Abstract
This study aims to discover the view, opinion, perception and experiences of Turkish teachers and secondary school students towards Wattpad, an online literacy community, to interpret them educationally, to determine the reasons for their use and to interpret the main plot of youth literature on the axis of changing reading perception/behavior and expectations of youth. It is foreseen that the study has comparatively discussed literature-education and new reading types on the axis of the teacher and student, the direct participants of learning-teaching within this scope, and therefore fills the gap in the literature. The research design is phenomenology, one of the qualitative research designs. Data obtained through semi-structured interviews from Turkish teachers and secondary school students were subjected to content analysis. The findings of the study are as follows: Youth enjoy spending long time on Wattpad via their phones and feel themselves free. They think that the application develops reading and writing habits; read and write mainly about love and science fiction; prefer digital reading over printed books and/or classics; comment and criticize books/articles with their peers. Turkish teachers have educational concerns and do not find appropriate for youth to spend time on this platform; because it includes violence, sexuality etc. Therefore, it can be said that there is a conflict and a difference of opinion between teachers and youth.
Highlights
Youth literature covers works written only for youth by adults and/or youth or selected from texts written for adults; including primarily and especially the subjects and various texts that youth enjoy and read admiringly (Özyer, 1987)
This study aims to discover the view, opinion, perception and experiences of Turkish teachers and secondary school students towards Wattpad, an online literacy community, to interpret them educationally, to determine the reasons for their use and to interpret the main plot of youth literature on the axis of changing reading perception/behavior and expectations of youth
Analyzing reading in the digital age can be useful to understand social processes of reading in general; because there is not one reading habit, but many ways to read. (Pianzola et al, 2020, p. 39) In this context, this study aims to discover the view, opinion, perception and experiences of Turkish teachers and secondary school students towards Wattpad, an online literacy community, to interpret them educationally, to determine the reasons for their use and to interpret the main plot of youth literature on the axis of changing reading perception/behavior and expectations of youth
Summary
Youth literature covers works written only for youth by adults and/or youth or selected from texts written for adults; including primarily and especially the subjects and various texts that youth enjoy and read admiringly (Özyer, 1987). Gültekin (as cited in Gültekin et al, 2012) classified as early youth literature (12/13-17/18) and youth literature (18–25/30) according to age and developmental period. Considering the status of today’s Turkish literature in the context of children and youth literature, it can be said that there has been a positive change and development in children’s literature due to the ability to make clear distinction between children and adults, and that children discover many modern children’s books. These developments in children’s literature are not seen in (early) youth literature. İpşiroğlu (2008) argues that the society’s view of children and youth concepts causes the underdevelopment of children and youth literature
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
