The Development of Reading Interest and Its
Running head: DEVELOPMENT READING INTEREST RELATION READING 1
The development of reading interest and its relation to reading ability
Alexis Jones
Mississippi Valley State University
DEVELOPMENT READING INTEREST RELATION READING 2
The development of reading interest and its relation to reading ability
The five authors of this article came up with a good question that many educators have wondered; does the interest of reading have anything to do with reading ability? We often wonder that because we figure if we allow students the chance to read what they like then they will become better readers. However instead of wondering the unknown five students from Canadian colleges, John R. Kirby, Angela Ball, B. Kelly Geler, Rauno Parrila, and Lesly Wade-Woolley, all decided to find the answer by conducting a study among 117 students from the grades 1-3. Their main focus was to look into the development of interest in reading for beginning readers and observe its relation to reading. They measured reading interest by asking eight questions; 1. How do you feel about reading for fun at home? 2. How do you feel about getting a book for a present? 3. How do you feel about spending free time reading? 4. How do you feel about starting a new book? 4. How do you feel about reading through the weekend? 6. How do you feel about reading instead of playing? 7. How do you feel about going to the library or bookstore? 8. How do you feel about reading different kinds of books? They had the background assumption that students that love to read had better reading ability compared to students that can’t read so well. They monitored the students’ development in interest to reading followed by testing their reading ability along the way and then they compiled their findings. Their study concluded that reading interest had little to no effects on reading ability.
A major limitation to this study was that it was
The development of reading interest and its relation to reading ability
Alexis Jones
Mississippi Valley State University
DEVELOPMENT READING INTEREST RELATION READING 2
The development of reading interest and its relation to reading ability
The five authors of this article came up with a good question that many educators have wondered; does the interest of reading have anything to do with reading ability? We often wonder that because we figure if we allow students the chance to read what they like then they will become better readers. However instead of wondering the unknown five students from Canadian colleges, John R. Kirby, Angela Ball, B. Kelly Geler, Rauno Parrila, and Lesly Wade-Woolley, all decided to find the answer by conducting a study among 117 students from the grades 1-3. Their main focus was to look into the development of interest in reading for beginning readers and observe its relation to reading. They measured reading interest by asking eight questions; 1. How do you feel about reading for fun at home? 2. How do you feel about getting a book for a present? 3. How do you feel about spending free time reading? 4. How do you feel about starting a new book? 4. How do you feel about reading through the weekend? 6. How do you feel about reading instead of playing? 7. How do you feel about going to the library or bookstore? 8. How do you feel about reading different kinds of books? They had the background assumption that students that love to read had better reading ability compared to students that can’t read so well. They monitored the students’ development in interest to reading followed by testing their reading ability along the way and then they compiled their findings. Their study concluded that reading interest had little to no effects on reading ability.
A major limitation to this study was that it was
References: Ball, A., Geier, B.K., Kirby, J.R., Parrila, Rauno., Wade-Woolley, Lesly. (2011). The development of reading interest and its relation to reading ability. Journal of Research in Reading , 34 (3), 263-280