Sessions /
Snakes and Ladders: Drivers of Student Differences in Reading Amounts #123

The benefits of extensive reading are widely recognized in research (Day, 2010), but it can be challenging to get students to read enough to reap such benefits. While some students read much more than required by their assignments, others read the minimum amount or less. Student motivation to read has been investigated quantitatively using questionnaires (Mori, 2002; Takase, 2007), but less research has taken a quantitative approach. Milliner and Cote (2015) used focus group discussions to explore disengaged students’ perceptions of reading done on digital platforms.

This study explored factors that influence the amount of reading done as homework by students at a Japanese university using an English virtual library of graded readers. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 14 prolific readers and 16 reluctant readers in Japanese to identify factors that influenced the amounts they read. Students were selected from 352 freshman students across 10 classes varying in faculty and proficiency levels. Students whose reading word counts were within the top or bottom 5% of their respective classes were approached to participate in interviews conducted outside of regular class time. Audio recordings of the interviews were analyzed to identify common themes.

Based upon these themes, several recommendations are made to help reduce obstacles for reluctant readers as well as take advantage of the mindsets and strategies of prolific readers.