Reviving reading through interactive digital literature in EFL: a study of students’ reading motivation in the Danish lower secondary school

Abstract

This article presents a recent research project investigating students’ and teachers’ reading experiences with interactive digital and analogue literary texts in foreign languages within a Danish lower secondary school context. The project has a dual objective: first, to examine teachers’ and students’ reading habits and motivation for literature, and second, to explore ways of improving reading motivation through various media formats including the crossover of digitalisation and literature. The importance of this study is underscored by previous research indicating a decline in reading interest in Denmark, juxtaposed with the rapid increase in students’ consumption of digital media. Taking an empirical stance, this study therefore provides evidence of students’ literary reading experiences and motivation in English in a school context.

The research design consists of three parts: 1) a quantitative survey with responses from 60 teachers and 190 students, 2) a didactic intervention featuring exemplary teaching sequences that incorporate literature in interactive digital as well as analogue media format, and 3) a qualitative study based on focus group interviews exploring students’ reading experiences across different media. The study shows that students have very different reading preferences and interactive texts are not necessarily the only answer to enhancing students’ reading motivation. Drawing upon the study’s findings, the article offers recommendations for selecting literary texts to support reading motivation.