Browsing by Author "Huuskonen, Hannele"

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze fifth graders as fiction readers. There has been a lot of worry of the fact that the amount of reading among children and adolescents is decreasing and it can affect their ability to read. This study familiarizes with the reading habits of fifth graders and what kinds of reasons fifth graders might have for reading fiction. This study is based on two theories: Appleyard's (1990) theory of fifth grader as a reader who identifies with the books hero or heroine and Felski's (2008) four reasons for reading fiction: recognition, enchantment, knowledge and shock. Research material consists of a questionnaire which was used to collect information of four fifth grade classes (n=74). There was also a group interview which included four pupils. The material was collected in the capital area of Finland during the spring of 2016. The questionnaire included multiple choice questions and open questions. The group interview was a theme-centered interview. The data was analyzed using theory-based content analysis. Respondents had quite positive attitude towards reading. Only one respondent told that she didn't like to read. According to this study fifth graders still read books. The most popular books to read were fantasy books, comics and books that include humour. Reasons to read were separated into three categories which all included subcategories. Those categories were benefits of reading (reading is pleasant, knowledge and skills, imagination and way to spend time), to get inside the book's world (to relax, to become absorbed in a book or to familiarize with book's characters) and book's elements (book is interesting, topic or genre, humour, excitement and other reasons). The most popular reasons for reading were excitement and humour. The interview showed that reading is very individual and depends on what the reader wants from reading. In the interview the reasons for reading were for example knowledge, excitement, humour and comics. According to this study fifth graders can tell a great deal and analyse their reading habits, likes and dislikes.