The link between fiction and teenagers’ reading skills: International evidence from the OECD PISA study

Abstract

It is well known that children who read more tend to achieve higher scores in academic reading tests. Much less is known, however, about the link between reading different types of text and young people's reading performance. We investigate this issue using the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 database, exploring the association between the frequency with which teenagers read five different types of text (magazines, non‐fiction, fiction, newspapers and comics) and their PISA reading scores. Analysing data from more than 250,000 teenagers from across 35 industrialised countries, we find evidence of a sizeable ‘fiction effect’; young people who read this type of text frequently have significantly stronger reading skills than their peers who do not. In contrast, the same does not hold true for the four other text types. We therefore conclude that encouraging young people to read fiction may be particularly beneficial for their reading skills. Interventions encouraging fiction reading may be especially important for boys from disadvantaged socio‐economic backgrounds, who are less likely to read this text type.

Disrupting the 'boys don't read' discourse: Primary school boys wholovereading fiction

“…Stereotypical views in educational policies that filter into the classroom (National Literacy Trust, 2012) may work against opportunities in the classroom to expand boys'-particularly working-class boys'-repertoires of experience as readers and to engage in reading fiction for pleasure (Cremin et al, 2009;Scholes, 2018bScholes, , 2020. Jerrim and Moss's (2019) analysis of the 'fiction effect' is relevant here, as limiting ideas about boys as readers may have a compounding effect on boys' engagement and achievement in reading. Educational practices, and literacy practices in particular, produce constraints through which students 'improvise' themselves as gendered subjects (Davies, 2003;Davies & Saltmarsh, 2007).…”

“…As students are sorted and categorised as (non)readers through classroom practices, providing limited positions, particularly for economically marginalised boys (Moss, 2012), the significance of different attitudes towards reading and preferences is often overlooked. The perverse effects of such accountability regimes are more likely to have an adverse impact on the experiences of boys and students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Lupton, 2006;Hempel-Jorgensen et al, 2018;Jerrim & Moss, 2019). The combination of factors described above create tensions in boys' experiences of 'school reading' and their emerging 'personal reading' identities.…”

“…Whitmire, 2010) and builds on past studies illustrating the need to move beyond narrow boundaries around sanctioned 'boys' stuff' and using hyper-masculine non-fiction 'boy baits' in schools (Connell, 1989;Alloway et al, 2002;Dutro, 2003;Martino & Kehler, 2007;Greig & Hughes, 2009). Given recent findings related to the 'fiction effect' (Jerrim & Moss, 2019;Jerrim et al, 2020) and young people's academic achievement, we explore a group of primary school boys' reading interests and the diverse experiences of these boys as readers in contemporary society. This article disrupts the dominant discourse circulating in schools around boys and reading that homogenises young males as reluctant, disengaged and-at times-adversarial readers.…”

Mechanisms mediating the relation between reading self-concept and reading comprehension

“…Therefore, we decided to consider intrinsic reading motivation and reading behavior as separate mediators. Fourth, our study focused on traditional book reading, because reading books, as compared to other types of text (e.g., magazines or comic books), seems to be the most important predictor for reading skill development (e.g., Jerrim and Moss 2019;Pfost at al. 2013b).…”

Lesen können - Lesen wollen : Über die Entwicklung von Lesekompetenz, Lesemotivation und Leseverhalten

“…Moreover, various studies have provided evidence that in addition to reading motivation, reading behavior promotes the development of reading achievement (e.g., R. C. Jerrim and Moss 2019;OECD 2010;Pfost at al. 2013b;Suk 2017).…”