Children's attitudes to reading
Marian Sainsbury

Children's attitudes to reading have changed significantly since 1998. Marian Sainsbury, principal researcher at the National Foundation for Educational Research, reports on a new survey.


How do children feel about their reading? Do these attitudes vary between boys and girls and with the age of the children? Have attitudes changed in recent years? In the summer term of 2003, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) carried out a national survey of children's attitudes to reading. There were two particular reasons for interest in this topic.

In April 2003, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) reported results from 35 countries. It found that pupils in England read very well compared with those in other countries, but their enjoyment of reading is poor by comparison. This finding sparked a debate about children's attitudes to reading, involving well-known children's authors such as Philip Pullman.

NFER has a questionnaire called Reading Survey, designed to investigate children's reading enjoyment, confidence and preferences. This questionnaire was administered five years earlier, in summer 1998, with children in Years 4 and 6 (aged about nine and 11 years, respectively). Re-running the same survey in 2003 would not only illuminate children's current attitudes, but would reveal any changes that might have taken place over the last five years.

The questionnaire was completed in June 2003 by 2,459 Year 4 and 2,617 Year 6 children in a national sample of 74 schools. Of these, 28 schools had also participated in the 1998 survey. In these 28 schools, there were 2,365 children in the 2003 survey and 2,307 children of the same ages in 1998.*

Children were invited to agree or disagree (with a 'not sure' option) to a series of statements about their attitudes to reading. The questionnaire also asked how often they read at home, and what they choose to read. In contrast to what many have been saying, the 2003 survey found that most children enjoy reading. A big majority, around 70 per cent of children, said that they enjoy reading, like reading silently by themselves, read at home most days and do not think reading is boring. The younger age group are slightly more positive about reading than the older.

Confidence and independence: percentage of children disagreeing Findings from 4,671 children, Years 4 and 6 combined Differences are statistically significant at the 0.1% level

Children mainly choose to read stories, comics and magazines. Stories are the most popular with both age groups, but magazines equal stories in popularity for Year 6. The younger children are more likely than the older ones to read comics, information books or poems, whereas magazines and newspapers are more popular with the older children than the younger ones. Almost half of 11-year-olds say that they read newspapers.

Enjoyment: percentage of children agreeing Findings from 4,671 children, Years 4 and 6 combined Differences are statistically significant at the 0.1% level, except 'comics and magazines', which is non-significant

Girls' responses are significantly more positive than those of boys; the percentages of girls agreeing with all the positive statements are higher than the percentages of boys. Within this overall pattern, there are also differences in what boys and girls choose to read. Boys are more likely to read comics, newspapers and information books whereas girls prefer stories, poems and magazines.

Children's confidence and independence as readers increase as they get older, as might be expected. Around 70 per cent of children say that they do not find reading difficult, with the percentage higher among the older age-group. Around a third of nine-year-olds like reading with a grown-up to help them, and this declines to 18 per cent among the older children. A majority of nine-year-olds, and almost half of 11-year-olds, say they read to an adult at home.

Some of the most interesting results from this survey come from the 28 schools in the repeat sample. The children who were surveyed in 2003 had received five years of teaching according to the National Literacy Strategy- all of their school careers in the case of the Year 4 pupils, and most of it for those in Year 6. The 1998 survey was carried out during the term before the strategy was introduced nationally. The analysis found several significant differences between children's attitudes in 1998 and today, as the graphs show.

First - and consistent with what is known about reading ability - there was a significant increase over the five years in children's confidence and independence as readers. Children are less likely to find reading difficult and less likely to want an adult's help with reading, than they were in 1998. This applies to both age groups. It is important to note that the questionnaire did not investigate reasons for changes in attitude, but this finding can be seen as consistent with the evidence from national tests and the PIRLS international survey. Among children in England, standards of reading are high compared with most of the world, and have improved over recent years. The improved confidence and independence found in this survey are likely to reflect children's actual ability to read well.

Secondly, however, and more negatively, children's enjoyment of reading has significantly declined since 1998, and this is particularly true of the older boys. This is apparent on a cluster of questions: children are now less likely to enjoy reading stories, poems and information books. Compared with 1998, they are more likely to prefer watching television to reading, and less likely to enjoy going to the library. Reading comics, however, is an exception to the pattern, with no decline in popularity over the five years.

Once again, the survey was not designed to yield direct evidence of why these changes might have occurred. It is possible, however, that over the first five years of the National Literacy Strategy, the very factors that led to the improvement in children's ability to read may also be associated with the decline in enjoyment.

Writing in Literacy Today in 1998, I highlighted a contrast between the model of literacy hour that features in the National Literacy Strategy and an alternative model that was found in some schools at that time and could be characterised as a 'literature hour'. The latter model had less emphasis on developing reading skills and more on appreciating literature. I concluded: "Teachers will need to consider how children's appreciation of literature fits in, within or outside the literacy hour, remembering always that high levels of literacy imply more than a basic mastery of the skills of reading and writing."

While there is no doubt that a wish to create enthusiastic readers underpins the National Literacy Strategy, it is possible that the objectives-led approach has tended to obscure this. In the literacy hour, the reading matter is chosen by the teacher rather than the children and is used to develop specific reading skills. Extracts may be used rather than whole texts. In coming to grips with these new approaches, and under pressure to improve standards, some teachers may have found it difficult to continue to foster children's enthusiasm for reading at the same time. This involves, by contrast, making time for children to explore possibilities and develop their own tastes, and space for children to respond emotionally as well as cognitively to the involvement in imaginary worlds that literature can offer. These aims are not in conflict with the development of the skills of reading, but they need to be actively pursued alongside it.

Currently, there is a renewed concern for creativity and imagination in primary schools, and recent guidance for teachers has emphasised the need to encourage children's enjoyment of what they read. This survey has highlighted both successes and concerns, and has pinpointed some areas for development. It is planned to use the same questionnaire in the same national sample of schools in two years' time, to track any changes that may occur in the future.

* The 2003 sample was nationally representative in terms of school type, size, attainment band and region. Schools in London and metropolitan areas were slightly over-represented at the expense of unitary authorities and counties. Compared with national levels, the 28 schools in the repeat sub-sample (which were part of the 1996-1998 National Literacy Project) were rather low attaining and their enjoyment and confidence ratings were slightly lower than the national average.

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