Does anyone read anymore? Literary readers at the ELTE program at UNLPam

Abstract

In this article, we examine the literary readings done by students at the English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) program at Universidad Nacional de La Pampa (UNLPam) outside the ones required by their language or literature courses syllabi. Having as a starting point the popular idea that “nobody reads anymore”, we explore the reading habits, preferred genres, and reasons for reading of the students in the 4^th year of the program. The data were collected through surveys, reading lists, and individual interviews, and they were analyzed through the qualitative methodologies of conceptual coding and discourse and document analysis. The results are intended to improve the articulation between the students’ literary readings and those suggested in the Language and Literature courses in the program. Further criteria for the selection of literary texts are also suggested, as they were also proposed by the participants in the research.