Reading for pleasure-Final1.1

Reading for pleasure: A research overview

Christina Clark and Kate Rumbold National Literacy Trust November 2006

The path of a reader is not a runway but more a hack through a forest, with individual twists and turns, entanglements and moments of surprise. (Holden, 2004)

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Many thanks to the Thomson Corporation whose generous contribution has made this research possible.

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Table of contents

1. Setting the context ..................................................................................................5 2. The story so far .......................................................................................................9

The benefits of reading for pleasure ........................................................................9 Reading for pleasure ? some statistics ..................................................................10 A decline in reading enjoyment?............................................................................12 Reasons for reading ...............................................................................................14 Reading preferences ..............................................................................................15 3. Delving more deeply .............................................................................................16 Introducing reading motivation ...............................................................................16 Reading motivation and its link with reading enjoyment ? a closer look ...............17 Good versus evil?...................................................................................................19 The question of rewards ? a brief digression .........................................................20 The importance of choice.......................................................................................21 Reading for pleasure ? a motivational chart ..........................................................22 4. The way forward ...................................................................................................24 References.................................................................................................................29

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1. Setting the context

This paper explores reading for pleasure1, its importance, and its impact on literacy attainment and other outcomes. Reading is an important gateway to personal development, and to social, economic and civic life (Holden, 2004). It allows us to learn "about other people, about history and social studies, the langue arts, science, mathematics, and the other content subjects that must be mastered in school" (Lyon, 1997). As noted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2003), "people cannot be active or informed citizens unless they can read. Reading is a prerequisite for almost all cultural and social activities". According to the International Reading Association (Moore et al., 1999, p. 3):

Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations so they can create the world of the future. In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read can be crucial.

A debate has been rife in the UK over the past few years as to how best to teach children to read, which culminated in an Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading (DfES, 2006) led by Jim Rose in 2005. Although this review recommended that children are taught synthetic phonics at the first instance, it also placed phonics teaching firmly within a language-rich framework that fosters positive attitudes towards reading and a love of books. Unfortunately, this context was lost in the subsequent press coverage. It therefore seemed important to the National Literacy Trust to collect evidence that furthers our understanding of the value of reading for pleasure and to provide information that will enable parents, teachers and policymakers to promote reading motivation and wider reading. Indirectly, the aim was also to challenge the view that reading for pleasure is a "cuddly" activity that some people like to indulge in but that is essentially without further merit.

It is important to note that the research described in this paper relates mostly to children. This focus has been deliberate. The National Literacy Trust is dedicated to building a literate nation and stresses the importance of reading for pleasure as one way to advance literacy attainment in children.

What do we mean by "reading for pleasure2"? Although we use the phrase frequently and liberally in everyday or even our working life, it is surprisingly hard

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1 In this paper the terms "reading for pleasure", "reading for enjoyment" and their derivates are used interchangeably. 2 It is also frequently referred to, especially in the United States, as independent reading (Cullinan, 2000), voluntary reading (Krashen, 2004), leisure reading (Greaney, 1980) , recreational reading (Manzo & Manzo, 1995) or ludic reading (Nell, 1988).

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