Reading Interest at the Secondary Level

Question: How can a teacher improve secondary school reading performance?

Answer: Suggests the importance of fostering students’ interest in reading.

Comment: Sounds like a no-brainer. How does one foster secondary students’ interest in reading? Reading aloud. Skillful use of the Directed Reading Assignment, especially the introduction to reading a textbook chapter, in which the teacher builds background knowledge of the topic. Book talks on books in the teacher’s discipline. Internet sites that deal with the topic, many of which are interesting. RayS.

Source: Retelsdorf, J., Köller, O., & Möller, J. (2011). On the effects of motivation on reading performance

growth in secondary school. Learning and Instruction, 21(4), 550–559.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.