A study was conducted to determine whether students' preferences for reading or for viewing television were related to the quality of their leisure reading choices. The families of 198 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students were asked to complete television and reading logs for four weeks. Sixty-six students were identified from this sample as…

This paper discusses the role of reading in the lives of high school students and discusses research that suggests ways to motivate adolescents to read. Research reviewed in the paper indicates that the major factors that influence adolescent reading are gender, age or maturity, intelligence, and socioeconomic background. The summary of the…

This article offers suggestions to teachers of middle school students on how to encourage children to read for pleasure and how to build a classroom library suited to their interests and abilities. (JD)

Explains how a guided independent reading program became popular with junior high school students. (SW)

Explores the educational contexts in which boys and girls make their reading choices. Finds that girls read more and read narrative fiction almost exclusively, while boys read less but in a wider number of genres. Examines the effect that teachers or curriculum have in supporting or challenging gender preferences for reading material selections.…

Contends that literature is a means by which people are constructed as social beings. Proposes accomplishing this by teaching students to read critically and interrogatively. Concludes that English teachers need to nurture skills, attitudes, and habits of critical reading in students. (PM)

Discusses ways to help motivate reluctant readers. Topics include early reading experiences of aliterate readers; the value of reading-related activities like book clubs and reading clubs; other activities that motivate and/or discourage readers; the role of parents, teachers, and librarians; and narrowing choices to make book selection easier.…

Discusses the role of readers' advisors in public libraries based on readers' responses to open-ended, qualitative interviews on reading for pleasure. Topics discussed include how books help people, how readers choose books, what they like and dislike about fiction collections in libraries, and how libraries and librarians can be more helpful to…

This study was intended to negate or confirm the findings of prior studies conducted on the relationship between gender and reading preferences in high school students and to ascertain whether any changes have occurred that would reflect changing attitudes toward gender roles. Data were gathered by using a survey which was distributed to…

Concerned with the validity of the audience data reported by two major syndicated magazine readership services--Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) and Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB)--a study examined the differences in MRI and SMRB calculations of reader turnover rates, which form the basis for estimating audience accumulation. Results indicated…

Using the data base provided by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) through its literacy assessment of young adults, researchers probed the newspaper reading practices of 21-25 year olds. The 1985 survey used home interviews of 3,600 young adults in the 48 contiguous states, representative of the 21 million adults in this age…

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…

Since the average child spends an estimated 30 hours a week watching television, it is important to consider the negative and positive effects of television viewing on the development of reading attitudes and habits. Possible negative aspects of television viewing include the following: the rapid pacing of programs encourages shallow reading; the…

Findings from a number of studies of the reading interests and habits of British secondary school students are reviewed, and the results of a new survey of the opinions of 55 teachers are briefly reported. The studies indicate that a number of "classic" texts are popular but that "subliterature" is also popular and becomes more…

Reports on a study that surveyed upper primary class children to determine how widely they read, who their favorite authors are, how they choose the books they read, where they obtain them, and who they talk to about them. (HOD)