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Becoming a Reader: Significant Social Influences on Avid Book Readers
Abstract
Understanding how social influences can foster avid book reader identification is a key research goal that warrants further investigation beyond a limited early-years lens. The author’s 2015 International Study of Avid Book Readers (ISABR) explored, as one of its key research questions, the influence positive social agents can have on avid book readers, relying on the retrospective reflections of respondents from a range of countries and supporting quantitative data to explore this research focus. Early influences were examined, with data suggesting that maternal instruction is the most prevalent source of early reading teaching. Most respondents (64.3 percent) were the recipients of positive influence from a social agent. Indirect avid reader influence, author influence, fostering access, shared social habit, reading for approval, recommendations and supporting choice, and exposure to reading aloud were recurring mechanisms of influence. The multiple mechanisms of influence identified constitute opportunities for engagement and subsequent intervention by literacy advocates, including librarians.
... Regular reading habits, indicated by Merga and Roni (2018), play a vital role in enabling both young people and adults to meet the ever-increasing literacy demands of contemporary society. In a nutshell, while it is essential to focus on early childhood reading particularly reading aloud, subsequent experiences that enhance the desire and motivation to read and thus contribute to the creation of a commitment to reading are of great significance to further investigate (Merga, 2017). The need to study adolescents' reading practices rises due to two prominent reasons. ...
... 219). Similarly, several respondents in Merga's (2017) read by observing an avid reader who could be a parent, a relative, or just any influential figure in the child's life. Based on the self-determination theory, when children realize that their parents and/or other influential figures in their lives value and support reading activities, they feel that reading is a worthwhile endeavor (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). ...
... With this line, Akande and Oyedapo (2018) recommended that countries' policymakers should consider building modern libraries equipped with 21 st -century technological facilities and stocked with a wide range of reading materials. Merga (2017) believed that making books accessible denotes the value of books and reading. ...
Reading has been identified as an indicator of successful academic achievement. The present qualitative study explored reading literacy practices of Omani adolescent students. Three high school students participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed four main factors that determined their reading practices: motivation to read, home literacy practices, students' reading rituals, and digital literacy practices. These four factors were discussed in light of other related topics which included reading interest and school reading activities as they influenced students' motivation to read, and parental involvement and availability of home library as examples of home literacy practices. Furthermore, students' reading rituals were discussed considering their quest for meaning, pre-reading preparation tasks, and preferred time of day to read, whereas the digital literacy factor encompassed the sub-topics of internet and mobile applications and the role of other devices provoking reading interest. Understanding the reading literacy practices of adolescent learners offers insights into how to develop effective strategies to improve those practices. These insights can subsequently aid educators and parents in their reading instruction and ability to be productively involved in their children’s reading literacy development, respectively. Moreover, other students may learn from their peers’ successful reading practices.
... Lance & Kachel, 2018), school librarians can have a positive impact on children's reading habits which are associated with literacy achievement (e.g. Gagen-Spriggs, 2020;Merga, 2017b;Merga, 2019a;Ross, 2018), with recent Australian research finding that "increasing students' opportunities to access a library can have a strong positive influence on their reading engagement" (Mat Roni & Merga, 2019, p. 286). Therefore, school librarians are not only attending to the explicit roles and responsibilities outlined in relation to their work based on the curriculum needs of the school. ...
... While researchers increasingly look for alternative reading partners for children such as dogs and robots (e.g. Yueh et al., 2020), human influences continue to play a valuable role as models of keen reading that socialise young people to adopt these practices (Merga, 2017b). ...
Reading for pleasure is an undervalued but highly beneficial practice conferring a range of educative and socio-emotional advantages. School librarians may play a key role in supporting reading for pleasure and associated literature advocacy; however, relatively little is known about how reading for pleasure may be valued within the job description of contemporary school librarians. It cannot be assumed that reading for pleasure is positioned as a valued aspect of the school librarians' educative role in the United States and Australia, given factors such as evolving demands placed on the profession. Through hybrid content analysis of job description documents , this article explores which aspects of the current school librarian role are related to supporting reading for pleasure, comparing expectations between nations. While there are some similarities in the nature of the reading for pleasure role in the United States and Australia, Australian school librarians are far more likely to be expected to foster reading for pleasure.
... In my study of avid book readers, I found that most avid readers (64.3%) felt that there had been a positive influence on their reading, though this could take many different forms. For example, some were influenced by just watching an adult model keen reading, some developed a shared social habit with parents or friends, and some were read to as children, fostering an early love of books and reading (Merga, 2017b). Of course, it is not only social influences that make a difference; many factors influence reading engagement, and for a detailed explanation you could refer to my previous book on the research on promoting reading engagement in young people beyond the early years (Merga, 2018a). ...
... Moreover, when children see adults excited about reading, they catch their enthusiasm, hence fostering a positive attitude towards reading (Trelease, 2001). Older readers, when asked about factors that led them to become avid readers, often refer to read-aloud experiences for developing a lifelong love of reading (Merga, 2017b(Merga, , 2017c. ...
Background
We Love Reading (WLR) is a community-based reading intervention aimed at cultivating an interest in reading for pleasure among children through mobilising local community members to establish informal libraries and organise read-aloud sessions in public spaces. The programme targets primarily children between the ages 4–10 but is also open to older children. The present study investigated the effect of the WLR programme on children's practices and attitudes related to reading for pleasure.
Methods
Participants were 1,718 children recruited from different regions in Jordan. Children were, on average, 7.52 years old (SD = 2.12). The treatment group comprised 1,304 children (59% girls; Mage = 7.18 years, SD = 2.16) who received the WLR programme over 4 months. The comparison group comprised 414 children (59% girls; Mage = 8.50 years, SD = 1.67) who did not attend any reading programme. Two assessment tools, adapted from previous literature, assessed reading attitudes and reading practices. The structural equation modelling framework was used to analyse the data.
Results
Results showed a small but significant increase in reading attitude scores and reading practice scores among children who participated in the WLR programme. The positive effect was found for children of all ages and for boys and girls alike.
Conclusion
A comparison of scores between the WLR group and the comparison group showed a small advantage for the WLR group. The results provide initial support for the WLR programme as a promising community-based reading intervention for promoting reading for pleasure among children.
... Parents' appropriately guiding their children and providing them with a rich environment significantly affect the development of children's literacy skills (Ehri & Roberts, 2006;Saracho, 1997;Bindman, Skibbe, Hindman, Aram & Morrison, 2014;Tavşanlı & Bulunuz, 2017). Moreover, a research study concluded that during the literacy learning process, mothers are more effective than even elementary school teachers (Merga, 2017). According to the meta-analysis study conducted by van Steensel, McElvany, Kurvers, and Herppich (2011), parents' engaging in reading and writing at home with their children enriches their reading comprehension, code and comprehension skills. ...
This study was undertaken to examine how parental literacy experiences were reflected in the literacy tendencies and experiences of preservice teachers. It is known that in order to offer an effective teacher education, it is necessary to know preservice teachers by analyzing their literacy practices originating from their parents and take into account their tendencies about how to develop reading skills of primary school children. The research presented here was a phenomenological study implemented with six senior preservice teachers of elementary education and their parents. The data of the study were collected through interviews with the preservice teachers and their parents and through observation notes. According to the results of the study, the preservice teachers' literacy experiences reflected their parents' characteristics, including parental literacy perceptions, literacy approaches developed by the parents for the preservice teachers, personal literacy experiences, general past experiences, number of literate people in the family, parental professional experiences, parental worldviews, and verbal communication within the family.
The common image of a reader is that of a person alone with a book, but reading is actually a social activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which social aspects influenced a group of emerging adults’ comics reading when they were children and/or teens. Data was collected by surveying and conducting semi-structured interviews with 34 emerging adults in the Southeast region of the United States about their comics reading histories. The research findings describe who the participants felt had the most impact on their comics reading, as well as the extent to which the participants felt that they belonged to a community of comics readers. Significantly, the participants’ notion of comics readers as “nerds” emerged from the data, which the participants largely connected to gender, and which participant Lauren noted, “It’s not something I’ve really thought about ‘til now.’” The implications of these findings suggest that some of these participants felt that there was a social cost to comics reading. Suggestions for making comics reading more accessible for more readers are discussed.
There is no shortage of research available on the impact of reading for pleasure on academic success. However, there are gaps in the Australian research with regard to understanding why students read. Therefore, this research project sought to examine the question, “Why do students choose to read for pleasure?” Findings indicated that having access to teacher librarians that are passionate about books and having assistance in finding the right book played an important role in students choosing to read. There are limitations to generalising these findings, however, they do provide insightful and interesting results that may lead to further investigation.
As we explore in this chapter, one of the numerous factors that influence student literacy attainment is parental support for reading at home. While there is relatively little research using a common and comparative methodology on the differences between Japan and Australia in this regard, this chapter begins to explore what we know and also what we may contend is occurring in these spaces. We begin to explore the interplay of benefits, barriers and cultures in parental support of reading at home across these nations, highlighting the importance of further investigation in this area. We do not confine our discussion to any particular phase of schooling, instead drawing on data from both primary and secondary schooling contexts, as we note that parental support of reading in the home remains important beyond the early years of schooling (Merga, 2019a).
Struggling literacy learners are typically low achievers with poor engagement in literacy learning, and the gap between struggling and capable students widens as children move through the years of schooling. Literacy research and interventions for struggling literacy learners typically focus on the primary school years. The 2019 Supporting Struggling Secondary Literacy Learners mixed-methods project collected qualitative data on teacher perceptions of the barriers experienced by their struggling literacy learners in Australian mainstream secondary English classrooms. Recurring barriers included literacy skill gaps and English as an additional language status, absenteeism, home factors, student attitudes and engagement, school and systems factors, and learning difficulties and disabilities influencing learning. This project found high agreement with diverse individual and group level barriers, and diverse learner barriers were negatively associated with perceived adequacy of time to meet the needs of struggling literacy learners.
em>Democratization in Indonesia is a political shift from non-democracy to democracy. This political shift affects political change in Indonesia. Many scholars see that this democratization is due to the factors of economic recession, internal internal conflicts and political parties of New Order advocates, Student Movements or opposition. The aim of this study is to see how the process of political culture in Indonesia has come to the democratization of many scholars who have overlooked this political culture. The method used is literature study in the context of collecting data through documents such as Books, Journals, Bachelor Theses and some other references, this method of inquiry is chosen to better understand the political condition of Indonesia textually. In this context, political culture has become a major factor in the catalysts of democratization because the political culture of a middle-class society is a result of a long process resulting in the formation of civil values that impede democratization. This article ultimately aims to contribute thought in the process of building democratic values during democratization.</em
This study draws on interviews with 26 individuals who attained an advanced degree and whose parents did not attend university and who reported having at least one older sibling. Participants were asked about independent reading practices in their youth and the reading practices of their older siblings. Participants reported many memories of their own independent reading development and ways in which their older sibling(s) mediated or influenced their out-of-school reading practices. From an analysis of these interviews and related research literature, this study draws on Gee's theory of Discourses to suggest that family interactions around reading may have not only improved participants' reading abilities but also allowed participants to form dispositions or identities that included habits of recreational reading. Authors suggest ways educators and parents might encourage shared family and sibling out-of-school literacy practices as well as new directions for literacy research.
this paper analyses 194 open-ended interviews with committed readers who read for pleasure, focusing in particular on interviewees' responses to questions about how they choose and how the reject a book. The analysis suggests that a comprehensive model for the process of choosing books for pleasure-reading must include five related elements that are examined in the paper. . .
There is abundant evidence demonstrating that free voluntary reading (henceforth FVR) is highly beneficial for language acquisition and literacy development, far more beneficial than direct instruction (Krashen, 1993). In this paper, I briefly review this evidence, and also present evidence suggesting that FVR has other advantages:
Exploration of how the leisure socialization process can be investigated requires answers to basic questions of when and with whom leisure is learned. From interviews of adults in a Western community, profiles of the social context and meaning of a wide range of leisure activities have been developed. Activities were found to have been evenly divided among those begun as children and in adult years. Family associations were primary in learning 63 percent. Activities were classified by form and social orientation and then related to periods in the family life cycle. The findings suggest that leisure socialization is a lifelong process. Research implications are outlined that would fill in the picture of a developmental approach to leisure careers.
Libraries are occupying spaces that are no longer dedicated solely as book repositories with stacks, reference services, and story times. Starting with an examination of how libraries are coping with digital and virtual competitors, this article presents two explorations of expansions of the Linebaugh Public Library in Rutherford Country, Tennessee (Murfreesboro) to nontraditional sites. One library is sited in a recreational center with computers in the main room and books in the backroom; the other is a new building located on the grounds of an elementary school that contains no books at all, only e-books with computers throughout. These moves provide a model for initiating such a venture in other public library systems. The role of the librarian in these new spaces is included. The primary investigator will use the history of the library, the minutes of board meetings, interviews with library personnel, study of the spaces, and review of the literature to document the process that led to the changes. Patron observations and interviews will be used to document the use of the facility that is already in place (in the recreational center).
We use the last two waves of the Italian Time Use Survey to analyse the intergenerational transmission of reading habits. This can be explained by both cultural and educational transfers from parents to children and by imitative behaviour. Imitation is of particular interest, since it suggests the direct influence parents can have on a childi?½s preference and habit formation, and opens the way for active policies promoting good parenting behaviour. We investigate the imitative behaviour of children using a household fixed-effects model, where we identify the impact of the parentsi?½ role by exploiting the different exposure of siblings to parentsi?½ example within the same household. We find robust evidence on the existence of an imitation effect: on the day of the survey children are more likely to read after seeing either the mother or the father reading.
Self-determination Theory (SDT) is a motivational theory of personality, development, and social processes that examines how social contexts and individual differences facilitate different types of motivation, especially autonomous motivation and controlled motivation, and in turn predict learning, performance, experience, and psychological health. SDT proposes that all human beings have three basic psychological needs – the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness – the satisfaction of which are essential nutrients for effective functioning and wellness. Satisfaction of these basic needs promotes the optimal motivational traits and states of autonomous motivation and intrinsic aspirations, which facilitate psychological health and effective engagement with the world.
Leisure activity participation has been associated with reduced risk of dementia. It is unclear whether reduced participation is the cause or consequence of preclinical dementia. Methods: We prospectively examined the relation between leisure activities and dementia risk in a cohort of 469 community-dwelling non-demented subjects older than age 75. We derived cognitive- and physical-activity scales based on baseline leisure activity participation, measuring activity-days per week. Results: During follow-up (median 5.1 years), 124 subjects developed dementia. A one-point cognitive-activity score increment was associated with reduced dementia risk (hazard ratio, 0.93, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.97); increasing physical activity did not affect dementia risk. The cognitive-activity association persisted even after excluding subjects who developed dementia within the first seven years of follow-up. Results were similar for Alzheimer and vascular dementias. Conclusions: leisure activity participation is associated with reduced dementia risk, even after accountingfor possible preclinical dementia.
