Karen Bordonaro James A. Gibson Library Brock University TESL Ontario October 30, 2010

Research Questions Do international students who are non-native speakers of English use university library material for recreational reading? Do they think that it improves their English language skills?

Recreational Reading Extensive reading Pleasure reading Reading for one’s own enjoyment Not assigned reading for a course

Recreational reading in L2 Supplements intensive reading taught in classrooms Often serves as the basis for book reports Generally not graded DEAR programs (“drop everything and read”) Sometimes from classroom libraries Chosen by students

Recreational reading in libraries Usually in public libraries Often fiction Often in paperback format Not always fully catalogued like other library material Meant for browsing Usually defined as popular material only, not academic material

Setting of this survey: Brock University Library

Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students 954 international students at time of study: – 70% from Asia – 10% from Europe – 5% from Africa – 5% from North America – 7% from Central and South America – 2% from Oceania – 1% not listed

Small popular reading collection

But 7 floors of library material

This study Considered recreational reading material to be any university library material, not just the small popular browsing collection Targeted international students in degree programs but not in the pre-academic intensive language program

Participants 26 male, 33 female Native languages: Chinese, English (international students from the U.S., U.K.), Bengali, German, Arabic, French, Russian, Danish, Dutch, Punjabi, Turkish, Swedish, Vietnamese Years of English study (if non-native speaker): 2-16 years

Participants Programs of Study – Business, Education, Biology, Computer Science, Political Science, Geography, Applied Linguistics, Psychology, Health Sciences, Chemistry Degrees working on – B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., M.B.A., Ph.D. Length of time at university – 3 months to 7 years

Survey questions Do you read for pleasure? – If no, why not? no time no interest lack of material other – If yes, why? to relax to learn new information to fill up free time other

Survey questions In what languages do you read for pleasure? – English – my native language – neither – other

Survey questions What types of materials do you read for pleasure? – books – magazines or journal articles – newspapers – web pages, blogs, other online information – other

Survey questions How often do you read for pleasure? – daily – weekly – monthly – other

Survey questions Do you think that pleasure reading improves your language skills? – yes – no – not sure

Survey questions Where do you find your pleasure reading material? – I borrow material from other people. – I use library material. – I buy material. – I do my pleasure reading online. – other

Survey questions If you use the university library to find reading material, how would you rate this material? – poor, inadequate – fair, sufficient – good, more than sufficient – I don’t use library material

Findings 80% of the respondents said they do engage in recreational reading For those who did not, lack of time was cited as the major reason. Most respondents engaged in recreational reading to relax (64%), followed by 25% who did so to learn new information. About half of the participants said they read daily for pleasure.

Language findings A majority of the participants read for pleasure in English (54%), followed by those who read for pleasure in their native languages (27%). A vast majority of participants thought that reading for pleasure in English improved their language skills (91%), followed by 9% who were not sure.

Library findings A majority of participants (54%) read books for pleasure, followed by online sites (41%), and magazines or newspapers (5%). The places where participants found their reading material were online (55%), from a bookstore (20%) and from a university library (20%). Library material for recreational reading was rated fair (35%), good (17%) and poor (11%).

Comments “I use these materials to access a variety of information that we cannot learn from our major, and because life is not only to be satisfied with a job.” “I read for pleasure to increase my knowledge base and to improve my skills.” “Pleasure reading helps me with learning English.”

What does it mean? International students, busy with degree work, do seem to engage in recreational reading. They think recreational reading improves their language skills. They do use university library materials for recreational reading (not just designated popular collections). The university library can support and foster out-of-classroom language learning.

Implications University library material bought to support the curriculum needs of particular programs also helps support second language learning needs. Librarians and ESL instructors should be made more aware of this use of library materials. ESL instructors should encourage students to engage in recreational reading through general library materials beyond easy readers or popular browsing collections.

University libraries and L2 learning University libraries are settings for authentic language learning to take place. Out-of-classroom learning can take place in university libraries. Opportunities for more collaboration between librarians and ESL instructors should be encouraged.

Your experiences Have your students used university libraries for recreational reading? Do you see it as a pedagogical activity in terms of language learning?

Thank you