Academic reading: fear and trembling or being and belonging?

Abstract

At the University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol, we are in the second year of a project to promote and improve reading skills. One part of our work has focused on embedding collaborative reading techniques within subjects to improve confidence in tackling texts, promote reading as a social practice, and boost belonging within disciplines and cohorts. Our poster presentation reviews the literature on student emotions towards reading, and how these influence their practices. We use this visual representation when liaising with academic colleagues to co-create and facilitate collaborative reading activities. Considerations of the role of student ‘affect’ foreground the motivational dimensions of the reading experience; we look at both pre-existing psychological and emotional barriers to engagement, and incentives and enablers that encourage confident reading and enjoyment of academic texts. We consider how the research literature accords with and further informs our empirical experience of running practical reading workshops. It is hoped that activities such as reading circles and textmapping relieve the individual from sole accountability for comprehension, bringing reading ‘out from the dark’. Deconstructing the process of reading through collaborative roles contributes towards the co-construction of understanding and knowledge, activating fresh insights. Discussion of reading through this shared approach potentially helps to develop student confidence, to nurture feelings of belonging, and to enhance cohort identity. However, we are mindful of the real-world impacts and outcomes of reading strategies for the diverse body of students that we encounter in higher education, with their wealth of difference in cognitive abilities, backgrounds, and cultural experiences. Through this literature review, it is intended that learning from work already published will contribute towards evolving best practice in channelling agency and easing anxiety in academic reading for all students.