Utilizing #BookTok in upper-secondary school classrooms. An exploration of how teachers can implement #BookTok as an aid in classroom instruction for enhancing pupils’ reading for pleasure habits

Abstract

This thesis seeks to explore the potential of BookTok in upper-secondary school classrooms, and its connection to enhanced pleasure reading amongst adolescents. BookTok is a recent phenomenon and the term describes a reading subcommunity on the TikTok app, a social medium that has grown immensely in popularity amongst the younger generations for the past few years. Through analysis of the community and the three novels They Both Die at the End (2017) by Adam Silvera, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997) by J.K. Rowling, and Animal Farm (1945) by George Orwell, the thesis aims to answer the questions of how BookTok can be utilized in classrooms to enhance reading for pleasure habits, and how the use of BookTok aligns with reader response theory and its influence on students’ reading experiences and engagement. Although little research about BookTok exists, some results were discovered and incorporated into the analysis. As a result, the research questions were answered by the creation of a 7-week reading project consisting of lesson plans. The planning of the project was influenced and supported by the competence aims for English in LK20, socio-cultural learning theory, and didactical research that sustained innovative and differential classroom instruction.