the university library’s role in recreational reading
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The University Library’s Role in Recreational Reading
Karen BordonaroJames A. Gibson Library
Brock University
TESL Ontario October 30, 2010
Research Questions
• Do international students who are non-native speakers of English use university library material for recreational reading?
• Do they think that it improves their English language skills?
Recreational Reading
• Extensive reading
• Pleasure reading
• Reading for one’s own enjoyment
• Not assigned reading for a course
Recreational reading in L2
• Supplements intensive reading taught in classrooms
• Often serves as the basis for book reports
• Generally not graded
• DEAR programs (“drop everything and read”)
• Sometimes from classroom libraries
• Chosen by students
Recreational reading in libraries
• Usually in public libraries
• Often fiction
• Often in paperback format
• Not always fully catalogued like other library material
• Meant for browsing
• Usually defined as popular material only, not academic material
Setting of this survey: Brock University Library
Brock University
• St. Catharines, Ontario
• 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students
• 954 international students at time of study:– 70% from Asia– 10% from Europe– 5% from Africa– 5% from North America– 7% from Central and South America– 2% from Oceania– 1% not listed
Small popular reading collection
But 7 floors of library material
This study
• Considered recreational reading material to be any university library material, not just the small popular browsing collection
• Targeted international students in degree programs but not in the pre-academic intensive language program
Participants
• 26 male, 33 female
• Native languages: Chinese, English (international students from the U.S., U.K.), Bengali, German, Arabic, French, Russian, Danish, Dutch, Punjabi, Turkish, Swedish, Vietnamese
• Years of English study (if non-native speaker): 2-16 years
Participants
• Programs of Study – Business, Education, Biology, Computer Science, Political Science, Geography, Applied Linguistics, Psychology, Health Sciences, Chemistry
• Degrees working on – B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., M.B.A., Ph.D.
• Length of time at university – 3 months to 7 years
Survey questions
• Do you read for pleasure?– If no, why not?
• no time• no interest• lack of material• other
– If yes, why?• to relax• to learn new information• to fill up free time• other
Survey questions
• In what languages do you read for pleasure?– English– my native language– neither– other
Survey questions
• What types of materials do you read for pleasure?– books– magazines or journal articles– newspapers– web pages, blogs, other online information– other
Survey questions
• How often do you read for pleasure?– daily– weekly– monthly– other
Survey questions
• Do you think that pleasure reading improves your language skills?– yes– no– not sure
Survey questions
• Where do you find your pleasure reading material?– I borrow material from other people.– I use library material.– I buy material.– I do my pleasure reading online.– other
Survey questions
• If you use the university library to find reading material, how would you rate this material?– poor, inadequate– fair, sufficient– good, more than sufficient– I don’t use library material
Findings
• 80% of the respondents said they do engage in recreational reading
• For those who did not, lack of time was cited as the major reason.
• Most respondents engaged in recreational reading to relax (64%), followed by 25% who did so to learn new information.
• About half of the participants said they read daily for pleasure.
Language findings
• A majority of the participants read for pleasure in English (54%), followed by those who read for pleasure in their native languages (27%).
• A vast majority of participants thought that reading for pleasure in English improved their language skills (91%), followed by 9% who were not sure.
Library findings
• A majority of participants (54%) read books for pleasure, followed by online sites (41%), and magazines or newspapers (5%).
• The places where participants found their reading material were online (55%), from a bookstore (20%) and from a university library (20%).
• Library material for recreational reading was rated fair (35%), good (17%) and poor (11%).
Comments
• “I use these materials to access a variety of information that we cannot learn from our major, and because life is not only to be satisfied with a job.”
• “I read for pleasure to increase my knowledge base and to improve my skills.”
• “Pleasure reading helps me with learning English.”
What does it mean?
• International students, busy with degree work, do seem to engage in recreational reading.
• They think recreational reading improves their language skills.
• They do use university library materials for recreational reading (not just designated popular collections).
• The university library can support and foster out-of-classroom language learning.
Implications
• University library material bought to support the curriculum needs of particular programs also helps support second language learning needs.
• Librarians and ESL instructors should be made more aware of this use of library materials.
• ESL instructors should encourage students to engage in recreational reading through general library materials beyond easy readers or popular browsing collections.
University libraries and L2 learning
• University libraries are settings for authentic language learning to take place.
• Out-of-classroom learning can take place in university libraries.
• Opportunities for more collaboration between librarians and ESL instructors should be encouraged.
Your experiences
• Have your students used university libraries for recreational reading?
• Do you see it as a pedagogical activity in terms of language learning?
Thank you
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