Case studies of high school students' reading.

This qualitative study explores reasons why so many young people avoid reading. Interviews with twenty-five adolescents reveal how various acts of reading are experienced by students who dislike school reading. Five students are presented in detail as case studies. The student interviews are supplemented by classroom observations and interviews with teachers. Themes emerged from the student interviews: most began reading less in middle school, most find assigned high school reading boring, and yet most do enjoy reading about something they find interesting. Dull reading matter makes their minds wander and their eyes tire; they do not understand what the text is telling them nor why they are reading it. They do not actually read much of what is assigned, although some have developed coping techniques, such as skimming for important terms. They rely heavily on discussion to compensate for not reading or to help them understand what they did read, but discussion often means having the teacher tell them what the text means. In short, in high school, many students learn to dislike and avoid reading. Yet students say that they do read if they find an interesting subject, such as sports, hobbies, or other teenagers. They also have some advice for teachers about how to make reading less burdensome and more comprehensible. High school students are required to read throughout the school day but are almost never taught how to read these assignments because reading instruction is relegated to the earlier grades. This study reveals that many students need to be taught explicitly how to read more sophisticated texts. Literary texts, in particular, make demands on student readers which they are not trained to meet. As a result, works of literature are read as if they were just another textbook rather than a work of art. Case studies explicate what we need to know about adolescents (developmental stages, needs, interests, talents, beliefs) which help us facilitate their connection with texts of all kinds.PhDEducationEducational psychologyLanguage artsReading instructionSecondary educationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/126322/2/3016941.pd