FROM MAHMOUD DARWISH TO SHAKESPEARE, NARUTO TO TINTIN COMICS: Reading Preferences and Identities of Emirati Adolescents from the UAE

Underpinned by the rich subject of adolescent literacy, the aim of this chapter is to explore Emirati adolescents' perceptions of themselves as readers, the reading materials and genres they choose to read in their leisure time and the language in which these reading materials are produced. Using thematic analysis, data collected from eight Emirati adolescents through interviews helped identify three main themes: (1) the respondents' self-ascription of their reader identities, (2) the respondents' self-selected diverse reading materials and (3) their language of choice for reading materials. The participants' self-identification as readers was pertinent to the genre of reading materials sought. The interviewees read a myriad of texts, both conventional and ones they saw as unconventional. There was also a dichotomy in the language of reading, as the participants tended to read in one language over the other, and a balance between reading in Arabic and English was not reported. The chapter concludes with recommendations to legitimize adolescents' reading genres and acknowledge their fluid ascription of self-identification as readers.