English Teaching: Practice and Critique
Teenage boys, teenage girls and books: Re-viewing some assumptions about gender and adolescents' reading practices
Volume 2 Number 2 September 2003
Jackie Manuel (University of Sydney, Australia)
Dennis Robinson (University of Sydney, Australia)
In the 1980s Jack Thomson's research on teenagers'
reading provided critical insights for teachers into the reading
preferences and practices of adolescents. This article reports on the
findings of a pilot project and the interim findings of a large-scale
project currently underway investigating Australian adolescents'
reading choices. What are adolescents choosing to read? How do they
evaluate the role of reading and literature in English classrooms? Do
they enjoy reading in English? What are the implications of this
knowledge for English teachers and the teaching profession more
broadly? The article examines adolescents' responses to these critical
questions and discusses the ways in which secondary English pedagogy
may benefit from the findings. The findings of this study contribute to
existing research that stresses the need for English teachers to
consider the role of gender as one of a number of factors influencing
teenagers' achievements in and attitudes towards reading. Key findings
from the research highlight the ongoing need for teachers of English at
secondary level to plan and implement a reading programme that caters
for the diverse needs, interests, tastes and capacities of individuals
within their class, acknowledging at all times the powerful role of
student choice and enjoyment in teenagers? reading achievement.