Do boys’ attitudes to reading differ to those of girls? A study into the views of reading within a year three class

Abstract

Differences in reading attainment between the genders have been widely reported, whilst less research has been carried out on gender differences as regards to interest towards reading. Within a sample of two classes of year three children, information was collected to establish any differences in the attitudes towards reading that may exist between boys and girls. This included looking at areas such as reading frequency and preferred literature, which showed that whilst interest in reading was generally good and reading was seen as non-gender specific, varying text preferences and levels of home reading were revealed. Data of this kind allowed for general conclusions to be drawn and therefore recommendations to aid the prevention of negative factors.