The Reading Lives of Teens: Research and Practice

by Chin Ee Loh (Editor)

Overview

In these changing times of global flows of media and technologies and reports of declining reading enjoyment, researchers, policymakers and educators need to engage anew with essential issues of what counts as reading, what kinds of reading matter and how to support teen reading engagement in school and out-of-school settings.

Bringing together contributions from well-known and emerging adolescent literacy researchers from different disciplinary perspectives, this edited collection consolidates contemporary research on teens’ volitional print and digital reading, whether in school or out-of-school contexts. The first part of the book offers overviews of what teens are reading, followed by chapters on community support on reading and new ways of researching teen reading. With chapters from North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East, the collection will offer multifaceted and complex insights into what, how and why teens read in different contexts. Reflection questions at the end of each chapter encourage readers to consider how the research can be applied in their own research, policy and practice contexts.

This book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers and educators who are invested in supporting adolescent-engaged reading with evidence-based policies and strategies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040223543
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/31/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Chin Ee Loh is Associate Professor in the English Language and Literature Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research interests are in literacy and equity, with a focus on reading, school libraries and technology. More information about her work can be found at https://www.lohchinee.com.

Table of Contents

1. The reading lives of teens 2. Young people’s reading in the UK 3. Student perceptions and practices when reading in print and digitally: An evolving saga 4. Why print still matters for reading in a digital age: A survey study of adolescents' gendered print and digital reading 5. Understanding Teenagers’ Experiences of Reading Fiction 6. From Mahmoud Darwish to Shakespeare, Naruto to Tintin Comics: Reading Preferences and Identities of Emirati Adolescents from the UAE 7. Finding a Good Read? Strategies Australian Teenagers use to Negotiate Book Recommendations 8. Reading for Freedom, Reading for Love: Mining Students’ Literate Thinking in the Figured World of Ms. Grant’s Classroom 9. Creating a Community of Independent Readers in a Japanese-language Classroom 10. Empowering Teen Readers: The Role of the Teacher Librarian in Supporting Reading for Pleasure 11. New Ways of Researching Teen Reading: Do the aims of reading research, policy, and practice align with adolescents’ priorities for reading? 12. “High school ruined it for me”: The decline of leisure reading in adolescence and what teachers and parents can do about it 13. The #BookTok Effect: Unpacking the Impact of Identity, Social Media Community Formation, and Affective Experiences on Reading Motivation 14. The future of teens’ reading lives

Editorial Reviews

“The Reading Lives of Teens: Research and Practice arrives at a time when young people’s engagement in reading is thought to be slipping, even to the point of disappearing in some instances.  However, the chapter authors in this edited volume dig deep into the research on what literacy practices sustain and motivate youth living in a digital era. As a consequence, key take-aways from engaging with this book may lead to an alternative narrative—one that pushes back on the negative to champion a new view on what teens are doing in the name of reading.”

 

-Donna Alvermann, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia in

Athens, USA.

 

“Accessible and engaging, this book is essential reading for all educators, researchers and policy makers committed to motivating teen readers. Drawing on their own studies, the 25 contributors from across the globe expand our understanding of adolescents’ diverse habits, practices and identities as readers. Agency, autonomy, relationships and informal interactions around texts surface as significant, and many authors offer ways forward to redress the distressing decline in reading for pleasure at this critical age.  Highly recommended.”

 

-Professor Teresa Cremin, The Open University, UK.

 

“Loh’s The Reading Lives of Teens: Research and Practice is well-timed for addressing how reading among teens has changed in the 21st century. Providing authentic accounts of young people’s reading experience underpinned by theoretical discourses, the authors add to the critical conversation about volition, reading choice and the sustainability of literacy in new times, showing that even in the face of change, some enduring features of reading remain. This book is an important resource for anyone concerned about the past, present and future trajectories of literacy among teens and young adults in both eastern and western nations.”

 

-Dr Chong Su Li, author of Charting an Asian Trajectory for Literacy Education: Connecting Past, Present and Future Literacies, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.

From the Publisher