Reading is linked to numerous positive outcomes, including academic achievement, reduced stress, and enhanced life expectancy. However, a significant portion of Chilean adolescents engage in limited reading. Notably, male students tend to exhibit lower levels of reading motivation compared to their female counterparts, with declining reading…

This article disrupts dominant discourses around boys and reading that often homogenise young males as reluctant, disengaged and, at times, adversarial readers. Rather than essentialising boys, we argue there is a need for a more sophisticated knowledge base about the influences, constraints and diverse experiences of boys as readers in society…

National concern about the reading proficiency of adolescents and the alarming statistics on the literacy achievement of African American males have created much interest in the topic of "motivated literacy" for researchers, policy makers, and educators. African American twelfth graders perform at the same level in reading as White…

Combines a personal anecdote involving success with one aliterate student and results of research on the reading habits of adolescents. Presents an annotated list of 50 books for "tough guys" that match the reading habits of that particular group. (RS)

Examines findings from a study of six elementary school cohorts designed to explore each cohort's attitudes toward reading, reading sources, and places at home where they read. Results indicate that the differences between boys and girls became progressively fewer as the age group increased. Implications for reading policy and practice are…

Presents findings of a survey of undergraduate reading preferences. Notes that only female science and nonscience majors read significant amounts of writing by women and that much of this reading is done outside of class. (MM)

A study was conducted to explore the reading habits, interests, and attitudes of older readers. One hundred and twenty readers aged 60 to 64 years participated in the Adult Inventory of Reading Interests and Attitudes (AIRIA) and were classified as minimal, moderate, and avid book readers. Fifty-five of these subjects were then interviewed. Among…

Based on research indicating successful readers have several common characteristics (student choice and availability of reading materials, time for reading, and time to talk about their reading), a study explored research findings about each characteristic and surveyed middle grade teachers' reading practices in the classroom. Seventh-grade…

Discusses text features that tended to engage boys, and describes their desire to use literacy to share and socialize. Finds that boys were more different than alike, and that very particular conditions in the social context were more important than preexisting interests. Offers brief descriptions of 11 books the author has found to be appealing…

A study investigated whether the reading preferences of emotionally disturbed boys were the same as the interests of boys in the general population. Subjects, 25 boys from a private residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed boys, were interviewed individually, completed a reading interest survey, and selected titles of books they…

Describes observations of recreational reading material selection by kindergarten and first-grade boys and girls. Discussion covers gender-related preferences in choices of recreational library materials, fiction and non-fiction choices, flexibility in reading choices, and gender roles. Observations made in 1983 and 1984 are appended. Five sources…

A questionnaire was sent to a number of elementary and secondary school English and reading teachers in Connecticut, asking them to survey one or two different classes to determine their students' reading interests. Questions dealt with such topics as favorite type of book, favorite books, more recently read title, favorite authors, sources of…

To determine if purposes in reading differ with sex, grade level, and nationality, a 16-item "Functions of Reading Scale" (developed from content analysis of student essays on why they like to read) was administered to 459 Irish (Dublin, Ireland) and American (Windham, Connecticut) students in grades three, five, and eight. Data…

The reading interests of 300 tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students were surveyed and compared to those revealed in previous research. The results indicated that the amount of time students reported reading outside of school per day has decreased slightly since a 1961 study by P. Witty, with females still reading more than males. As in the…

Describes observations of two British primary school classrooms and how teaching conditions set up or preclude gender specific reading attitudes. (HTH)