Reading and general media skills of the current generations remain hot topics of debate both in research and in the media. In this focus we deals with questions of media socialisation – particularly of written media – from a theoretical and an applied perspective.
Based on the existing Book Studies research and teaching – including various courses, dissertations, and projects such as Abenteuer Buch – researchers look at the topic of reading and the reader.
This leads to results that bring specific Book Studies concepts into the discussion – both in an interdisciplinary research context as well as in the wider community. Moreover it allows possible solutions to be designed and refined in an applied context (promotion of reading).
The idea is to plan and run complementary lectures, classes and applied project work on the topics of media socialisation and promoting of reading, with particular emphasis on future research possibilities. Primarily the project aims to investigate reading socialisation processes among children and young people. The prospect exists, however, of expanding the scope of the project to include adults. The influence of digitalisation on media usage patterns is an important factor to consider in this research.
Projects
The project Book Adventure. Concepts and strategies for promoting reading amongst children and young people, established at the Erlangen Book Studies department in 2006, has several goals. First and foremost it aims to develop strategies for improving reading and speaking skills amongst nursery/primary school age children. This is achieved by working in collaboration with education specialists. In doing this the project seeks to investigate various research methods into reading socialisations.
In November 2008 the project team was awarded the Sparda-Future prize Bildung für Kinder for its work.
The empirical study Lesestoffbeschaffung und Lesestoffnutzung von Kindern und Jugendlichen looks at the influences of reading socialisation on children and young people. It does this by examining how they acquire and use reading materials, and what effect the various forms of reading socialisation – be it from family, school or peer group – have on them.
Using a systemic structure the Handbuch Lesen (Reading handbook) presents reading on a macroscopic, a mesoscopic and a microscopic level. Furthermore the book discusses the techniques and methods of the research field, the functions and aims of reading from a community perspective, the institutions and organisations relevant in reading, as well as reading as a cultural activity.
Members of the Research Group
- Professor Kerstin Emrich
- Marina Mahling MA
- Professor Ursula Rautenberg
- Dr Sandra Rühr
- Dr Volker Titel
Contact
Selection of Publications
- Axel Kuhn/ Sandra Rühr: Stand der Lese- und Leserforschung – eine kritische Analyse. In: Rautenberg, Ursula (Hrsg.): Buchwissenschaft in Deutschland. Band 1: Theorie und Forschung. Berlin / New York 2010, S. 535–602.
- Marina Mahling: Lesestoffe im Deutschunterricht, Privatlektüre und Lesemotivation von Schülern der gymnasialen Oberstufe. Erlangen 2010.
- Sonja Peschutter: Textbasierte Digitalmedien und Förderung der Lesekompetenz im Primarbereich – Wissenschaft, Bildungspolitik und schulische Praxis im Vergleich. Erlangen 2010.
- Stefan Salamonsberger / Normann Stricker / Volker Titel (Hrsg.): Leseförderung im Kindergarten- und Grundschulalter. Wissenschaftlicher Diskurs und praktische Initiativen. Erlangen 2009.
- Volker Titel: Kein Ende des Buches in Sicht. Vom Schicksal der Lese- und Buchkultur. In: Stiftung Lesen (Hrsg.): Lesen in Deutschland 2008. Mainz 2009, S. 72–78.