A Grounded Theory for Creating Adolescent Readers

The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to discover the impact on adolescent reading motivation as students were given an opportunity to select recreational reading material and read consistently during class time. This study also explored the motivational impact of student engagement from dialogue with peers about their reading content to help students gain a clearer understanding of their reading. Research data were collected from public high school students in grades 9-12 who were enrolled in an elective class or 11th or 12th grade English courses and provided feedback about exposing students to a variety of options for self-selected reading, class time to read, and class discussion for improved understanding of texts. Data were collected using triangulation from silent reading observations, peer discussion transcripts, student journals written after discussions, and final interview transcripts. Analysis of data was conducted using a constant comparison of identified themes. A systematic design aided in coding of categories found from data through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The results have provided data for generating a theory about increasing reading motivation. The theory presented as the core phenomenon suggests that students should have access to a wide variety of interesting reading content to increase motivation to read. Students attribute their reading interests to self-selection of the material along with time to read and discuss with peers in class. This theory is presented for future research study and current application in public classrooms to elicit increased reading engagement from students