Reading For Pleasure

Bearne and Reedy (2017, p.144) state that “Reading for pleasure and engagement needs to be distinguished from reading skills.” This is because they argue that learning to read is different than becoming a reader (Bearne and Reedy, 2017). Dombey et. al. (2010) argue that engagement is really important for children when learning to read. Therefore if reading is pleasurable the child is more likely to be engaged. However, there are different definitions of reading for pleasure. For example, Raleigh (1996) outlines 4 key charactersitics: Entertainment; Enrichment; Practical Value; and Power. Whereas Clark and Rumbold (2006) define reading for pleasure as:

“reading that we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction that we will get from the act of reading. It also refers to reading that having begun at someone else’s request, we continue because we are interested in it.”(Clark and Rumbold, 2006,p. 5)

So what are the benefits of reading for pleasure and why is it important?

At the earliest stage of learning to read, a book’s capacity to assist an inexperienced reader will often go hand in hand with its potential to engage the imagination. Once children can read to themselves, the quality of the books they read will have a direct influence over their motivation to read and an impact upon their future as readers. (Goodwin, 2008.p5)

A growing number of studies show that promoting reading can have a major impact on children and adults and their future. Upon reviewing the research literature, Clark and Rumbold (2006) identify several main areas of the benefits to reading for pleasure :

·      Reading attainment and writing ability

·      Text comprehension and grammar

·      Breadth of vocabulary

·      Positive reading attitudes

·      Greater self-confidence as a reader

·      Pleasure in reading in later life

·      General knowledge

·      A better understanding of other cultures

·      Community participation and;

·      A greater insight into human nature and decision-making

Clark (2011) in a large scale survey of over 18,000 young people found that those who reported enjoying reading very much were six times more likely than those who did not enjoy reading to read above the expected level for their age. Young people who reported not enjoying reading at all were 11 times more likely than those who enjoyed reading very much to read below the level expected for their age. Evidence from OECD (2002) found that reading enjoyment is more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status, that being a frequent reader ‘is more of an advantage than having well educated parents’ (OECD, 2002: 3). Clark and Rumbold (2006) argue that reading for pleasure could be one important way to help combat social exclusion and raise educational standards.

In the survey Clarke and Douglas (2011) found young people held positive attitudes towards reading. Most agreed that reading is important and that they enjoy it. They disagreed that reading is boring or hard and that they cannot find anything interesting to read. Most also disagreed that they only read in class or read only because they have to. Research suggests that girls tend to enjoy reading more than boys. However reading for pleasure is not only related to gender but also to age; it decreases in the teenage years and early adulthood but increases again later in life (Clark and Rumbold, 2006; Clark, Torsi and Strong, 2005; Nestle Family Monitor, 1999; Clark and Douglas 2011). Girls and younger pupils are more likely to consider that reading is important to succeed in life (Clark and Douglas 2011).

Reading is seen as the pathway to educational achievement and an increase in the frequency of reading, but what about the pleasures many adults feel when settling down to indulge themselves in a book? Raleigh extends these quotations to include:

1.     Pleasure : the pleasure of reading easy and entertaining material effortlessly, as well as the more strenuous pleasure which comes from understanding difficult material.

2.     Personal enrichment : as a source of experience and of knowledge , reading extends your horizons, broadens your vision, enlarges your perspective.

3.     Practical value : being able to put reading to use maximises your chances of benefiting from schooling and enables you to find out things from print, now and in the future.

4.     Power : reading means access and enables you to find out things about your history and the society you live in which its harder to discover in other ways; you can also discover thing about histories and societies which may surprise you. (Raleigh 1996: 18)

Reading for pleasure is an activity that has real emotional and social consequences. There is a growing body of evidence which illustrates the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational purposes as well as personal development. The evidence strongly supports the argument that those who read more are better readers; and the amount of reading and reading achievement are thought to be reciprocally related to each other – as reading amount increases, reading achievement increases, which in turn increases reading amount (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998 – cited in Clark and Rumbold, 2006). Children who read very little do not have the benefits that come with reading, and studies show that when struggling readers are not motivated to read, their opportunities to learn decrease significantly (Baker, Dreher and Guthrie, 2000 – cited in Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

REFERENCES

Bearne, R. and Reedy, D. (2017) Teaching Primary English. Routledge: London:

Clark, C. and Rumbold, K. (2006) Reading for Pleasure: A research overview. London: The National Literacy Trust. A comprehensive review of recent research into international studies of reading for pleasure.

Dombey, H. with Bearne, E., Cremin, T., Ellis, S., Mottram, M., O’Sullivan, O., Öztürk, A., Reedy, D. (UKLA) and Raphael, T. and Allington, R. (International Reading Association) (2010) Teaching Reading: What the evidence says. Leicester: United Kingdom Literacy Association.

Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. (2019). [online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284286/reading_for_pleasure.pdf