Attitudes to reading among modern language undergraduates: results of a Subject Centre survey

1. Attitudes to reading among modern language undergraduates: results of a Subject Centre survey Angela Gallagher and Alison Dickens

2. Project Aims • To obtain a snapshot of students’ perceptions of reading on modern language degree programmes: • Attitudes to L1 reading • Attitudes to L2 reading (and to different genres) • Prior experience of L2 reading • Perceptions of L2 competence and L2 reading competence • Perceptions of the purpose of reading in L2 • Rationale • Request from the Subject Centre Special Interest Group on Literature and Culture

3. Methodology • Research conducted during academic year 2004-05 • Literature Review • Identification of relevant theoretical frameworks • Design of questionnaire to obtain quantitative and qualitative data • Piloting • Consultation • Distribution and completion of revised questionnaire

4. Questionnaire returns • 601 questionnaires • 7 UK universities • 4 Russell Group (60% of questionnaires) • 2 pre-1992 (19%) • 1 post-1992 (21%)

5. Questionnaire returns: respondents • Gender • 444 females (73.88%) • 157 males (26.12%) • Students L1 • English L1 reported by 514 students (85.5%) • 25 other L1s • Ab initio vs. experienced learners • 443 had prior knowledge of L2 • 150 had no prior knowledge of L2

6. Questionnaire returns: respondents • Languages

7. Questionnaire returns: respondents • Year of study

8. Attitudes to L1 Reading • Attitudes to L1 reading were mostly positive • 84% enjoy fiction • 65% enjoy non-fiction • 79% agreed that reading is important to them • 80% like books that make them think • 72% have favourite subjects they like to read about • 72% read to find out information • 84% can lose track of time if reading something interesting • 66% like to talk to friends about what they’re reading • 66% have had experience of talking to people about literature

9. Attitudes to L1 Reading • Attitudes to academic reading in L1 were more ambiguous • 29% agreed that they don’t like academic reading • 33% neither agreed nor disagreed • 38% disagreed • A small proportion of students seemed negative about all L1 reading surveyed (5-8%)

10. L2 Reading: Perceptions of L2 competence • Perceptions of L2 competence • 302 (50%) students agreed that they are good at L2; • 13% disagreed • 255 (42%) agreed that they have a good L2 vocabulary • 22% disagreed • 308 (51%) agreed that they have a good knowledge of target language countries • 17% disagreed • Significant numbers of neither agree nor disagree responses

11. Perceptions of L2 competence: differences between year 1 and year 4

12. Perceptions of L2 competenceI have a good L2 vocabulary – ab initio vs. experienced

13. Perceptions of L2 reading competence • 248 students (41%) agreed that they are doing well in L2 reading. • 173 (29%) agreed that they can read quickly in L2 • 436 (73%) agreed that they find L2 reading difficult because they don’t know enough about the culture • Most students (82%) agreed that it is important to them to be a good reader in L2

14. Perceptions of L2 reading competence • Differences between students in Years 1 and 4 • 31% of year 1 students agreed that they are doing well in L2 reading • 56% of year 4 students agreed that they are doing well • 18% of year 1s agreed that they can read quickly • 44% of year 4s agreed they can read quickly • Differences between ab initio and experienced students were less significant in reading

15. L2 reading habits • 225 students (37%) agreed that they often read in L2 outside class • 284 students (47%) agreed that they don’t get enough practice at reading L2. • 24% of year 1 students agreed that they often read outside class • 54% of year 4 students agreed that they often read outside class

16. Purposes of L2 reading • A majority of students (60%) read in L2 to learn new information about culture • A large majority (77%) agreed that reading in L2 will make them a more knowledgeable person • Almost all (97%) agreed that reading in L2 is a good way of improving language skills

17. Attitudes to L2 reading • A majority of students agreed that they enjoy L2 reading (62%) • 60% agreed that they would be willing to read literature even if not compulsory • Year 4 students were more likely to enjoy L2 reading than year 1s • Year 4 students were much more likely to agree to read literature if not compulsory

18. Attitudes to reading different genres in L2:I want to be able to read … in L2

19. Attitudes to reading different genres in L2:I want to be able to read … in L2

20. Open Questions: Why are you studying languages at university? • Enjoyment: 266 • Employability: 80 • Learning: 76 • Interest: 74 • Culture: 64 • Fluency: 53 • Mobility/travel: 41 • Desire for L2: 34 • Previous success: 24 • Importance: 22 • Communication: 21

21. Previous Experience of L2 Reading • Literature: 155 • A-level: 141 • Newspapers and magazines: 139 • None: 120 • Not much: 87

22. Previous Experience of L2 Reading What students said: • “fairly broad - I had read literature previously as well as newspapers etc.” (y4 Spanish) • “I didn't read much in Spanish. I would memorise quotes from class and use those in exams. I never read a book in Spanish before university” (y4 Spanish) • “nil -I read a pizza menu once” (y1 Italian) • “Portuguese GCSE + A-level entailed reading both literary and non-literary texts with varying levels of difficulty -had also read two novels in Portuguese voluntarily” (y4 Portuguese) • “not much experience - studied one play and one novel but not in great detail” (Lorca, Gomez) (y3 Spanish)

23. I find the texts I am given to read in …L2 are • Interesting: 169 • Difficult: 148 • Challenging: 87 • Manageable: 56 • Boring: 53 • Varied: 39 • Useful: 35 • OK: 27 • Nil response: 24 • Enjoyable: 19 • Good for language skills: 19

24. I find the texts I am given to read in .. are…: what students said: • “interesting and enjoyable as they are often very different from English texts that have been read and provide me with a lot of information about Spanish culture” (y3, Spanish) • “interesting, but could be more geared towards issues that would appeal more to students” (y2 French) • “given to us to expand our vocab, our knowledge of whatever the text is about -interesting and thought provoking as well” (y1 Spanish) • “Varied. It depends on the subject of the text as to how interesting/easy to read they are” (y4 Spanish) • “extremely challenging but enjoyable” (y2 French) • “usually quite difficult but worth the time and effort” (y1 German)

25. I find the texts I am given to read in .. are…. What students said • “good for my learning, but not always interesting” (y1 German) • “sometimes very unrelated to anything-have little use after the lesson is over” (y2 French) • “out of my depth and very hard” (y1 Spanish) • “sad or morbid in content, difficult in language” (y1 German)

26. I find the texts I am given to read in.. L2 are..

27. I think that reading literature in … is… • Useful: 155 • Difficult: 135 • Good for language skills: 93 • Interesting: 81 • Enjoyable: 62 • Important: 53 • Boring: 41 • Challenging: 40 • Good for culture: 36 • Nil response: 27 • Rewarding: 15 • A good idea: 12

28. I think that reading literature in … is…: what students said • “the best way to improve vocab and general comprehension” (y4 Spanish) • “essential for learning and keeping up language skills and vocabulary” (y4 Spanish) • “ a good way to practise comprehension, learn etc” (y1 Italian) • “ an excellent way to improve my Spanish and discover literature I wouldn’t have been able to read if I hadn’t learnt Spanish (y3 Spanish)

29. I think that reading literature in … is…: what students said • “near impossible” (y1 Chinese) • “hard work but if I persevere it is very rewarding” (y4 Spanish) • “not for me” (y1 Russian) • “boring but more interesting than English literature (y1 Spanish) • “ a bit pretentious but more of a challenge than reading in English” (y 3 French) • “ a waste of time and resources” (y 1 French) • “ not something I would do for enjoyment” (y4 German)

30. I think that reading literature in … is…:what students said • enjoyable when it is just reading – not analysing and pulling the text apart – why did X happen? What does Y represent?” (y4 Spanish) • “interesting as long as I don’t have to write essays or do exams on it” (y2 German) • “interesting – it opens up another world of literature which often differs from our own” (y4 German) • interesting and I find the language more beautiful than English” (y1 French) • “really enjoyable – you feel good you are able to read in a language other than English (y1 Spanish)

31. I think that reading literature in … is..

32. What makes a text in .. difficult for you? • Vocabulary: 408 • Grammar: 130 • Subject matter: 57 • Sentence length: 34 • Outdated language: 25 • Style: 20

33. If you are having difficulty understanding a text in …, what do you do in order to understand it better? • Look in dictionary: 427 • Re-read: 101 • Ask others: 75 • Read translation: 44 • Break up text: 36 • Research: 25 • Work out gist: 19 • Translate: 18

34. If you are having difficulty understanding a text in …, what do you do in order to understand it better? • All year groups were equally likely to look up vocabulary in a dictionary • Year 1 students were more likely to: • Ask others for help • Use a translation • Translate the text • Year 4 students were more likely to: • Re-read the text • Break up the text • Research the subject

35. Conclusions • Clear sense of progression in feelings of competence over the course of the degree • Ab initio students remain less confident in year 4 • Some evidence of more positive attitudes to L2 reading in year 4 but this may depend on the genre • A tendency to view reading literature instrumentally, as a means of improving language skills