Increasing Children's Engagement in Recreational Reading

• In Event: 25.016 - Motivation and Engagement in Literacy

Abstract

Regular recreational reading offers benefits across a range of literacy outcomes. Therefore, increasing frequency of engagement in recreational reading can play an important role in addressing inequity in literacy outcomes once independent reading skill has been achieved. The 2016 Western Australian Study in Children’s Book Reading collected data from N=997 survey respondents and N= 47 interview respondents, seeking to determine how educators and parents may best support young people to read with greater frequency. Interview participants from Years 4 and 6 were asked what would make them read more. The five recurring themes of finding engaging books, series adherence, challenge seeking, skill deficit, and time availability indicate optimal avenues for future research and intervention to foster increased engagement in reading.

Author

• Margaret Kristin Merga, Murdoch University