Page 6 - Handbook for reluctant, struggling and poor readers

International research, initiatives, case studies, EU projects and Reports dedicated to the issue (PIRLS,
2006; PISA, 2009; ADORE, 2009; Eurydice 2011; HLGEL, 2012) are proposing similar definitions when
referring to adolescent readers groups as struggling, reluctant or poor readers: „The readers population
(age 12 to 18) who do not meet the demands of academic literacy. This is by no means the same as
illiteracy, they are able to read, but not on the required complex level.
„Nonetheless, most of them did not develop a stable self-concept of being a reader. Their reading is
hindered by obstacles they cannot yet overcome by themselves, they need the help of competent others,
especially the help of professional teachers.“ (ADORE, Executive summary, 2009). These adolescents,
many of whom enjoyed reading as younger children, soon come to see themselves as non-readers,
disengaged from literacy and thus from most other schoolwork.
When students leave primary school, they are faced with a radical shift finding that they have left the world
of storybooks and entered the world of textbooks. For many teenagers, the stage at which reading takes
an academic, competitive turn is the moment when the process of reading loses its pleasure. Main
demotivating factor for struggling readers is lack of interest in school reading materials. What they are
likely to find is canonical literature (set literary texts) which many pupils do not see as relevant to their
interests or lives. Most literature taught to teenagers in schools was originally written by adults for adults.
We teach this literature not because it is inherently appropriate for teenagers, but because we are seeking
to give them a cultural education (HLGEL, 2012).
Good reader vs. poor reader

Activity defined as "good reading" consists of a set of complex, well-developed and well-practiced skills
and abilities. Professors from Maryland University, Pressley and Afflerbach, mention the particularly
fascinating way in which good readers actively and deliberately coordinate these skills. Good readers set
goals. They read words precisely and quickly, and they thing about their meaning at the same time. They
transfer the meaning of one sentence into another. Good readers read selectively and are more likely to
focus their attention on those parts of the text that are most bound to their readership goals. They may
choose to omit some parts of the text because they already understand its content or because they think
these parts are not important to them. A good reader keeps track of the text. If he realizes he does not
understand, he starts asking questions, rephrases the text with his own words, or finds the meaning of
difficult words. After reading the text, he often thinks about what he read.
Good readers also engage in mental functions such as memorization, attention, imagination and
2
information processing . Some weaker readers read too slowly, without natural fluency. As a result, they
do not understand what they are reading. They do not have too much knowledge about the subject matter
too often. They may have problems finding the main idea of the text or decrypting words. After reading,
they usually do not think about what they read. Due to these difficulties, they lose confidence in their own
abilities. Because reading is causing them difficulties, they do not like reading. This has the effect of not
reading, and thus not receiving enough information and not improving their reading and consequentl, their
subject or general knowledge.

Motivation and Interest in Literacy
Not all secondary students who fail to read do so because they cannot. A significant number of students
choose not to read even though they can. In particular, their motivation and interest in reading appears to
wane with each progressive school year (McKenna et al., 1995). Motivation and interest in reading both
play a part in the reading lives of these students. Motivation can be described as the individual’s impetus
to read when he or she is not compelled to do so by academic assignments. For many secondary students,
reading is not a habit of their daily lives. There have been some efforts that have used various rewards-
based programs to encourage students to read daily, but these endeavors fail to address the goal of
reading as an independent choice outside of the reward programs, owing to a fundamental flaw in the
programs’ design. The choice to read independently must ultimately be intrinsically motivated. As
adolescents move into young adulthood, they have an increasing amount of autonomy in determining how

2 Belešová, M.: Efektívne čítanie. In: Dobrá škola, VIII.ročník, č.5, január 2017, pg.6-7.