Even though Swedish students (age 9 and 14 years) placed third in the recent IEA study, reading instruction in Swedish schools is apparently no better than in other countries taking part in the IEA study. No strong correlations between type of reading instruction and students' reading skills have been found. Schools in Nordic countries work under…

A practicum report addressed the problem of lack of interest in the literacy of young readers and the need to motivate them to want to read. A cross-age peer-tutoring program was established where primary students were paired with upper intermediate grade students who displayed positive reading attitudes and habits. The tutoring pair worked…

Discusses how different methods of teaching reading influence children's attitudes towards reading. Suggests several ways to make learning to read enjoyable for students. (MM)

Gathers information about children's reading habits against the background of the Standard Achievement Tests (SATs). Questions three children in each of four schools in England on their reading habits. Notes that few of the children associated reading with pleasure. Suggests that schools can never rival the potential of the home for encouraging…

Investigates the personal, home, and school reading contexts of secondary school readers. Explores students' implicit resistance to reading school-assigned materials as an explanation for why students' interest in school reading declines after elementary school. Includes brief descriptions of resistant readers in other countries. (SR)

The National Language and Literature Development Agency (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka) in Malaysia promotes literacy and reading through publishing, book promotion, book distribution, extension programs, writing incentives, and maintenance of a special library. The article signals a need for the understanding of reasons why interest in reading has not…

Evaluates one aspect of the Read It Project, a community literacy project initiated and managed by Leeds Education 2000. Focuses on the reading attitudes and behavior of 61 children who attended Read It Clubs in 1998-1999. Concludes children enjoyed the Read It Clubs they attended, valued the experience, and believed they gained from it. (RS)

In this article we describe the leisure reading practices and attitudes towards reading of two cohorts of teenage boys and their parents from one educated, middle-class school community in Australia. Leisure reading refers to free choice or recreational reading across a range of genres (e.g., fiction/nonfiction) and modes (e.g., print/electronic).…

This article is an exploration of the relationship between Australian soldiers and wartime libraries in the First and Second World Wars. It examines the way soldiers, as readers, used a variety of libraries, including those of charitable organizations, the education libraries organized by military authorities, and the libraries formed in Prisoner…

A study investigated Swedish students' attitudes about the point of being able to read. Subjects were 53 Swedish students in grades 5 and 8. Their answers were distributed into three categories: a survival and participation perspective; a dynamic-instrumental perspective; and a personal experience perspective. Regardless of performance level, most…

An initial study (Ram 1) in Denmark in 1970 determined whether methods could be developed to assess the effect of textual passages on readers' experiences of a short story. Subjects, 717 Danish secondary students, were given a questionnaire to check on the effect of specific auctorial techniques and to chart readers' attitudes and the way they…

A study investigated the diversity of reading behaviors reported by 3,354 middle-aged (45-64) and older (65 and older) Canadian readers in response to a questionnaire on reading habits. The study coupled the amount of time spent reading with a "breadth" score based on the variety and frequency of books read. Based on the subjects' time…

Discussion of teenage television viewing focuses on a study of secondary school students in Belfast (Northern Ireland) that examined viewing habits. Highlights include the amount of television watched; effects on reading; the influence of violence; parents' responsibility and control over viewing; models for behavior; and negative views of…

Examines Gary Crew's novel written for a young adult audience, called "Strange Objects," a story containing verifiable historical fact interwoven with elements of fiction and the supernatural. Shows how the numerous genres and viewpoints in the book challenge and contradict one another, forcing young readers to perform resistant readings…

Examines Singapore's multilingual society, and finds that after 10 years of bilingual education, most young adults are primarily monolingual readers of English, the first school language, and largely will not read in their ethnic languages. Examines social, political, educational, and personal factors contributing to a general lack of success in…