focus group 1, with a 33% and 30% respectively whereas in focus group 2, 50% chose unexpected and 20% uncertain endings.

When it comes to type of character and their personality, both focus groups agreed, preferring a teenager protagonist, giving focus group 1 a 44% and focus group 2 a 69%. Focus group 1 also gave 28% to adults, and 24% to animals and focus group 2 put adults in the second place with a 31%. As to main character personality, both focus groups also placed the adventurer type in the first place, with a 21% in group 1 and 47% in group 2. The brave kind got also a 21% in group 1 but the reflexive got the second position in group 2 with a 41%. 

The graphs and charts that follow illustrate these findings:

11-12 years old

What do you like reading?

Fairy Tales 0

Fables 3

Novels 1

Short Stories 0

Poems 5

Magazines 2

Newspapers 4

Any of the above 1

Other 6

What type of books do you prefer reading?

Horror 14

Science Fiction 4

Romantic comedy 1

Comedy 5

Thriller 4

Historical Novel 0

Biographies 3

Any of the above 0

Other 1

What kind of ending do you prefer in a book?

Tragic 9

Happy 8

Uncertain 2

Disturbing 2

Unexpected 5

Any of the above 1

Other 0

¿What kind of main character do you prefer?

Animal 6

Teenager 11

Adult 7

Any of the above 1

Other 0

  

¿What type of personality do you like in a protagonist?

Heroe 5

Superheroe 1

Shy 3

Reflexive 3

Adventurer 9

Brave 9

Any of the above 1

Other 0

15-17 years old

What do you like reading?

Fairy Tales 0

Fables 1

Novels 6

Short Stories 6

Poems 5

Magazines 2

Newspapers 0

Any of the above 0

Other 3

  

What type of books do you prefer reading?

Horror 5

Science Fiction 2

Romantic comedy 6

Comedy 5

Thriller 3

Historical Novel 1

Biographies 1

Any of the above 0

Other 0

What kind of ending do you prefer in a book?

Tragic 1

Happy 1

Uncertain 4

Disturbing 1

Unexpected 10

Any of the above 3

Other 0

What kind of main character do you prefer?

Animal 0

Teenager 11

Adult 5

Any of the above 0

Other 0

¿What type of personality do you like in a protagonist?

Heroe 0

Superheroe 2

Shy 0

Reflexive 7

Adventurer 8

Brave 0

Any of the above 0

Other 0

Discussion 

Koelling (2004) concedes that at the onset of puberty, students’ identities are in a state of flux and they are in the process of forming close personal friendships, revolving around competitive comparisons in all areas of their lives. The data obtained throughout this survey confirms Koelling’s stance. In the first place, regarding type of reading and literary genre, results clearly show that 11-12 year-old students’ choices vary widely, from typical children’s preferences, such as fables or horror, to others more proper of the teenage stage, such as magazines or biographies . Secondly, when it comes to character features, many of them still choose animals and heroic or adventurous personalities. Finally, the type of ending students prefer most at this age period are either the tragic or the happy one. 

By the time students reach the last stages of teen development, their thought and reasoning are ready to deal with more abstract situations where logic can also be applied. They are more inclined to experience relationships within different social environments and they are no longer afraid of going beyond their known world. Humour is also a new component of their world, as well as romance. The results of the survey confirm this as students of 15 to 17 years old chose, for example, unexpected story endings. Concerning type of text and genre, short stories, novels, comedy and horror were the most preferred ones. The type of hero that students claim to prefer is the adventurer adolescent one. 

Taking these preferred characteristics into consideration, wise teachers will make their jobs easier by choosing material that will simultaneously teach them and amuse them, and perhaps encourage some of them to experiment with new features.

References

• Herz, Sarah (1996) What is young adult literature anyway? Can it be any good if students like it? From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Chapter 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Koelling, H. (2004) Make sense of teens as growing people and as readers. Classic Connections: Turning Teens onto Great Literature. Westport CT.
• McCallum, R. (1999) “Introduction: Subjectivity, humanism and children’s literature” Ideologies of Identity in Adolescent Fiction: The dialogic construction of subjectivity. New York: Garland.

Appendix I:

¿Qué te gusta leer?
 Cuentos de hadas
 Fábulas
 Novelas
 Historias cortas
 Poemas
 Revistas
 Diarios
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Qué género literario preferís?
 Terror
 Ciencia ficción
 Romántico
 Comedia
 Suspenso
 Novela histórica
 Biografías
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Qué tipo de final preferís?
 Trágico
 Feliz
 Incierto
 Perturbador
 Inesperado
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________


¿Qué tipo de personaje principal te gusta más?
 Animal
 Adolescente
 Adulto
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Qué personalidad te atrae más en un protagonista?
 Héroe
 Superhéroe
 Tímido
 Reflexivo
 Aventurero
 Valiente
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Te acordás de un libro que te haya gustado mucho?
 Si
 No

¿Cuál?  Título: __________

The importance of text reading material at school. Do teenagers read less?

by Cristian Matas

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Ray Bradbury

The purpose of this essay is to analyze some issues connected with the thought that nowadays teenagers may not read as much as in the past. Many school teachers have the feeling that their students find difficulties when approaching reading. This fact could be connected to the general lack of interest towards the traditional text material. When we refer to traditional text materials, we usually think about classical literature like poetry or novels, forgetting somehow that the reading experience among young people has been substantially changing through the last decades. The format of text reading material is a very wider concept nowadays and it comprehends not only poetry or novels but also comics, magazines, short stories, blogs, etc. Probably it is just a perception that teenagers do not read or read less than adults. In fact, a recent survey by the National Center for Educational Statistics in the United States, Services and Resources for Children and Young Adults (U.S. Department of Education, 2007) concludes that almost 25% of public library users are teenagers; this means that one out of every four persons entering a public library is between the ages of 12 and 18. This data shows that teens are still a very large group of readers and that maybe the problem that teachers have when dealing with this audience, is not really that teens do not like reading but the right choice of the material they would like to read. 

Theoretical framework

Today’s teens may be reading just as much as in the past, but their methods and formats of reading and interests are different from the older generations. To go deep in the solution of the problem it should also be considered what the main interests between adolescents when they are asked about reading are. This is one of the main objects that move the commitment of the Argentinean Ministry of Education that is involved in wide campaigns to reinforce reading habits among young students. In fact, as the famous Italian pedagogue Leo Tonucci (2010) states, it is remarkable that Argentina believes that the importance of a society relies on the value of a reading culture. Tonucci also says that monitoring the reading interests of a society, starting from the wide public of adolescents, represents the best way to move on after a historical and economical crisis such as the one suffered in Argentina. In this context this survey represents a small contribution to the outline of the major tendencies in our country that work in the direction of a reinforcement of the reading habits among young adults, especially in public schools which represent the main ground where future generations can develop critical thoughts and  personal opinions. As Cook, Parker & Pettijohn (2005) state, reading is important because it is not just about communication or learning. It is an all in one package where you learn interesting and capturing facts and ideas from people all across time and space. Along with that, readers can develop their concentration and attention giving skills as well as their vocabulary. It can be said that adolescents go through important changes during this period in life together with their interests, requests and the way teens get what they want to read. According to a study published in the report Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8 to 18 Year Olds (2004) it has been found that youth have a ceiling of approximately six to six and a half hours per day to devote to media, including internet as a media communication. 

Internet is making teenagers read more and more nowadays. Teenagers nowadays spend a lot of time on the computer, chatting with friends online or surfing the internet. Time is also spent on watching television shows, as well as text messaging (Eunice, 2004). The preference of internet instead of the old-fashioned book tends to show that the majority of young people experience a “disconnection” between home and schools (Wilhelm and Smith, 2001).

Methods and materials of the research

This paper focuses on what adolescents are interested in when reading. The results are taken from a survey made on three secondary public schools (E.S.B. nº10, E.S.B. nº50 and E.E.M. nº17) in Merlo (Buenos Aires, Argentina). The data comes out from an investigation of 69 students aged between thirteen years old and sixteen years old who belong to working class. The students were asked: what they would like to read at school, what kind of texts they usually read, where they get the reading material from and the purpose of reading for the students. The students had the possibility to choose more than one option to answer each question. The results were divided into gender: 31 of the students were female and 38 were male. The gender division in this survey reflects a study made by Northwestern University (2008) which states that boys are more visual readers and girls are more abstract readers. The researchers found that girls showed significantly greater activation in language areas of the brain than boys. This was mainly to understand the different teenager’s preferences in reading in order to be able to catch their attention when choosing text materials. 

Results of the investigation

The first question they were asked (see table 1.1) was about their favorite kind of reading. As a result of that question, it appears that the interests vary among genders. For instance, girls preferred short stories (26%), magazines or newspapers (42%) but boys preferred comics (36%). As for topics (see table 1.2), it is possible to say that girls were more interested in romantic (20%) and comedies topics (17%) while the majority of boys liked horror (25%) and adventure stories (23%). A major research study of the interests of more than 24,000 students (Stauffer, 2007) demonstrated that gender was a significant factor in reading interests; that girls enjoyed many boys' books, but boys refused to read most girls' books; that romantic love was attractive to girls but not to boys, while violence attracted boys but not girls; and that both boys and girls enjoyed mystery, stories of dogs and horses, and biography told as an adventure story. This data can be connected to the question whether they read for pleasure or obligation (see table 1.4). While girls tend to stay, among the years, onto the same percentage line of reading for pleasure and entertainment (with a slight oscillation of 3% during the years), boys, seemed to lose gradually the joy of reading for fun during this range of years (with a drastic fall from 44% to 6%). It could be easy to state that, in general girls read more than boys, approaching much more variety in reading texts. An important data that seemed to bring together the interests of boys and girls is that both of them get text material from the internet (36% of girls and 46% of boys). Although books and photocopies are largely used by teens (see table 1.3), it is true that the internet has become widely used by boys or girls (even if boys feel much more confident with this mean of communication). This data was relevant in the way that it showed how teens tend to choose new text reading formats in comparison with the traditional text material that are known as books. Books seem to be considered old-fashioned and represent the less chosen type of material when talking about reading (24%) largely surpassed by photocopies (32%).  

Discussion and final considerations

Starting from the results of the survey there might be some points of discussion to consider.

Reading for enjoyment seems to be one of the significant results of the study when talking with thirteen years old students. Then, the joy of reading seems to change into a duty, mostly when considering boys’ answers. This can reflect that the motivation loses its intensity along the school years and dangerously ends up in the lack of interest, as it was expressed at the beginning of this essay. Knowles and Smith (2001) propose three key explanations of why modern teens do not read. They explain that in general teens do not have time for reading and that they set aside this interest for the nearest future and put ahead the category of unmotivated readers. Students learn more from things they understand and want to read, instead of reading something boring to them and in the manner that is far from their perception of the reading process. This aspect should be kept in mind when facing the data that teens prefer home reading than school reading. 

Reading seems to be a question of gender when considering that girls are much more attracted to text materials than boys. The trend also points out that novels and magazines fit much better girls’ interests about reading (Cherland, 1994), while adventure novels or horror stories capture mainly boys’ attention (Millard, 1997). There is a common contention that boys feel that reading is a feminine activity (Martino, 2004). Still, the fact that boys’ trend does not fall completely, making them lose the curiosity in reading, should stimulate teachers in finding innovative approaches, especially for boys (Gilbert & Gilbert, 1999). Undoubtedly, boys and girls have definitely different interests and needs so it is important for teachers to take this into consideration in order to choose the correct material that can attract both genders. 

The use of the internet is important because it joins together both interests of boys and girls of all ages. This might represent the new text reading format that captures teenagers’ attention since adolescents are always looking for new ways of communication outside the alienation of the school literacy (Alloway & Gilbert, 1997). The computer's ability to process and analyze data means that endless variations on reports and other types of documents can be and are generated, thus internet itself is an enormous source of new information and recreation (Wesley, 2009). Other sources such as computers, hand phones and televisions have replaced reading. Internet is much more popular at home than at school. The only problem of using internet lies in the fact that many pages have not a clear source of information or a specified author and this reflects indeed a lack of authenticity and credibility. It is relevant to know who wrote what is found on the internet, otherwise, it would be difficult to trust on the reliability of the information. Now that the Argentinean government has given new netbooks to secondary school students to surf the internet, teenagers should be taught how to use it properly since internet is the biggest and fastest way to find information. If adolescents learn how to reflect upon what they read, they will find easier to choose the most appropriate material according to their interests.

This research shows that it is not true that adolescents read less than what people generally think. It is only that their interests have changed. It is vital to choose the correct material for this stage in life attending students’ preferences in order to motivate them to read more and credible materials. Reading does not have to be a boring activity which many students may dislike. Reading can be fun and creative. Interesting activities can also be organized by teachers in order to promote reading and to find again that spirit of entertainment students ask for. If teachers took the results of this research seriously, they would learn how important is the reading material choice so as to help teens to develop their reading skills. This survey shows clearly that the reading interest loses its intensity along the years. That is why teachers have to monitor constantly the changing interests in their students and according to that, they can have always new data to create their material.       

References

• Buildings, books and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age. Published by Benton Foundation. Accessed October 2011 from http://www.benton.org/Library/Kellogg/summary.html 
• Cook, S. J., Parker, R. S., & Pettijohn, C. E. (2005). The public library: An early teen's perspective. Public Libraries, 157-161.
• De Vos, G. “Storytelling for Young Adults. A Guide to Tales for Teens”.  Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2003.
• Fabb, N. & Durant, A. “How to Write Essays, Dissertations and These in Literary Studies.” Longman. New York, 1993. 
• Herz, S. & Gallo, D. “From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature And The Classics”. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
• Denise Witmer (2010), Everyday Tactics That Will Encourage Your Teen to Read, from http://parentingteens.about.com/od/education/a/teen_reading.htm 
• Gilbert, P. (1998), Gender and schooling in New Times: The challenge of boys in literacy. Australian Educational Researcher, 15-36.
• Jessica E. Moyer (2008), An Analysis of the Appeal Factors of Teen and Adult Speculative Fiction, from http://jessicaemilymoyer.pbworks.com/f/MoyerTeensReadAdultbooks.doc 
• Northwestern University (2008, March 5). Boys' And Girls' Brains Are Different: Gender Differences In Language Appear Biological. Accessed October 2011 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303120346.htm
• Stauffer, S. M. (2007). Developing children's interest in reading. Accessed October 2011 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1387/is_2_56/ai_n24215751/pg_5/ 

Teenagers as readers: What kind of books do they prefer to read?

by Villaverde, Florencia  and Núñez, Melina

Contrary to popular myth, teenagers enjoy reading. However, it is clear that they do not like reading everything they are presented to. We carried out a survey in order to know more about the characteristics that teenagers consider a good book should contain. With the results of the survey, we will explore throughout this paper the differences and similarities between Small`s characterization of a good book for teenagers and teenagers `owns beliefs. The purpose of this is to determine what kinds of books teenagers prefer reading. 

Nowadays, teenagers read a wide variety of books during their lessons at school. It is important for teachers to know about the preferences of teenagers so as to choose books which call their attention and make them feel interested in what they are reading.

Many authors coincide in the importance of including certain elements in books directed to teenagers in order to engage them. Small (1992) is one of them. He points out that the main character of a story should be a teenager, the events and problems in the plot should be related to adolescents and the story should be relatively short. The survey we carried out included items related to the ones Small pointed out. 

Data for this quantitative study was collected from twenty teenage students of sixteen years old, who study English as a foreign language. The students belong to a public school from the district of Moron in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The survey was divided into six sections which contained several options. Students had to decide which options were more appropriate according to their preferences. The analysis of the data included analytic deduction. We summed all the students´ answers in order to identify the options chosen by the majority. The following is a sample of the survey:

What characteristics make a good book for teenagers?

 Characters                                                                           

- Teenage character

- Adult character

- Adult and teenage character

- Other/ others.

 Plot:

- Based on real life events

- Related to science fiction

- Other/ others

 Length 

- No more that 150 pages

- Up to 400 pages

- Other/ others.

Characters “are the guide who bring the story world to life and teach us to see the rich potential human beings have for goodness, love, faith, and hope, as well as for fear and evil” (Peterson and Eeds, 1990, p.31). A good selection of characters is essential to encourage teenagers to read not just a chapter but a whole story. Through a good characterization authors can make teenagers feel represented in a story and fulfill their special needs. These needs include the need to belong to a particular group of people, the need to communicate their own desires and fears to adults and the need for entertainment (Gail De Vos, 2003). Taking into account Small`s ideas, the main character in books directed to teenagers should also be a teenager and it makes sense if we take into account the need of teenagers to feel themselves represented in a story. However, after we carried out the survey, we realized that most of the students had chosen “adults and adolescents” as the preferred characters for a good story. Their answers are shown in graphic 1. 

The results were unexpected because we believed that they would only choose adolescents’ characters as the key for a good story. We draw this conclusion taking into account teenagers´interest in movies and television programmes. However, the majority of students has chosen both adolescents and adults´ characters.  We consider that this choice may be related to their wish to be adults and more independent. 

The plot is an important part of any story. According to Baker and Greene (1987) a well-developed plot includes a brief opening that introduces the main characters, sets the scene and anticipates the action. The ending resolves the conflict, releases the tension and leaves the reader feeling satisfied. These characteristics are taken into account by many authors when writing for teenagers. However, Small points out another characteristic that a plot should include. This characteristic is related to the kind of events the plot will be based on. To Small a story directed to teenagers should include a plot based on events and problems that are closely related to teenagers. We considered Small´s idea and included it as an option in the survey. We also added a contrastive option and give students the opportunity  to write other ideas if they do not agree with the ones we stated. Students´ answers are shown in graphic 2. 

Taken into account the results, we could confirm that Small´s characterization of the plot coincides with the students´ choice. The majority of the students agreed in having a plot based on real events as an important factor for a good story. This result can be interpreted through Yolen´s ideas. Yolen (2000) stated that “through stories teenagers are able to try their own dreams, fantasies, fears, and concerns without experiencing real-life consequences”. This means that teenagers identify themselves with plots based on real life situations or experiences and  develop a critical thinking without exposing them to risky situations.

According to Small, stories for adolescents should be relatively short. This means rarely more than 200 pages. We include in the survey three options to confirm or refute Small´s idea about the length of a good story for adolescents. The results are shown in graphic 3.

We realize that  teenagers prefer reading stories of no more than 200 pages. This could represent the lack of motivation some of them have towards literature. However, we also consider that these answers could represent the attention span of adolescents.

Our research demonstrates that the majority of the students who participated in our survey  has chosen the same characteristics that Small presented as  regards the length of a story and the plot. A story should be short and it should be based on real life events. 

Adolescents’ reading preferences: a helping hand for English Foreign Language teachers

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