| dc.description.abstract | This thesis examines teachers’ perspectives and experiences working with extensive reading in the English subject in middle school. In addition, it analyzes how the teachers facilitate reading pleasure in their lessons. The study is based on a questionnaire taken by 56 teachers and six in-depth interviews. Both research methods were conducted on English teachers working in middle schools. I interviewed teachers from two different middle schools to investigate if the teacher’s perspectives varied due to possible school traditions.
The results showed that the two schools emphasized extensive reading projects and facilitated reading pleasure differently. One school-centered more on pre-chosen books with attention on the content, while the other school promoted more on self-chosen books, emphasizing the student’s experience. Universal for all the interviewees was the challenge to motivate the students to read entire books. The reason was primarily due to either the students’ attitude towards reading, finding a fitting book for them, or the student’s lack of endurance, mainly when the students chose literature and were given more responsibility for their reading process. Nevertheless, all interviewees saw significant advantages in promoting reading pleasure in middle school. Some even commented that they would love to work more with promoting reading pleasure, but that they lacked ideas on how to motivate students without it feeling like an obligation or work. Based on the findings, I argue that teachers’ perspectives on extensive reading are filtered through their own attitude towards reading, their prior experiences, and their school’s traditions.
I hope this thesis will inspire other teachers with tips and ideas on working with extensive reading and reading pleasure in a hopefully life-changing way for their students. | |
