Blog Post #4: Annotated Bibliography for Articles on Reading Motivation and New Literacies
For my research, I'll be focusing on how to blend new literacies with traditional ones to help increase reading motivation among adolescents. Teenage students are often overwhelmed with academic work and extracurricular activities and show little interest in reading for pleasure. What free time they do have seems to be spent on their smartphones or other devices. Interestingly, when they do read, they seem to prefer print books over digital material. I'd like to explore ways to use digital tools in conjunction with print materials to help increase adolescents' excitement about reading.
Annotated Bibliography
Dera, J., Brouwer, S., & Welling, A. (2023). BookTok’s appeal on ninth‐grade students: An
inquiry into students’ responses on a social media revelation. Journal of Adolescent
& Adult Literacy, 67(2), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1303
This article explores the possible use of #BookTok to raise high school students’ reading motivation. The authors examine this social media book review community to determine its effectiveness in engaging teenagers. Noting that school-based reading often focuses on canonical texts that lack diversity and TikTok reviewers highlighted more contemporary, diverse young adult books, they saw potential for innovation in the classroom. They surveyed the students about their reading attitudes, practices, and expectations, revealing that even reluctant readers are open to using #BookTok during class time. Their study indicates that using this digital tool in an academic setting could prove useful in increasing reading motivation among students. The authors give recommendations for how to integrate #BookTok into academic lessons.
Higgs, J. M., & Kim, G. M. (2022). Interpreting old texts with new tools: digital multimodal
composition for a high school reading assignment. English Teaching, 21(2), 128-142.
https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-07-2020-0079
In order to assess the effectiveness of using multimodal resources in a high school classroom, the authors of this article analyzed a mixed media project given by an ELA teacher in a diverse urban high school in the Midwest. For the assignment, students had to analyze a portion of a chosen poem and, using Adobe Flash, showcase the text using animation, drawings, and other digital design tools. The authors studied how this blended literacy activity affected the motivation of the students to read, interpret, and engage with the poems. The study concluded that the inclusion of digital modes can significantly increase motivation and proficiency for teenagers reading and analyzing literature, as long as individual preferences for methods are considered.
Jang, B. G., Ryoo, J. H., & Smith, K. C. (2021). Latent profiles of attitudes toward print and
digital reading among adolescents. Reading & Writing, 34(5), 1115–1139.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10104-7
In this article the authors analyze how various modes and purposes of reading affect the attitudes of adolescents. Breaking their middle school subjects into four groups: print preferred readers; willing readers; reluctant readers; and avid readers, they study the ways digital and print materials influence the thoughts and actions of the students. Citing the rapid increase of digital reading tools over the past several years, they stress the importance of including this new development in studying teen reading. Though their findings reveal that a majority of students prefer print reading materials for certain reading activities, they also showed that a percentage of students would benefit from the addition of digital learning opportunities in the classroom.
Kesson, H. (2020). Reading digital texts: obstacles to using digital resources. English Teaching,
19(2), 155-168. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-02-2019-0019
In this study, the authors set out to investigate the anecdotal claim that teenagers relate more successfully to digital text than to print. Using two 12th-grade English classes from a high school in the Northeast, they interviewed the students to assess their attitudes toward and experiences with the digital textbooks and devices they were using for academic reading. Students, who had been reading articles placed in Google Docs, were given an article in its original digital format including hyperlinks and sidebar advertisements. The responses were mixed, with some students welcoming the way that the hyperlinks allowed them to explore, and others feeling distracted and overwhelmed. The overall finding was that teachers, just as with any form of academic activity, would help students’ digital reading growth by guiding them in their process.
Loh, C. E., & Sun, B. (2019). I’d Still Prefer to Read the Hard Copy: Adolescents’ Print and
Digital Reading Habits. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 62(6), 663–672.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.904
In this article the authors analyzed data from a reading survey given to students in six Singapore secondary schools. The researchers looked at the students’ reading habits and the ways they related to digital and print books. Most of the students had easy access to both online materials and public libraries. The authors point out that although educators in many schools assume students who are digital natives prefer consuming texts in a technological medium, they found the opposite to be the case. Students who were already considered readers were more likely to turn to eBooks when the need arose and those who were infrequent readers were less likely. They also found that all readers were motivated by the social aspect of reading, which can be addressed through digital tools like social media apps and online communities. Their conclusions reiterated the point that there are innovative ways to use both digital and print mediums to increase the reading motivation of adolescents.
Very interesting research topic and a well executed annoyed bibliography. As I read your introduction I had to think about my preference for print or digital. I insist that all my scholarly articles be printed! It is interesting to hear that young people might have the same preferences- it easy to just assume that they prefer everything digitally. I recall an anecdote about comic book collectors: "its easier to read digitally at night, but it will never replace actually holding the thing in your hands." There must be some way for teachers to leverage this sentiment. I think #BookTok is another interesting facet. Using social media to disseminate pronto text is a novel idea. I think it could do many things: expose students to multimodal texts- that they are interested in; and it also gives them a platform to say: "hey look at this cool book I read." And if we're being honest that's what a lot of adults want to do! Lastly, you mentioned a study that differentiated between different groups of readers "avid," "reluctant," and so on. While I've always been aware of these groups and made accommodations for some, I didn't think about how that should affect my instruction, especially in a whole-group setting. It's definitely something I want to think about further. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi KG Librarian. What I find particularly interesting in Dera, Brouwer, and Welling's study is how the authors discuss how to use social media to engage high school students in reading. The study's exploration in motivating students, especially those who are typically reluctant readers may be promising. The emphasis on the shift to more contemporary and diverse young adult books, as highlighted by TikTok reviewers, suggests a refreshing approach to making reading more appealing and relevant to students. The authors' findings that students are open to using other resources in the classroom, coupled with their practical recommendations for integrating a new digital tool into academic lessons, provide valuable insights into how educators can leverage social media to enhance reading motivation.
ReplyDeleteDear Karin,
ReplyDeleteI think your topic is a great idea. I feel like with access to the digital world, children and adolescents tend to read less and have fewer opportunities and motivation to read for pleasure. It seems like the human imagination of new generations influenced by the digital world works differently. For instance, they easily express themselves using digital tools and platforms. They are able to create digital art, music, their own stories, videos, presentations, and more. Hence, technology is a valuable tool for nurturing their imagination and creativity. On the other hand, the preference of technology over other resources and being constantly disturbed by their digital devices decline kids' reading stamina. Reading enhances imagination, and I believe children need a foundation of “traditional literacy” in order to use technology to the fullest. Therefore, looking for strategies for how to bounce effectively between “new literacies” and “traditional literacies” is imperative to enhance students' learning outcomes.