YOUNG ADULT´S READING: AN ANALYSIS OF TEENS CHOICES

INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE FORMACIÓN DOCENTE N°30 “LEONARDO DA VINCI” LANGUAGE & WRITTEN EXPRESSION IV OLAZÁBAL, ANDREA NIETO, NANCY BARROCA ROLDÁN, PABLO

YOUNG ADULT´S READING: AN ANALYSIS OF TEENS CHOICES

Maria: My students didn´t like the adventure story I read last class, they didn´t pay attention and they got bored.

Elizabeth: Perhaps you should have to ask them what type of stories they like reading, don´t you think?

Maria: It can be a good idea. ( Real conversation between two English teachers at a private school in Greater Buenos Aires )

It is very common at schools to hear conversations like this among teachers. In Argentina, English teachers have to face a difficult conflict every year: to choose appropriate reading material for their students. Unfortunately, some teachers choose literature for their young adults´ students without taking into consideration their reading preferences. This kind of practice, leads to the lack of students´ motivation in reading since the stories chosen by the teachers are not always attractive for teens. As Bucher and Manning ( 2006) states, “ the subject matter should reflect age and development by addressing student´s interest levels, reading and thinking levels. The content should deal with contemporary issues and experiences with characters adolescents can relate.”

Since the point of view of our practical experience, teachers are conscious about the importance of choosing appropriate literature for their teenage students, adolescents will feel motivated to read, they will feel identified with the stories and they will respond in a positive way during the English class.

This paper will describe what type of literature teenagers prefer reading so as to help teachers to choose interesting material appealing for their students in the EFL classes. In order to obtain data about students´ preferences we conducted a survey with a group of secondary students among 14-15 years old. An analysis of the results will help teachers to choose appropriate reading material when preparing their lessons at school.

Theoretical framework

One of the main difficulties teachers have to face with their students is the lack of adolescent´s interests in reading. In Argentina, the reading habit it´s not frequent among teenagers. According to our experience as teachers, there is a wide range of reasons to explain this issue. Firstly, their parents don´t read, secondly, teenagers prefer chatting or playing video games and finally, they are not motivated to read.

Taking into account that teachers have to face the lack of student´s interest in reading, teachers should create bonds between reading material and their students. As Cecilia Magdalena du Toit ( 2009) points out, “The choice of reading material is essential since it must be engrossing to the readers. The readers must be encouraged to select material at their own level.”

In addition, teachers also have to take into consideration the radical changes teenagers undergo during adolescence, such as: sexual development, emotional, intellectual and bodily changes. This may help teachers to understand what their students are facing and to offer them appropriate reading material according to their interests. As Irwin( 1998) argues, “Good teachers have always used young adolescent´s intense interest in themselves an awakening sexuality, their emotional ups and downs, their exploration of newly defined social roles and a new capacity for analytical thought to help them become more enthusiastic about literature whereas some teachers view these turbulent manifestations as interruptions to instructions, responsible teachers recognize them as opportunities to capitalize on student strengths and interests to facilitate learning.”

According to Irwin´s ideas, teachers should facilitate enjoyable reading material to their students taking into consideration the different changes faced by young adults in their adolescent stage.

Methodology

In order to analyze young adults´ preferences in reading we carried out a survey on students from “Instituto Francisco de Asís”, a private school situated in Merlo in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires. Students attended the second year of secondary school. They were middle class students, in their teens, between 14-15 years old. The total of students was 36, 15 girls and 21 boys.

The survey was carried out in Spanish to facilitate the students´ comprehension. It was developed during the English class and it lasted fifteen minutes approximately. The students answered according to their reading experiences and preferences. The survey consisted on three questions with options to choose about their reading experiences, types of genre and literary features they liked most.

The collected data from this research was analyzed in a deductive way.

The following chart illustrates these findings:

What do you like reading?        

Comics Magazines Novels Newspapers Short stories Poems Fables Others

What type of books do you prefer reading?       

Science fiction Comedy Horror Love stories Adventures Thriller Others

What do you like most from the chosen option?      

Characters Themes Images Title Length Others

Results

The first question was about reading preferences. The students´ responses show that out of 36 students, 27% preferred short stories in the first place, and 25% preferred magazines in the second place. Only 2 of the students chose poems and newspapers, whereas a few of them chose fables and novels and, an important part of the students, 22% chose comics. (See graphic 1)

What do you like reading?

Number of students 10 9 10

8

4

3

1

1

0

5 0

Newspapers

Fables

Comics

Short stories

0 Others

Poems

Novels

Magazines

Graphic 1

After considering the gathered data in the second question about the type of genre students like most, 36% voted science fiction, 22% preferred horror in the second place. Within the same question, thriller got 8.3%, adventure 11% , comedy 5.5% and love stories 16.6%.(see graphic 2)

What type of books do you prefer reading?

Number of students 10 13

8

5

3

6

0 Science fiction

Love stories Horror

2

4

0 Thriller

Adventure Graphic 2

Comedy

Others

In the third question, students answer about the literary features they like most. Most of them answered that they preferred characters in the first place, and images in the second place.

Few of them voted length, and some of them preferred title and theme. (see graphic 3)

What do you like most from the chosen option?

Number of students 25 20 15 19 10 5 0 Characters

3

9

2

3

0

3 Theme

0

Images

Length

Title

Others

Graphic 3

Discussion

Taking into account the results obtained in the survey, it is advisable for teachers to choose appropriate reading material appealing to their students´ interests in the EFL classes. In this way, they may foster students´ motivation and participation and they can develop a critical thinking.

The data obtained throughout this survey shows that in the first place, regarding student´s preferences in reading, the most voted options are short stories as well as magazines and comics.

Secondly, it can be seen that the type of books that 14- 15 year old students prefer reading are science fiction and horror stories. Finally, when it comes to literary features, many of them choose characters and images to work in the EFL classes.

Having in mind that in general young adult students don´t feel attracted by reading, teachers should include short stories, magazines and comics in their EFL plans. As regards the type of books students prefer reading, teachers may consider science fiction and horror. In this way, students will feel motivated to read and the English classes may be more effective.

In addition, teachers may gain a favorable result in their EFL classes if they take into consideration the literary features chosen by their students. Apart from that, students can feel that their preferences are taken into account and teachers may take advantage of this and include their student´s preferences in reading in their lesson plans.

So, considering student´s preferences in reading, it is very useful for teachers to improve EFL classes and engage students to go on learning.

References *Magdalena du Toit, C. (2009) “The recreational reading habits of adolescent readers: A case study.” *Irwin (1998:6)” The effectiveness of Young Adult Literature in the classroom.” * Bucher, K., Manning, M. Lee “Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation and Appreciation.”

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education; 2006. Print.