Using Young Adult (YA) Literature in a Classroom: How Does YA Literature Impact Writing Literacies

Abstract

While English teachers are working to incorporate various versions of the Common Core State Standards into their curriculum, they are often emphasizing canonical fiction over alternative literature that students may connect with at a higher engagement level. Young Adult (YA) literature may help teachers meet the needs of the whole student as well as local standards. The purposes of this study were (1) to explore how students engaged with reading and writing after reading YA literature, (2) to evaluate whether the YA students’ writing samples differed from the canonical group’s, (3) to determine if students see themselves as better writers after the experience, and (4) to examine the teacher’s perception of reading YA Literature. The research was conducted in a single teacher’s 9th grade classes at an urban high school in the Southwest with a primarily Hispanic population. Two groups worked with canonical literature, and two groups worked with YA literature. All students were given a modified version of the Daly Miller Writing Apprehension Survey before and after they read either a YA short story or a classic short story. They then constructed a writing sample using the same generic prompt for all groups. Several students and the teacher were interviewed after the process. Quantitative results showed that students who read the YA pieces increased their mean score on the modified Daly Miller Survey. Their writing samples had a greater mean score than the canonical group. The qualitative results also indicated greater engagement and understanding of the YA literature, while the teacher expressed enjoyment in teaching both pieces since they were both received well by the students. Finding that students improved in a quantifiable way after using YA literature indicates that there are pedagogical reasons to incorporate YA literature in the classroom, in addition to enhancing enjoyment.

Reading, Research and Relationships in a Third‐Grade Virtual Book Club

“…was not what we expected. Alice has conducted similar studies at the high school level in which the choice of literature did influence the research focus chosen by participants and prompted actions to address the social justice issues (Hays, 2017). Our thirdgrade participants seemed to view these choices in isolation, meaning that we found students' choice of favorite literature did not always correspond with their social justice topic choice, nor did their favorite character link with their favorite book.…”

“…Our findings showed that the answer to our initial research question, “How does reading children's literature within a social activism framework shape students' understanding of social justice issues as well as their capacity to act on that understanding?” was not what we expected. Alice has conducted similar studies at the high school level in which the choice of literature did influence the research focus chosen by participants and prompted actions to address the social justice issues (Hays, 2017). Our third‐grade participants seemed to view these choices in isolation, meaning that we found students' choice of favorite literature did not always correspond with their social justice topic choice, nor did their favorite character link with their favorite book.…”

“…Our students' comments have led us to believe that third‐grade students can connect to characters in books based on their own experiences and perceptions which in turn may help them to conceptualize ways to address their community's social justice issues (Hays, 2017, 2021), especially if the students already feel a connection to the character.…”

Investigating Students’ Barriers in Young Adult Literature

“…YAL is being used to its full potential to assist students locate characters who are similar to them as well as characters who will help them better relate to others [5]. Students can learn more about themselves and the world around them by reading young adult literature [6].…”

Enhancing Young Adult Literature to Improve Reading Ability

“…Besides, YAL literature can be found in children's sections, popular adult text elements, and mixed in with traditional canon sections in the library. Hays (2016) argued that Young Adult Literature (YAL) has a contemporary narrative style that tends to attract adults who are meaning-makers, interested in and engaged with emotional topics such as relationship problems, identity formation, fellowship, adore first, attempting to make policy actions, university, and more than increase motivation to read, share common issues, and learn a new language of teenagers. Students were able to employ essential class readings that allowed them to read narratives through YAL (Miller et al, 2020).…”