Reading interests of Jamaican primary school children

Abstract

This study sought to: 1) clarify the meaning of "reading interest" and to develop a schema for categorizing "reading interest," and 2) investigate: (a) whether there were grade level, sex, and environmental differences in the reading interests of first and fourth grade children in Jamaican primary schools; (b) whether fourth graders' reading interests were affected by different stimuli; (c) what children's reasons were for their story preferences; (d) the extent to which first and fourth grade reading texts reflected the difference in reading interests ascertained; and (e) whether reading interests were influenced by reading texts. Data were collected from 438 Grade 4 students (214 male, 224 female; 193 rural, 245 urban) and 412 Grade 1 students (207 boys, 205 girls; 168 rural, 244 urban) from 14 primary schools (7 urban, 7 rural). The main findings were that: 1) there were grade level, sex, and environmental differences in reading interests; 2) some of the fourth graders' reading interests were affected by different stimuli; and 3) children's reasons for their story preferences ranged from their popular appeal and the fact that they reflected the realities of their experiences to their moral and humorous content. An analysis of popular reading texts revealed that fourth grade texts, to some extent, reflected the differences in fourth graders' reading interests, but that those used in the first grade tended to under-represent first graders' reading interests to the extent of neglecting those of both urban and rural girls. The findings also suggested the likelihood of reading texts influencing reading interests