Parental capital and children’s reading habits: A case study of two contrasting high- and low-income families
Leisure reading is associated with many advantages such as improving language skills and academic achievement, developing emotional intelligence and supporting social mobility. Children’s dispositions to read are shaped by instrumental and social factors, and the home reading environment is an important factor that encourages the development of leisure reading habits. This study examines how parental cultural capital, in the form of parents’ educational qualifications,identification as readers and ability to provide their children with resources (e.g., books, comfortable reading environments, devices and subscriptions for reading) support children’s development of positive reading habits.
A mixed-methods study of the leisure reading habits of preservice teachers
Reading habits and preferences are invaluable in fostering literacy instruction. Although there is considerable research on the importance of leisure reading for students, there remains room to explore its relevance among teachers and its application to the classroom context. This paper seeks to explore the attitudes, beliefs and habits of leisure reading among preservice teachers, and how their perceptions of leisure reading influence their teaching strategies and prioritization of leisure reading within the classroom. 8 semistructured qualitative interviews were administered to pre-service teachers, alongside 102 quantitative questionnaires and Author Recognition Tests to measure the extent of their print exposure. Findings identified most as prolific readers, unanimously agreeing on the importance of leisure reading. However, only a handful of pre-service teachers were familiar with book series popular among students, and some remarked on negative reading experiences. Implications from the study include developing professional knowledge of extensive reading, reconsidering current reading programmes for greater effectiveness and placing more emphasis on young adult literature titles.
Designing school libraries of the future study: Report 2024
In a constantly shifting world of increasing literacy expectations, technological advancements and global flows, school libraries as learning hubs are crucial to support students’ reading and learning. Following an earlier study documenting the positive impact of well-designed and stocked school libraries on students’ reading, the research team, with the support of CPDD, MOE and the three schools in the study, embarked on a library redesign project from 2019 to 2020. An ERPF grant, DEV02-20 Designing School Libraries of the Future, awarded to the research team, allowed the team to document the redesign process and study the impact of library redesign at the three Library of the Future (LOTF) prototype schools for one full year each between 2022 and 2023.
Cognitive diagnostic assessment system (CoDiAS) for Singapore’s secondary schools: Toward individualized learning and assessment in language education.
What teens read: A comparison of adolescent reading preferences in 2017 and 2021
Research has shown that adolescents are more likely to read when they find books that are engaging and relevant to them. Fiction remains popular among teens because it meets adolescents’ need for reading something enjoyable with relatable characters and storylines. Furthermore, fiction titles that are popular among teens provide a topic of conversation for adolescents to connect with their peers. Educators and librarians need to know what teens like to read to find engaging and motivating content for them.
Leisure reading in two languages: Reading habits and preferences of bilingual children in Singapore
A nation-wide study of principals, school media library coordinators and teachers' perspectives of their school libraries (School Library Perspective study)
In this study, we seek to understand how the presence of a trained or professional librarian (PL)1 contributes to the learning within Singapore school libraries by examining principals, library coordinators and teachers' perspectives of their school libraries.
The research questions for the study are:
1. What are the perspectives of school leaders and teachers about their school library?
2. What differences are there in perspectives between the perspectives of school leaders and teachers in schools with trained librarians and without trained librarians?
Report on the reading habits of bilingual children in Singapore 2021
Leisure reading has been consistently shown to be closely related to children's success during school years and beyond (Iyengar & Ball, 2007; Sullivan & Brown, 2015). Research has also shown that good reading habits can lead to better reading achievement (Clark & De Zoysa, 2011, PIRLS, 2006, 2011, 2016). In light of the proven benefits of leisure reading, language curricula in many education systems, including Singapore, are paying increasing attention to nurture children's love for reading, and large-scale national surveys have been carried out to understand how children practise and perceive reading. The bulk of extant research, however, fail to take account of the potential heterogeneity of participants' language backgrounds, instead focusing exclusively on English or on the schooling language of the research setting (e.g., Loh & Sun, 2018a; National Endowment for the Arts, 2007; Rutherford, Merga, & Singleton, 2018; Zasacka, 2014). Relatively little research has taken a holistic approach to examine bilingual children's reading habits and preferences in their two languages concurrently. Building on an ongoing SUG project, the proposed study aims to conduct a mixed methods study to better understand Singaporean bilingual children's reading habits and preferences in English and their respective Mother Tongue languages. Results from the survey will not only provide important and timely understanding of how bilingual children in Singapore practise leisure reading in their two languages, but also contribute to the knowledge base for designing and evaluating reading programmes as well as tracking down changes in bilingual children's reading habits and preferences.