Reading Habits: Issues and Solutions

There are several issues regarding about reading habits. This is because the number of reluctant readers is increasing concern and demands serious analytic attention. There was no attention given in relations to the encouragement of the development of reading habits. This will tends to lead reading reluctancy among university students. When the students enter the university that is the only time they will read and find books provided in the library in large quantity. Students spend relatively small amount of time to read either it is a must or the feel to read at that time.

Students do read but only for academic purpose, such as to answer in the exam. The least problem for some student is that they do not find the interested material or the university have limited collection of material. 1.4Research objectives

The objective of conducting this research is:
To find out the student’s reading frequency.
To find out the types of reading material use by the student.

These objectives are the main reason as well as the principle in order to conduct this research efficiently. So, it is important to have clear objective to obtain relevant information relate to the subject matter. 1.5Research Question:

Objective 1
To find out the student’s reading frequency.
Research Question 1
How much time do students spent for reading?
Objective 2
To find out the types of reading material use by the student. Research Question 2
What types of reading material do the students read?
Objective 3
To examine whether there is relationship between the reading habits of students and family background. Research Question 3
Does there is relationship between the reading habit of students and family background?
1.6Scope of the research
The population for this study consist the students in UiTM Merbok Kedah. The faculty involving is business management. During this research only degree student involved that is finance and Islamic banking students. The research the students around the campus. 1.7Significance of the study

It is hoped that the result of this study will provide knowledge on the reading habit of university students specifically for those in Uitm Merbok kedah. The knowledge gathered would help the university to be aware about the factor that will attract the student from reading. This study also will help to overcome the weaknesses of the reading campaign and program so that more effective activities will be conducted specifically to attract and promote reading among university students. Besides that, lecturer also will use the knowledge to select appropriate material which is suitable for student’s interest and level of comprehensive. 1.8Definition of Terms / Concepts

1. Reading – Day and Bamford (1998) claims the definition of reading is the construction of meaning from a printed or written message. It involves the act of understanding a written message by connecting the information with the reader’s own background information or schemata. 2. Attitude – refers to a predisposition to react specifically towards an object, situation, or value which is usually accompanied by feelings and emotions (Werner, 1983) 3. Academic Reading – “Academic reading is operationally defined as reading text book and other material typically required for study. This type of reading was meaningfully classified into text book, research paper, journal article, library books and any other material assigned for coursework. (Mokhtari & Sheory 1994,p.52) 4. Non- academic reading – “This type of reading is classified into material such as books, newspapers, magazine and any other material unrelated to academic study” (Mokhtari & Sheory 1994,p.52) 2.2Theoretical framework

The dependent variable of influencing reading habits among students is influenced by the three independent variables which are the amount of time spent to read, type of materials and social background. The three independent variable are also interrelated each other. The type of materials means that the students pick only the topic that really interest them. Among the popular topic is related to entertainment, gossip or cartoon. This is because they fell happy and not stressful when reading the magazine or newspaper. Reading usually takes time according to the person mind to understand what the text tells about. Same text can be interpreted by people with different amount time to understand. The time be measured in hour and also can be counted with whether day or night. The social background usually

CHAPTER 2 Literature review
2.1Past research
The activity of reading is regarded as a habit when it is repeatedly carried out. In measurable terms reading habits is often considered in terms of the amount of materials being read, the frequency of reading as well as the average time spent on reading (Wagner, 2002), and this habit can be cultivated (Wijesuriya, 1995). Several studies of Malaysian universities and secondary school students were carried out by Pandian (1997). He also stated that about 86% of high school students are reluctant readers. Among common findings as reviewed by Ross (2002) on reading habits are such that: “heavy readers” are more likely to be female than male; to be younger rather than older; and to have achieved a higher education level than the population at large (Book Industry Study Group, 1984; Cole and Gold, 1979). Sheorey and Mokhtari (1994) examined the reading habits of 85 college students enrolled in an elective development reading course at a large university in the Midwestern USA. Attitudes toward reading are defined as an individual’s feeling about reading – causing learners to approach or avoid a reading situation (Alexander and Filler, 1976). Walberg and Tsai (1985) Factors that contributed to a positive attitude among adolescents included: . Believing that reading is important;

. Enjoying reading;
. Having a high self-concept as a reader; and
. Having a verbally stimulating home environment where verbal interaction takes place regularly. In a study on “A Survey of the Reading Habits and Interests of the Malaysian People” by Atan Long (1982)’ it was found that the majority of the Malaysian people did not have any special preference for a reading time and among the main types of reading materials read in the past six months, the newspaper was read by the greatest percentage of subjects (97%), followed by magazines (67%) and books (42%). Beech (1985) in his study added that the socio-economic status of the child has a bearing on the ability to read and write while parents have a strong influence on children’s reading development In addition, the patterns in reading activity were determined by differences in the levels of income, education and age .It was also found that geographical factors. Ethnic background and sex also influenced the type of reading done (Mullai Ramaiah, 1994)

In a recent survey by the Malaysian National Library (2006) with sample 60,441 respondents, it was found that the literacy rate has slightly decreased to 92 percent from 93 percent in 1996. There has been no increase in the amount of reading as compared to the past ten years. Ethnicity, home environment, reading models, gender and school environment are important indicators of reading. Students from the urban areas are found to be reading more than the rural counterpart. Attitude and interest toward reading can be related in association with feeling and with learners’ spirit to learn or in this situation it can be said best with the readers’ spirit to read. Positive reading attitudes lead to positive reading experiences, which also lead to higher academic performance.