Reading preferences in 6th grade of primary education: a research with asturian schoolchildren

Abstract

This work, based on a research carried out with 324 schoolchildren from state schools of Oviedo, analyses the reading preferences of Asturian children from 6th Grade of Primary Education.
With this purpose, it presents the data related to reading preferences depending on the type of text, the most appreciated elements in reading materials, the criteria for selecting texts and the preferred works.
Children prefer current fictional narrative, especially certain subgenres, although they also like books for learning, magazines and comics. They appreciate amusing books, but also pay attention to their subject and pedagogical usefulness. When selecting readings, children take into account the paratexts, the peers' recommendations and the influence of cinema and television. Besides, children read literary works written by famous authors or belonging to book series they know. Finally, some differences concerning sex are identified in the assessment of certain subgenres, as well as in thematic preferences.