essay on decreasing reading habits among students

The Hechinger Report

Covering Innovation & Inequality in Education

PROOF POINTS: Why reading comprehension is deteriorating

Jill Barshay SENIOR REPORTER

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Might there simply be a higher percentage of less intelligent students in the cohort?

This is a comment, not a letter. As a longtime advocate of phonics instruction as a critical technical component of a comprehensive literacy intervention—and the persistent difficulty of getting colleges of education and primary grades teachers on board with this—I think it’s a disservice to quote somebody with credentials in a well-known college of education seeming to slam phonics training. At the least, her comment could have been balanced with an aside citing research focusing on the relationship between early reading proficiency and success across the curriculum. Even Lucy Calkins, longtime holdout for balanced literacy has come to agree that phonics training should be included in early literacy education. A good vigorous discussion could be advanced with this piece: https://www.minnpost.com/education/2018/11/minnesota-educators-continue-to-grapple-with-one-of-the-most-critical-and-politicized-education-issues-reading-instruction/

World literacy rate = 56% in 1950; 76% in 1990. Progress since 2000, 82%, has been relatively slow.

Flynn Effect 1950-1990. Every subsequent new generation was 10 IQ points smarter than its predecessor. Flynn Effect stopped in 1990, now there are signs its gone into reverse

WHY? Top reason: technology. Computers, smart phones, watching TV makes people stupid.

PISA & the very wrong policy of focusing on raising test scores.

Also, policy makers refuse to use effective teaching methods. Sold research in the mid 20th C shows the optimal age for learning how to read is 9-11. Trying to get pre schoolers to read may be harmful in the long run. 1960s: Job Corp created the most effective remedial reading program in history. It is very cheap, and consumes no class time: A pile of soft porn novels in the back of every 11th & 12th grade classroom. Kids read like crazy. Try to one operating program. Raising test scores harms a nations future ability to compete in the world economy, yet policy makers defending this disastrous pogrom assert the reason for doing it is to improve national economic competitiveness in the future

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in english at the secondary level.

$\r\nNisar Abid*$

1 Department of Education, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
2 Faculty of Education and Humanities, UNITAR International University, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
3 Faculty of Education, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
4 Department of English Language and Literature, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message for personal growth and success in the relevant fields. Thus, psychologists consider it a multifaceted cognitive process of constructing meanings from texts. The present study was conducted to determine the relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English at the secondary level in Punjab, Pakistan.

Methods: The ( n = 1614) students enrolled in the science section for the academic year 2019–2020 participated in this descriptive correlational survey, selected from 40 high schools in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, through a non-proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ) and the Study Skills Scale (SSS) were used to collect data about students’ reading habits and study skills. At the same time, academic achievement was the students’ grades obtained in the ninth class in the subject of English that were determined by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore in 2019. Students’ responses were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: The results indicated that students have competent reading habits and study skills. The correlational findings showed a strong positive relationship among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, while moderate positive relationships between reading habits and academic achievement in English. However, regression analysis results were significant, while reading habits and study skills moderately predicted academic achievement.

Discussion: It is implicated that teachers should plan such assignments and tasks based on reflective thinking by considering the role of study skills in academic achievement. Moreover, teachers and school administrators could mutually create timetables for library lessons to build reading habits and study skills among learners.

1. Introduction

Knowledge gained through reading is vital for the cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal development of learners ( He, 2014 ; Baffoe and Okae-Anti, 2020 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ) because it is a person’s ability to enhance information and comprehend the words effectively ( Sabbah, 2016 ; Al-Jarf, 2019 ). An individual reads for numerous reasons, i.e., knowledge development, recreation, joy, relaxation, and so on ( Whitten et al., 2016 ). However, Erguvan (2016) and Mirza et al. (2021) directed that reading is an active part of life that is not just about pleasure when needed. However, Chotitham and Wongwanich (2014) conjectured that reading helps to develop critical and judgmental thinking abilities used to solve problems by conceptualizing context. Hence, Erdem (2015) and Pretorius and Klapwijk (2016) quantified that reading is essential to success because it starts from the commencement of school and continues throughout the lifetime.

Fischer et al. (2015) , Oyewole (2017) , Al-Jarf (2019) recognized that the importance of reading in learning could not be ignored because it is an emancipatory tool that releases students’ academic frustration, ignorance, and destitution. Palani (2012) distinguished that reading is an instrument used to exchange information, while reading habit is an academic activity that enables students to benefit from reading materials. Therefore, Walia and Sinha (2014) specified that reading habits require complex skills, such as perceiving a message, skimming and scanning information, and understanding the context. Thus, compelling reading depends on readers’ behaviors, known as study skills that enable them to conceptualize the new knowledge effectively ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ; Habibu and Ejembi, 2011 ; Gormley et al., 2018 ; Naqvi et al., 2018 ; Iheakanwa et al., 2021 ). While the effective study makes one narrate in their way using the stipulated meanings of the words and terms, the researchers take up for explanation and clarity ( Biyik et al., 2017 ).

According to the available literature, students’ reading habits and study skills have been of great importance for decades; while several deficiencies were found in previous studies, thus researchers considered few of them that are related to the study context. First, the researchers mainly focused on the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement separately in Western countries ( Bhan and Gupta, 2010 ; Sabbah, 2016 ). A few addressed Eastern countries restricted to the university level ( Demir et al., 2012 ; Davarci, 2013 ; Dilshad et al., 2013 ; Erguvan, 2016 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Porkaew and Fongpaiboon, 2018 ; Thamarasseri, 2018 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2019 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ; Tonka and Bakir, 2020 ; Mirza et al., 2021 ; Nguyen Thi Thu, 2022 ). However, students’ reading habits and study skills may be initiated from the school level enabling the individuals to grow in competence, comfort, and understanding of the audience. At the same time, previous researchers focused on university level students’ reading habits. Second, there are methodological identities that lead to dubious findings not confirming the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement ( Goel, 2014 ; Lawrence, 2014 ; Quadir and Chen, 2015 ; Sherafat and Murthy, 2016 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Silverrajoo and Hassan, 2018 ; Balan et al., 2019 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ). In general, there is a scarcity of research aiming to determine the correlation between students’ reading habits and achievement through the role of study skills at any academic level. Finally, in Pakistan, few studies could explore reading habits as a singular variable of different groups of students ( Bajwa et al., 2011 ; Hussain and Munshi, 2011 ; Rasheed, 2012 ). Numerous researchers only examined the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement ( Bashir and Mattoo, 2012 ; Bibi et al., 2020 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ). Moreover, Fazal et al. (2012) only investigated the association between study skills and achievement. Thus, this research examines the relationship among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English as practiced at the secondary level in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

Lahore is the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. In terms of population, this is the second largest city in Pakistan. It is located in the northeastern part of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Lahore is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Pakistan and is home to various cultures, traditions, and customs. Specifically, it provides researchers with opportunities to contextualize perspectives in light of academic processes and ethics.

2. Literature review

2.1. reading habits.

Rosli et al. (2018) suggested that reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message, while Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) stated that it is a gateway to all other information, which may lead to understanding the world outside the text. Hence, Al-Jarf (2021) and Dadzie (2008) asserted that reading is a multifaceted cognitive process of comprehending words written in a textual form that allows readers to enhance their knowledge for personal growth and academic success. Moreover, Ogeyik and Akyay (2009) ; Erguvan (2016) , Mirza et al. (2021) stated that reading is just a method of communication between the writer and the reader. Thus, Bhan and Gupta (2010) and Baron (2017) assumed that reading is the art of decoding and interpreting messages from various written materials such as books, magazines, journals, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pamphlets, and diaries. Hassan et al. (2021) stated that reading habits influence reading materials, activities, time duration, place of reading, and reader motivation. In this study, reading habits are considered to be the students’ reading preferences, interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and reading problems during study at the secondary level.

2.2. Study skills

Study skills are the readers’ inclination toward organizing, highlighting, reviewing, reciting, and using devices, flashcards, etc. to comprehend new knowledge effectively ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ; DiPerna, 2006 ; Rozalski, 2008 ; Madhavi et al., 2014 ; Sabbah, 2016 ). While reading habit is the frequency, a reader regularly reads ( Winne, 2013 ). Moreover, study skills are the students’ intellectual practices to process new information effectively and efficiently, while reading habits are considered a psychological trait of one’s personality ( Farrington et al., 2012 ; Pillai, 2012 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Shahidi et al., 2014 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Rosli et al., 2018 ). Thus, the concept of study skills is different from reading habits. This research defines study skills as secondary school students’ approaches to comprehending new knowledge.

2.3. Reading habits and academic achievement

Horbec (2012) and Singh (2011) determined a significant positive relationship between students’ reading habits and academic achievement. Hence, Issa et al. (2012) explored that students’ reading patterns vary and have a moderately significant influence on academic success, while Bashir and Mattoo (2012) examined that academic performance is dependent on the level of students’ study habits; thus, reading habits influence on future success, which was confirmed by Owusu-Acheaw and Larson (2014) through quantitative measures. Chotitham and Wongwanich (2014) found a moderate positive relationship between students’ study habits and achievement. However, Lawrence (2014) rejected the association between students’ academic achievement and study habits, and Goel (2014) confirmed that study habits do not influence academic performance. Therefore, Schwabe et al. (2015) , Quadir and Chen (2015) concluded through a quantitative correlational study that heavy reading habits significantly impact reading efficiency; the longer the reading time, the better the results. Malik and Parveen (2016) discovered significant differences in low- and high-academic achievers’ attitudes toward study habits. They determined that high achievers are more concentrated and exhibited better study habits, good time management skills, and punctuality compared to low achievers. In the meantime, Sherafat and Murthy (2016) directed that study habits facilitate learners toward higher achievement because of their significant connections with academic achievement. Consequently, Silverrajoo and Hassan (2018) revealed divergent findings that students’ reading methods have a negative and weak relationship with academic achievement.

Ameyaw and Anto (2018) recognized the importance of reading styles in students’ learning and found that reading styles affect students’ performance. Meanwhile, Alzahrani et al. (2018) verified that students’ reading styles significantly impact their performance. Dolmaz and Kaya (2019) discovered that students’ creative writing skills are affected by their reading styles. Moreover, Balan et al. (2019) determined that students’ purpose of reading significantly affected their performance, as Annamalai and Muniandy (2013) suggested that academic performance is based on students’ reading purpose. Hence, Whitten et al. (2016) and Fatiloro et al. (2017) discovered that reading habits significantly assist students in learning and enhancing their performance. Bibi et al. (2020) examined that students’ study habits were significantly positively associated with achievement. Ehsan and Sultana (2020) predicted that reading habits significantly increase students’ performance. Moreover, Hassan et al. (2021) found a significant correlation between secondary school students’ reading habits and their reading achievement and concluded that reading habits significantly contribute to academic achievement. Thus, Nguyen Thi Thu (2022) revealed that reading habits have a significant role in the development of students writing performance.

On the other hand, by designing a correlational study, Tonka and Bakir (2020) found a negative relationship between reading anxiety and reading habits. Thus, they concluded that reading anxiety plays a role in students’ performance and reading habits. Similarly, Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) found a significant negative association between study habits and academic stress, reading habits, and academic achievement. The researchers measured all the variables through a questionnaire consisting of four scales and 43 items.

2.4. Study skills and academic achievement

Nouhi et al. (2009) determined that study skills have a significant positive association with academic success measured through a closed-ended questionnaire confirmed by Awang and Sinnadurai (2011) through an experimental study. Meanwhile, Hassanbeigi et al. (2011) and Sabbah (2016) verified that study skills are critical for academic success because they positively correlate with academic achievement found through a descriptive correlational survey using a study skills scale. Hence, Fazal et al. (2012) suggested that higher academic achievers use a wide range of study skills than low achievers, while there was a weak correlation between study skills and academic success. Furthermore, Demir et al. (2012) revealed through an experimental study that students’ study skills had a considerable influence on performance which was also confirmed by Wernersbach et al. (2014) from an experimental study. In both of the studies, researchers measured study skills through closed-ended items. Moreover, they also discovered that study skills significantly impact students’ academic self-efficacy. Nonetheless, Tahamtani et al. (2017) and Naqvi et al. (2018) revealed a weak negative link between achievement and study habits through quantitative measures that were rejected by Gormley et al. (2018) , who found a significant positive impact of study skills on achievement.

Several gaps were found in already conducted studies; first, the researchers mainly focused on the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement separately in Western countries, while few addressed this phenomenon in Eastern countries. However, the investigation was restricted to university level students. Second, methodological identities lead to dubious findings not confirming this phenomenon. Finally, in Pakistan, few studies could explore reading habits as a singular variable of different groups of students. At the same time, some researchers only examined the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement. Thus, this study aimed to develop our understanding of the relationship between students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

2.5. Summary

Reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message for personal growth and success. Thus, psychologists consider it a multifaceted cognitive process of constructing meaning from texts. Bhan and Gupta (2010) stated that reading is the art of decoding and interpreting messages from the content of the written material that is often carried out in magazines, journals, newspapers, books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pamphlets, diaries, and so on. While reading habits are the degree to which a reader engages in reading while studying skills to gain knowledge. Reading habits assist students in learning more, whereas study skills encourage them to understand new information effectively. Both reading habits and study skills influence students’ academic performance.

Based on literature insights, the following hypotheses are formulated:

Hypothesis (H 1 ): A significant relationship exists between students’ reading habits and their academic achievement in English language comprehension .

Hypothesis (H 2 ): A significant relationship exists between stqudents’ study skills and their academic achievement in English language comprehension.

3.1. Design

A research design is comprised of numerous elements (i.e., research paradigm, research approach, research design, and data collection method that provide guidelines for carrying out the study ( Creswell and Clark, 2017 ; Myers, 2019 ), while a correlational research design is used to determine the relationship between two or more than two variables ( Cohen et al., 2018 ). Thus, a correlational research design of a quantitative approach (positivism paradigm) was used. At the same time, a cross-sectional survey method was applied to collect data about studied variables (i.e., reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English).

3.2. Sample

The sample comprised 10th-grade students enrolled in district Lahore’s public sector high schools for the academic year 2019–2020. The inclusion criteria were those students who enrolled in the science section only. During the data collection, the total number of active students in both sections (i.e., science and arts) of 10th grade was 36,847 enrolled at 334 high schools in district Lahore ( Government of Punjab [GOP], 2019 ). While in the science section, the active students were 17,028, considered an accessible population of this study. A total of 1,800 (900 boys and 900 girls) were selected from 40 high schools through a non-proportionate random sampling technique that was 10.57% of the accessible population, which shows the sample was normally distributed. Out of 1,800 selected students, 1,619 participated as respondents because 181 students had not passed the subject English in the ninth-grade annual examination conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore. Three students declined to participate in this survey, while two could not complete the questionnaires. Therefore, the final sample consisted of n = 1,614 secondary school students.

3.3. Instruments

Two instruments were used, i.e., the Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ) and Study Skills Scale (SSS), to collect data about students’ reading habits and study skills.

Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ): The researchers developed a paper and pencil student self-report RHQ based on Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the social-cognitive theory of self-regulated learning strategies ( Pintrich et al., 1993 ; Duncan and McKeachie, 2005 ; Duncan et al., 2007 ). Ajzen’s (1991) TPB suggests that socio-psychological characteristics of a person’s behavior, such as reading, influence reader proximal behaviors ( Stokmans, 1999 ; Miesen, 2003 ; Van Schooten et al., 2004 ), while the social-cognitive theory of self-regulating learning strategies suggested that students’ reading habits are meta-cognitively and behaviorally active in a student’s learning process to achieve goals ( Eccles and Wigfield, 2002 ). The classical test theory model was utilized to develop RHQ, which initially consisted of 44 closed-ended items. Each item was constructed on a 5-point Likert-type agreement scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), which means developing level reading habits to advance level reading habits. However, content validity was ensured by five education and assessment experts to validate the content coverage, language appropriateness, and usability of RHQ at the secondary level. Moreover, a pilot study was conducted on 250 students selected purposively from the target population to confirm unidimensionality among items and scales through exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23 software. Four subscales of RHQ (i.e., preferences for reading, interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and reading problems) were constructed during EFA. In contrast, nine items (two to three from each subscale) were deleted because their factor loading values (λ) were less than 0.5. In an analysis of items, reliability was also determined through Cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.821) value which was statistically acceptable. Psychometric evidence shows that RHQ was reliable for determining students’ reading habits. Improved RHQ consisted of 35 items based on four subscales, i.e., preferences of reading (10 items), interest in reading (nine items), attitude toward reading (nine items), and reading problems (seven items).

Study Skills Scale (SSS): The researchers adopted the SSS from Academic Competence and Evaluation Scale, developed by DiPerna and Elliott in 2000. The validity, as well as reliability of SSS, was confirmed by numerous researchers ( Kettler et al., 2014 ; Strunk, 2014 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ) and concluded that SSS is a standardized scale to measure study skills. The SSS consisted of 11 items that were also constructed on a 5-point Likert-type frequency scale, ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (almost always) which means developing level to advance level skills ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ). The SSS was also administered to 250 students to ensure reliability through Cronbach’s alpha tests and found a value of α = 0.874 that was suitable to measure study skills in the local context (Pakistan).

Academic Achievement: Students’ marks obtained in ninth grade in the subject of English were asked them that determined by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore in 2019. Their obtained scores in the subject of English were considered an academic achievement of students.

3.4. Data collection and analysis

After getting consent from the district education administration officer, the researchers personally gained permission from the selected schools’ principals and class teachers for data collection. All the selected students were informed in their classes about the study purpose and given the right to withdraw from the study at any time before data analyses. RHQ and SSS administration occurred over 8 weeks during mid of the September to mid of November 2019 academic year. Before administering the instruments, participants were informed about the confidentiality procedures. Moreover, the researchers encouraged them to respond honestly and told them to write about their obtained marks in ninth grade in English. After collecting the questionnaires, the researchers quickly scanned the participants’ responses about missing answers, and the students were asked to complete the responses in the questionnaire. A total of 1,614 participants provided valuable responses about their reading habits and study skills. The response rate was 89.6%, acceptable in social sciences research for quantitative data. Students’ responses about reading habits and study skills were analyzed by applying descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) and inferential statistics (i.e., Pearson r test and regression test) through SPSS version 25 software.

4.1. Descriptive statistics on students’ reading habits and study skills

The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to check the normality of data. At the same time, the skewness and kurtosis values indicated that data were normally distributed because skewness and kurtosis were between –2 and + 2, which was suitable for parametric statistics ( George, 2011 ; Albers, 2017 ; Mishra et al., 2019 ). Table 1 indicates that students give more preferences to reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading problems as M = 4.13, SD = 0.486; M = 3.91, SD = 0.616; M = 3.68, SD = 0.676; and M = 3.57, SD = 0.813, respectively. Students also thought they were facing reading problems because English was not their native language as M = 3.68; SD = 0.813. Overall, results revealed that students have permissive and desired reading habits and study skills as M = 3.88, SD = 0.455 and M = 3.85, SD = 0.602.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of reading habits and study skills.

4.2. Inferential statistics on students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English

The Pearson product–moment correlation analysis was applied to test null hypotheses, i.e., whether there are significant relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

4.3. Hypotheses testing

Refer to Table 2 for the intercorrelation of variables among reading habits subscales, overall reading habits, and study skills; there were moderate-to-high positive correlations among variables. For reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, students’ reading habits were significantly and positively correlated as r = 0.314–0.721. A value of r = (±) 0.3–0.7 exhibits a moderate-to-high correlation between variables ( Akoglu, 2018 ; Schober et al., 2018 ). Results also reveal higher positive correlations between reading habits and study skills while moderate positive correlations between reading habits and academic achievement in English as r = 0.848 and 0.584, respectively. Moreover, there was a higher positive correlation between study skills and academic achievement in English as r = 0.721. Thus, it is revealed that students’ reading habits and study skills are positively associated with academic achievement in English.

Table 2. Intercorrelations matrix and relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

Since the hypotheses “there is a significant relationship between students’ reading habits and academic achievement in English, and there is a significant relationship between students’ study skills and academic achievement in English” were accepted because moderate-to-strong positive relationships were found among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

A regression analysis was conducted to explore whether students’ reading habits and study skills predict academic achievement in English. Students’ reading habits and study skills served as independent variables, while students’ academic achievement in English served as dependent variables. The regression analysis results were significant. The unique individual predictor for students’ academic achievement in English interested in reading and attitude toward reading. These two sub-factors of reading habits significantly predicted 42 and 43% of the variance, respectively.

In contrast, the numeric regression does not considerably reveal the remaining two sub-factors (preferences of reading and reading problems). However, students’ reading habits accounted for 44% of the variance, and study skills accounted for 48% of the variance. Refer to Table 3 for unstandardized betas, standard errors, standardized betas, and adjusted R 2 . The independent variables in these analyses are moderately correlated and predict academic achievement because the variance inflation factor (VIF) estimation was below 5.0 in regression.

Table 3. Summary of regression analyses, with 95% confidence intervals, of students’ reading habits and study skills predicting academic achievement in English.

5. Discussion

Reading habit is a crucial aspect of creating a literate society because it helps to shape personality, develop creative and critical thinking abilities, and enhance knowledge ( Palani, 2012 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Fischer et al., 2015 ; Bano et al., 2018 ; Rosli et al., 2018 ; Al-Jarf, 2019 ; Wu et al., 2019 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ). At the same time, study skills are the readers’ strategies to process new information effectively ( Kuterbach, 2012 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ; Abid et al., 2021 ). Both reading habits and study skills are interdependent and influence students’ academic performance as well as future success ( Demir et al., 2012 ; Wernersbach et al., 2014 ; Tahamtani et al., 2017 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Gormley et al., 2018 ; Balan et al., 2019 ; Dolmaz and Kaya, 2019 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ). Therefore, this study is designed to examine relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement at the secondary level in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore is one of the cosmopolitan cities of Pakistan and a hub of many cultures, traditions, and customs. Regarding the academic processes and ethics, it provides opportunities for researchers to contextualize the perspectives accordingly. Reading habits have been and are still being taught in schools, colleges, and universities through model reading by teachers, parents, or elders of the families. In addition, the reading and recitation of fold tales and poems get to gathers like at Pak Tea House, Lawrence Garden, Quaid-e-Azam Library, and so on, while formal schools books, extra reading exercises, and reading and writing competitions at the school level are prepared through a variety of book reading within the context of the particular objective. The results of normality tests indicated that the data were normality distributed and suitable to apply parametric statistics. The descriptive findings also showed that students have more preferences for reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading challenges. These results support the finding of numerous researchers (e.g., Pehlivan et al., 2010 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014 ; Haliru et al., 2015 ; Erguvan, 2016 ; Krashen, 2016 ; Kulatunga, 2016 ; Loan and Shah, 2017 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Porkaew and Fongpaiboon, 2018 ; Mirza et al., 2021 ) who found that students give more preference to read academic content from textbooks and other reading materials (i.e., newspaper, storybooks, poetry, novel, magazines, cartoons, comics, sports, etc.). Rasheed (2012) determined that reading habits play a substantial essential role in developing positive attitudes toward reading. However, Maiyo and Siahi (2015) revealed that higher achievers had better reading habits than low achievers. Students prefer reading online because they can easily read content from the internet material in this technological age, so they prefer reading online ( Dollah et al., 2017 ). Thus, Molotja and Themane (2018) found that students’ reading habits may enhance through global reading strategies and problem-solving strategies. Moreover, it is found that students have competence in reading habits and study skills. These results are also in line with the findings of previous studies, e.g., Dadzie (2008) , Ogeyik and Akyay (2009) , Bhan and Gupta (2010) , and Issa et al. (2012) , and Sabbah (2016) revealed that the majority of the students read books to pass the exams that why they have good reading habits. Furthermore, it is determined that students also possess the competence level of study skills that confirmed the study conducted by numerous researchers (i.e., DiPerna, 2004 , 2006 ; Rozalski, 2008 ; Kuterbach, 2012 ; DuPaul and Stoner, 2014 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ; Abid et al., 2021 ).

Furthermore, researchers also concluded from correlational results that there were moderate-to-significant positive correlations among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English. In the literature review, it is seen that these findings are consistent with the results of Singh (2011) , Horbec (2012) , Issa et al. (2012) , Sabbah (2016) , Ameyaw and Anto (2018) , Hassan et al. (2021) . They found a positive relationship between reading habits and academic achievement, while reading habits influence students’ academic performance. Moreover, some researchers determined a moderate relationship between reading habits and academic success (e.g., Chotitham and Wongwanich, 2014 ; Kutay, 2014 ; Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Adigun et al., 2021 ; Nguyen Thi Thu, 2022 ). Sherafat and Murthy (2016) directed that study habits facilitate learners toward higher achievement because of their significant connections with academic achievement, that confirmed by Bibi et al. (2020) . In contrast, few researchers found different results due to participants’ different selection procedures and contextual differences (i.e., purposive sample method, content, reading material, culture, etc.). For example, Lawrence (2014) ; Goel (2014) , Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) revealed no significant correlation between students’ academic achievement and study habits. At the same time, Silverrajoo and Hassan (2018) found that students’ reading styles have a negative, weak relationship with academic achievement. Findings regarding study skills: e.g., Nouhi et al. (2009) , Awang and Sinnadurai (2011) , Hassanbeigi et al. (2011) , Maiyo and Siahi (2015) , Gormley et al. (2018) revealed a significant positive connection between study skills and academic success, whereas Demir et al. (2012) and Wernersbach et al. (2014) found study skills have a considerable influence on performance that support the present study findings. However, few researchers found a negative correlation between study skills and academic performance ( Fazal et al., 2012 ; Tahamtani et al., 2017 ; Naqvi et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, researchers determined in this study students’ reading habits have positive correlations with study skills. Thus, reading habits and study skills directly correlate with their academic achievement in English. In addition, it is also revealed that reading habits and study skills moderately predict students’ academic achievement. Annamalai and Muniandy (2013) suggested that academic performance is based on students’ reading habits. Whitten et al. (2016) and Fatiloro et al. (2017) revealed that reading habits significantly help students learn more to enhance their academic performance. Ehsan and Sultana (2020) predicted that reading habits significantly improve students’ academic performance.

6. Conclusion

Reading habits and study skills differ in conceptual understanding. Reading habits are the degree to which readers regularly read, whereas study skills are the ability to comprehend new information effectively. Both reading and study habits influence students’ academic performance. It is concluded that the collected data were normally distributed. The descriptive findings about reading habit sub-constructs indicated that students give more preferences to reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading problems. Simultaneously, they have competent reading habits and study skills. Furthermore, it is found that there are moderate-to-strong positive correlations among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English. Thus, it is concluded that reading habits and study skills directly correlate with academic achievement in English. In addition, it is also revealed that reading habits and study skills moderately predict students’ academic achievement.

7. Implications for practice

It is determined that students prefer reading to their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and challenges and have competent reading habits and study skills. Thus, it is suggested that teachers plan such assignments and tasks based on reflective thinking ( Aslam et al., 2021 ), so students have to visit the school library to read more academic material to accomplish assigned tasks through extensive reading. Students’ reading habits and study skills have a moderate-to-strong connection with their academic achievement in English. So school administrations design a timetable by consulting with teachers, allowing students to spend at least an hour in the library regularly. In contrast, the library should have up-to-date reading material, exciting storybooks, and stock which attract students. In addition, parents can also engage their children in constant reading at home by providing related textbook materials and allowing them to watch educational television programs to gain the essence of reading habits and study skills.

8. Limitations and implications for future research

There are several limitations to this study. First, this study was conducted on secondary school students by selecting a sample from the Lahore district of Punjab, Pakistan. Therefore, future studies may include participants from other districts of Punjab and other provinces of Pakistan to increase the generalizability of results. Second, longitudinal studies are needed to explore the change in students reading habits and study skills over time. To enhance reading habits and study skills, interventional studies may build lifelong reading habits and study skills among learners to make a scholarly society. Last but not least, future researchers may explore parent’s role in developing their children’s reading habits and study skills by selecting participants from diverse populations. Cultural factors would affect students’ reading habits; thus, Pakistan’s unique culture should be considered a potential theoretical explanation in future.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants or their legal guardian/next of kin.

Author contributions

NA presented the main idea and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. SA contributed to conducting the methodology. SA, AA, and TK were involved with the revisions and proofreading. All authors contributed to the article revisions and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this study by Grant Code: 22UQU4280253DSR01.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : reading, reading habits, study skills, academic achievement, secondary school students

Citation: Abid N, Aslam S, Alghamdi AA and Kumar T (2023) Relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English at the secondary level. Front. Psychol. 14:1020269. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1020269

Received: 16 August 2022; Accepted: 09 January 2023; Published: 27 January 2023.

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Copyright © 2023 Abid, Aslam, Alghamdi and Kumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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A study by researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) provides new evidence about the pandemic’s impact on learning among students in the earliest grades, showing distinct changes in the growth of basic reading skills during different time periods over the past year.

Ben Domingue (Image credit: Courtesy Graduate School of Education)

Results from a reading assessment given to first- through fourth-graders nationwide show that the students’ development of oral reading fluency – the ability to quickly and accurately read aloud – largely stopped in spring 2020 after the abrupt school closures brought on by COVID-19. Gains in these skills were stronger in fall 2020, but not enough to recoup the loss students experienced in the spring.

“It seems that these students, in general, didn’t develop any reading skills during the spring – growth stalled when schooling was interrupted and remained stagnant through the summer,” said Ben Domingue , an assistant professor at Stanford GSE and first author on the study , which was released by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a nonpartisan research network housed at Stanford.

“It picked up in the fall, which is a testament to the work that educators did in preparing for the new school year and their creativity in coming up with ways to teach,” Domingue said. “But that growth was not robust enough to make up for the gaps from the spring.”

Second- and third-graders were most affected, the study found. Overall, students’ reading fluency in second and third grade is now approximately 30 percent behind what would be expected in a typical year.

Reading fluency is fundamental for academic development more broadly, the researchers said, because problems with this skill can interfere with students’ ability to learn other subjects as they make their way through later grades.

“Reading is kind of a gateway to the development of academic skills across all disciplines,” said Domingue. “It’s a key that opens all of the doors. If a kid can’t read effectively by third grade or so, they’re unlikely to be able to access content in their other courses.”

Measuring periodically, not annually

The new study differs from previous research on COVID-19 learning loss in that students’ skills were measured periodically throughout the year, making it possible to assess growth at different stages of the pandemic.

“Most studies on learning loss so far have looked at fall-to-fall changes to show how students have been affected by COVID,” said Domingue. “But just measuring the cumulative effect doesn’t help us understand what was going on between those two time points. There were a lot of changes in what school looked like during different periods between those two points, and it seemed likely there would be some differences in the patterns of learning.”

The study’s focus on students in early elementary grades also distinguishes it from others on learning growth and loss, which typically look at the impact on students in grades 3 through 8 – the ages most often included in annual standardized exams and other routine assessments.

A fundamental skill

The findings were based on data generated by an oral assessment measuring reading fluency in more than 100 school districts nationwide. The reading assessment used in the study takes only a few minutes, and though normally administered in a classroom, it was also conducted remotely during the pandemic. Students were recorded while reading aloud from a device, and their score was based on a combination of human transcription and speech recognition.

The researchers examined trends in the students’ long-run growth back to 2018, observing fairly steady growth until the onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. The trajectory flattened at that point and remained flat throughout the summer, indicating that children’s reading abilities had stopped. “It was flat in an absolute sense, not just relative to years past,” said Domingue.

Growth resumed in the fall at levels similar to what the researchers saw before the pandemic. But those gains weren’t enough to make up for the ground lost earlier in the year.

The researchers also observed inequitable impact: Students in historically lower-achieving districts (based on data from the Stanford Education Data Archive ) developed reading skills at a slower rate than those in higher-achieving ones. Schools that typically score low on annual standardized tests often serve a greater share of low-income and minority students – populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic in ways that impinge on their readiness to learn, including lack of access to computers, reliable internet access or a parent at home.

“It’s quite likely that lower-achieving schools are dealing with a whole battery of problems that educators in more affluent districts aren’t facing,” said Domingue. “But there was still growth. The teachers were probably moving heaven and earth to help their kids learn to read, and it’s reflected in the gains. But it’s important to recognize the differential impact on students.”

The researchers also found that about 10 percent of students who were tested before the pandemic were not observed in fall 2020. It’s not clear why they were missing, but the researchers suggest that if these students had trouble accessing the assessment remotely, they may be less engaged with school overall and could be falling even further behind than students who were tested.

The researchers caution that, while their analysis provides important evidence on learning loss in the early grades, it doesn’t include information about whether students attended school in person, remotely or in some hybrid form.

They also note that their findings should not be applied to other academic subjects, largely because of the focus on reading in the early grades and the likelihood that it was a centerpiece of many schools’ instruction for the fall of 2020.

While the full extent of COVID-19’s impact on learning won’t be clear for months or even years, this study provides evidence that – after the initial shock of the pandemic –educators found ways to teach and assess young students’ reading skills. And even in the midst of continued uncertainty and disruption, these students were able to achieve gains in the fall similar to pre-pandemic times.

“We can build on this research by identifying practices that accelerate learning for students who’ve fallen behind, and by making sure schools have the resources they need,” said Heather Hough, executive director of PACE and coauthor of the study. “These findings are worrisome, but they do not need to be catastrophic.”

Other co-authors on the study include Jason Yeatman , an assistant professor at Stanford GSE and the School of Medicine and David Lang, a GSE doctoral student.

Media Contacts

Carrie Spector, Stanford Graduate School of Education: (650) 724-7384; [email protected]

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Front Psychol

Study on factors influencing college students’ digital academic reading behavior

Liyan chang.

1 School of Information Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

2 School of Management, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China

Xinyao Zhang

Associated data.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Affected by the COVID-19, many colleges have adopted online teaching. Meanwhile, the digital transformation of academic journals has shifted readers’ reading habits from traditional paper media to digital media. Digital academic reading has become the main reading method of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the behavioral characteristics of college students’ digital academic reading and explore the internal factors and external environmental factors affecting the Intention and Use behavior of digital academic reading. At the same time this study provide recommendations to address these influencing factors in terms of the individual, the environment and library resources.

Based on UTAUT2 model and digital academic reading theories, this paper constructs a digital academic reading information behavior (DARB) model of college students to examine college students’ digital academic reading behavior and intention. College students with digital academic reading behavior were recruited as research participants. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect representative samples from universities in Nanjing. 239 respondents participated in the questionnaire, with 189 providing valid data. Results: Effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), price value (PV), perceived risk (PR) and habit (BH) have a significant impact on behavioral intention (BI), and behavioral intention (BI) and habit (BH) have a significant impact on use behavior (B). However, performance expectancy (PE) and facilitating conditions (FC) have no significant influence on behavioral intention (BI).

Originality/value

The findings of this study will help fill the gap in previous research on the relationship between the influencing factors of digital academic reading and college students’ reading intentions and behaviors, so as to provide a basis for improving the academic reading literacy program in colleges and optimizing the current digital academic reading environment.

1. Introduction

Academic reading is the manifestation of academic literacy and an important behavior to obtain academic resources and promote academic communication. In the process of university construction toward a higher level, improving the comprehensive quality of college students and cultivating their academic literacy are the basis for building high-quality universities and cultivate first-class talents. The arrival of the COVID-19 in 2019 and the implementation of epidemic prevention measures (such as home quarantine and the suspension of all educational institutions) have brought about unexpected changes in academic reading habits of college students. Many colleges have adopted online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, and college students have got accustomed to online learning ( Maria and arios, 2022 ). Meanwhile, the advent of Internet plus era and the digital transformation of academic journals have changed the behavioral characteristics of college students’ reading ( Sun et al., 2021 ). Digital academic resources have become an important source of academic reading for college students ( Peng, 2017 ), and social networks have also become an important academic information sharing channel for them ( Yang, 2019 ), digital academic reading has become the main reading method of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. While university students are gaining a new digital reading experience, many problems have been revealed, such as the fragmentation and simplification of the use of digital reading, “addiction” and the prevalence of “information loss” ( Gong et al., 2020 ). College students are the main group of digital academic reading and it is of significance to pay attention to the influencing factors of their digital academic reading behavior. Therefore, based on the UTAUT2 model, UTAUT model and TAM model, this paper expands, modifies and adds some factors specific to the academic reading environment, such as perceived risk, and constructs the digital academic reading information behavior (DACB) model of college students. The study analyzes the key factors affecting digital academic reading behavior through structural equation model, to provide a basis for schools to develop digital academic reading intervention strategies (e.g., increasing the price value of academic reading), to develop students’ academic reading literacy and to optimize the current digital academic reading environment.

2. Literature review

2.1. definition of digital academic reading.

“Academic reading” has been around for years and has been adopted by a variety of researchers. Ananda and Zhang (1987) put forward the concept of academic reading and first believed that it was a curriculum and an information behavior carried out by people in scientific research. Compared with traditional reading, digital reading is a new concept, which is similar to the concepts of electronic reading, online reading, virtual reading, ubiquitous reading and so on. Academic reading is a purposeful and critical reading, unlike idle reading completely based on personal preferences. Since then, some researchers have proposed different concepts of digital reading and academic reading, respectively. This paper integrates these two concepts to define digital academic reading.

According to the definition of the two concepts in existing studies, digital academic reading refers to a reading activity in which readers obtain information from professional books, academic papers, international conference papers and other academic documents and information content on academic forums with the help of digital carriers such as mobile phones, tablets, computers and other electronic products Table 1 .

Conceptual overview of digital reading and academic reading.

2.2. Development of digital academic reading

Academic Reading is a process of extracting and constructing meaning through interaction with written language ( Kirby, 2003 ). And it helps students to seek specialized knowledge, access academic information, conduct academic exchanges, and finish their studies. Both college students and teachers believe that academic reading is very important ( Howard et al., 2018 ; Gorzycki et al., 2020 ). However, nearly 60 percent of freshmen find that they are not academically prepared for higher education. Some countries and institutions have established a variety of assessment projects to determine students’ academic reading ability, such as NAAL (National Assessment of Adult Literacy), SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), ACT (American College Testing Programs) and so on. In multiple tests, approximately half of the students met the reading benchmark required by the college. Therefore, many researchers have conducted in-depth research on college students’ academic reading ability, attitudes, strategies, problems and challenges, behavioral regularities and influencing factors, and intervening measures to improve their reading skills.

With the development of the Internet, new media reading emerged around 2011 and digital reading has become way of learning and living for contemporary college students. Some scholars have long studied the difference between paper and screen reading ( Dillon, 2007 ), and examined the media preference of undergraduate academic reading ( Mizrachi, 2015 ). Xu and Li (2020) also studied the changes in students’ reading preferences and found that most of the college students still preferred to access information through paper carriers when reading relevant literature. A great number of studies have shown that digital reading environment presents new challenges and opportunities for learners’ reading ability. Guzmán-Simón et al. (2017) believed that undergraduate academic practice should include digital skills, ICT literacy and information literacy. What’s more, different reading forms and reading skills required for digital academic reading expanded the factors influencing academic reading of original paper to include factors such as the ICT environment and information skills. These results are supported by another study which states that the comprehending digital text requires different and additional skills and strategies ( Reiber-Kuijpers et al., 2020 ).

In 2020, the outbreak of Covid-19 has changed people’s living conditions ( Liu and Huang, 2020 ). Due to objective conditions, many colleges and universities have adopted online teaching, and Chinese college students have gradually developed digital academic reading habits. Global library access and circulation outlook indicates that physical access and circulation are on the decline, while digital access and circulation are on the rise. Although Covid-19 has created certain conditions for college students to engage in digital academic reading, the lack of information literacy and the limitation of digital academic resources have also brought difficulties ( Hevia et al., 2021 ; Salim et al., 2022 ).

To summarize, the previous research mainly focused on the evaluation and teaching method of traditional academic reading ( Cabrera-Pommiez et al., 2021 ; Yapp et al., 2021 ). Currently, the recent research on digital academic reading focuses on the definition of the digital academic reading, reading ability, academic literacies or digital learning platforms ( Nhapulo et al., 2017 ; Diane and Alicia, 2022 ). Few scholars discussed the factors influencing college students’ digital academic reading behavior and willingness. This paper uses the UTAUT2 model to explore the impact of internal and external factors such as reading environment, technological factors, and reading attitudes on college students’ academic reading behavior.

3. Research model construction and hypotheses

3.1. theoretical framework.

The research model for this study was the extended UTAUT2 with the addition of the Technology Acceptance Model (see Figure 1 ; Venkatesh et al., 2012 ). This model is more focused on the description of consumer groups and is able to more fully examine the factors influencing user behavior than the UTAUT model, which focuses on the employees of the company.

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UTAUT2 model.

Many theories and models have been developed in order to better comprehend the factors affecting the adoption-acceptance of new technologies. The UTAUT is one of the most comprehensive models of technology acceptance since it integrats TIF, TRA, TPB, SCT, IDT, MPCU, MM, composite TAM&TPB and other theories of technology acceptance in information technology research. It consists of four factors (Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions) and four moderating variables (Gender, Age, Experience, Voluntariness of use) that directly affect the use intention and behavior ( Venkatesh et al., 2003 ; Kan, 2016 ). In the context of mobile learning, UTAUT was suggested as the best possible mode ( Venkataraman and Ramasamy, 2018 ; Jiang, 2021 ). However, there is a lack of consideration of consumer habits, payment prices and other factors in different consumer centric work environments. Thus, UTAUT2 emerged as an extension of UTAUT, incorporating Hedonic Motivation (HM), Price Value (PV), and Habit (HT). Behavioral Intention (BI) is the mediating variable, while Use Behavior (B) is the dependent variable ( Venkatesh et al., 2012 ). At present, this model has been verified in personal consumption, online learning, e-government, online education, etc., ( El-Masri and Tarhini, 2017 ; Chaiyasoonthorn and Suksa-Ngiam, 2018 ; Eneizan et al., 2019 ; Basewe et al., 2022 ). Digital academic reading includes technical factors (ICT technology), reading attitudes, behavioral factors, and digital environmental factors, which roughly fit the UTAUT2 model. Therefore, this paper combines it with digital academic reading theory, replacing appropriate variables and increasing the explanatory power of the model.

3.2. Model construction

Proposing a theoretical framework to study the mechanism influencing college students’ digital academic reading behavior is a tough undertaking to ensure that the model is comprehensive and concise, and excluding variables of little value from the research. Academic reading requires the use of reading strategies suitable for specific disciplines to read professional academic resources ( McWhorter, 2013 ), which is a purposeful ( Mayer and Alexander, 2011 ), critical and complex reading behavior ( Sengupta, 2002 ). It usually requires readers to deeply understand and synthesize densely scattered texts, and requires them to concentrate on reading. Therefore, the motivation for academic reading is mainly scientific research or academic improvement, rather than hedonic motivation in leisure or general consumption, so this influencing factor should be removed. In the digital environment, readers will encounter network risks in the reading process, such as advertising interference, false information ( Pang, 2019 ), personal distraction ( Zhou, 2019 ), personal information disclosure, etc. Therefore, perceived risk is added to explore the impact of individual cognitive risk on use intention and behavior in digital academic reading. The original message of the UTAUT2 is that gender, age, and experience are normally set to moderate UTAUT2 relationships ( Venkatesh et al., 2012 ). However, several studies conducted via UTAUT and UTAUT2 in various IS/online learning have reported to some extent contradictory findings ( Chauhan and Jaiswal, 2016 ; Alajmi and Alotaibi, 2020 ; Jaradat et al., 2020 ). In addition, many studies in the field of education have excluded these three moderating variables for various reasons In addition, many studies in the field of education have excluded the three moderate variables for various reasons ( Ahmed and Ali, 2020 ; Zacharis and Nikolopoulou, 2022 ). In china, students are or should be able to read proficiently by the time they enter university and there is a small gap between college students’ performance and reading experience. Moreover, the universities attach importance to the development of information literacy, and Chinese universities have basically carried out similar information literacy courses in the first academic year, with students of different ages and genders acquiring the same information skills. Undergraduate students’ academic reading experience mainly comes from course assignments. Therefore, their digital reading experiences are roughly the same. At the same time, this study focuses on digital academic reading behavior rather than reading performance. Therefore, the three regulatory variables of gender, age and experience are not considered. Finally, the digital academic reading information behavior (DARB) model of college students is shown in Figure 2 .

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DARB model of college students.

3.3. Research hypotheses

Performance expectancy refers to the extent to which an individual believes that their performance can be enhanced by the new system or technology ( Venkatesh et al., 2003 ). In the context of DAR (digital academic reading), It is believed that digital academic reading can help readers obtain academic information resources of better quality faster and more efficiently. Studies have shown that performance expectancy (PE) has a significant influence on the behavioral intention (BI). A growing number of scholars found that PE is a significant predictor of BI in the context of mobile learning ( Wang et al., 2009 ; Fagan, 2019 ). PE was also shown to predict BI of primary school teachers’ use of technology use ( Lufungulo, 2015 ), as well as BI of ICT instruction in a forced environment in the Philippines ( Kim and Lee, 2020 ). PE also positively affected the BI of college students using mobile learning technologies in China, in the United States, and in Indonesia ( Chao, 2019 ; Fagan, 2019 ; Sidik and Syafar, 2020 ), as well as mobile internet technology in India and Germany ( Jayanth and Murugan, 2020 ). Digital academic reading falls under the category of online learning. Based on the findings of online learning, this study hypothesizes that performance expectancy (PE) positively affects college students’ behavioral intention (BI) to engage in digital academic reading:

H 1: Performance expectancy (PE) has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (BI).

Effort expectancy is defined as the expected ease of using the technology ( Paula et al., 2021 ). In the context of this study, it refers to the ability of college students to quickly master and easily operate digital academic reading tools. Since then, effort expectancy (EE) has always been important influencing factor of behavioral intention (BI) and use behavior (USE) in the research of education and tourism ( Baptista and Oliveira, 2015 ). Scholars found that EE can influence secondary school teachers’ intentions to use mobile technology, or broader technology in the classroom ( Omar et al., 2019 ; Kim and Lee, 2020 ). But Botero et al. (2019) found no effect of effort expectancy on attitude and behavioral intention in a m-learning study. These inconsistent findings require more empirical studies to better explain the role of effort expectancy in digital academic reading. Therefore, the following hypothesis was formulated:

H 2: Effort expectancy (EE) has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (BI).

Social Influence refers to the perception that significant others believe that the technology should be used ( Paula et al., 2021 ). Social influence played an important role in explaining behavioral intention in m-learning studies ( Botero et al., 2019 ). Social Influence (SI) affected teachers’ Behavioral Intention (BI) to use technology (including mobile technology) in the classroom ( Kim and Lee, 2020 ), as well as college students’ BI to use mobile learning technologies ( Alasmari and Zhang, 2019 ; Jayanth and Murugan, 2020 ). During the COVID-19 Pandemic, students have invested a lot of time in digital reading. Students’ DAR (digital academic reading) intention may be influenced by other important individuals, such as friends, teachers, or family. In the present study, it was hypothesized that:

H 3: Social influence (SI) has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (BI).

Studies have shown that price value (PV) has a significant influence on the behavioral intention (BI). ( Wong et al., 2019 ; Kleopatra et al., 2021 ). In this study, price value (PV) refers to the amount of time, energy and money that college students need to spend on digital academic reading ( Venkatesh et al., 2003 ; Huang, 2019 ). Sensible or low-cost online access (as well as technical devices’ purchase) may influence students’ intention to conduct digital academic reading. Higher PV is expected to be linked to greater willingness to adopt digital academic reading. Therefore, we put forward the following hypothesis:

H 4: Price value (PV) has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (BI).

Perceived risk (PR) refers to online risks encountered in digital academic reading, such as personal privacy security, online advertising or pop-up interference. Many scholars have confirmed its negative effect on people’s behavioral intention (BI) to conduct digital academic reading. For example, Thomas and Baird (1985) believed that the uncertainty of information sources in digital academic reading would affect the quality of information obtained. Deng et al. (2015) also proved that advertisements and pop-ups in the process of digital academic reading affected the quality of information. According to the previous researches, the hypothesis is as follows:

H 5: Perceived risk (PR) has a significant negative effect on behavioral intention (BI).

Facilitating conditions were defined as the technical or organizational support expected while using the technology. Facilitating Conditions (FC) can significantly predict behavioral intention (BI) and positively influence students’ digital reading behavior ( Taiminen and Karjaluoto, 2017 ; Dwivedi et al., 2019 ; Jayanth and Murugan, 2020 ). Kim et al. (2005) believed that digital academic reading can make better use of fragmented time. FC also predicted educators’ and students’ BI to adopt and use mobile internet ( Wong et al., 2019 ). For this study, it was hypothesized that FC affect students’ BI to conduct digital academic reading. Technical (e.g., restricted internet access and limited technology infrastructure) and organizational issues (e.g., lack of support personnel) may possibly inhibit students’ intentions and usage in academic reading. Students’ intention to engage in digital academic reading is stronger when they perceive that the school has adequate support and the right environment for Internet implementation. The related research hypotheses are as follows:

H 6: Facilitating conditions (FC) has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (BI).

H 7: Facilitating conditions (FC) has a significant positive effect on use behavior (B).

Habit (BH) refers to the transformation of college students’ information reading habit from traditional paper academic reading to academic reading under the network environment. The positive relationship between BH and students’ intentions to use technology was confirmed by Omar et al. (2019) . BH had positive effect on teachers’ behavioral intention to use actual technology ( Kim and Lee, 2020 ), and it influenced educators’ and students’ BI to adopt and use mobile internet ( Wong et al., 2019 ). Scholars have also found that students’ academic reading habits have changed due to digital reading in the online environment ( Huang, 2019 ). This study hypothesized that habit has a positive effect on students’ (Behavioral Intention) BI and Use Behavior (B) for digital academic reading. Students’ digital academic reading habits may contribute to their increasing receptive and academic competence. The related hypotheses are as follows:

H 8: Habit (BH) has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (BI).

H 9: Habit (BH) has a significant positive effect on use behavior (B).

Previous researches have proved that there is a positive relationship between behavioral intention and use behavior ( Jayanth and Murugan, 2020 ; Kim and Lee, 2020 ). Most students are willing to use digital academic reading to obtain information if possible ( Venkatesh et al., 2003 ; Nie, 2019 ). This study hypothesized that BI positively affects students’ actual use of digital academic reading. The higher students’ intentions possibly relate to higher usage for academic reading purposes. Therefore, we put forward the hypothesis:

H 10: Behavioral intention (BI) has a significant positive effect on use behavior (B).

4. Methodology

4.1. participants.

In this study, in order to ensure the balance of sampling (age, specialty, etc.), a multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect representative samples from universities in Nanjing. Initially, two schools were randomly selected from five university towns divided by Nanjing Municipal Education Bureau. Then, up to 10 colleges (five science colleges and five humanities colleges) were randomly selected from each college. From each university, one major was randomly selected to participate in the current study.

Two hundred thirty-nine college students participated in this study, of which 189 students’ data is deemed valid after eliminating those with obvious filling errors (e.g., identical answers from beginning to end, or too many missing values in the questionnaire). The classification of college students is as follows: The classification of college students is as follows: (1) 83 undergraduate students in the humanities, (2) 106 undergraduate students in the sciences and the ratio of arts and sciences disciplines is close to 1:1. Most students learn the basic professional knowledge of their major by reading academic articles online.

4.2. Study materials

The questionnaire in this study is a closed questionnaire, modified from the pre-survey questionnaire reliability and validity. The questionnaire is divided into two parts. The first part collects the basic information of students: gender, age, grade, habits and overall situation of digital academic reading. After the completion of the scale design, a pre-survey was conducted among 30 college students who often conduct digital academic reading, and the official questionnaire was formed by discussing, modifying and adjusting problem areas. And it was adopted to measure the respondents’ behavioral intention of digital academic reading and its influencing factors ( Xie, 2012 ; Li et al., 2014 ). The questionnaire uses a Likert 5-point scale with values ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” ( Supplementary Appendix 1 ).

4.3. Data collection

In addition, demographic data were collected by grade and discipline. The data was collected through a third-party online survey software “questionnaire star”, 1 which was not connected to any of the college systems that collected the research sample. In order to protect the confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents, the questionnaire data did not collect the names, email addresses or phone numbers of the respondents. In addition, demographic data are collected by grade and subject.

Prior to data collection, the School of Management of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications issued an official license for the project, so as to issue large-scale online questionnaires. Before filling in the questionnaire, participants were informed of the survey intention and explained the meaning and content of digital academic reading to ensure the respondents’ understanding of the questionnaire and the authenticity of data reflecting users’ digital academic reading behavior. The appraisers of the project should collect the questionnaire from April 24 to May 1, 2022 and complete the screening checks in time. It should also be mentioned that students were told that if they did not want to fill out the questionnaire, they could ask to exclude themselves. Finally, the students were given the contact details of the researcher in case they wanted more clarification.

5.1. Demographic information

A survey of the digital academic reading tools, frequency, duration, location and content used by college students provides insight into the academic reading habits of college students in a digital environment.

In terms of reading carriers, the most used carriers are computers, followed by mobile phones, and the least are e-book readers. One hundred nine of them use two or more reading carriers, accounting for about 57.7% of the total. In terms of reading frequency, the number of students who read “frequently” is the lowest, only 21(11.1%), and 50% of them were seniors and postgraduates. The number of students with “occasional” frequency is the largest, totaling 100(52.9%), and “hardly” frequency accounts for 20.1%. In terms of the length of single reading, the majority of the respondents read for less than 1 hour, accounting for 79.9% of all the respondents, while 5.3% of them read more than 2 hours. In terms of reading places, the largest number of students choose dormitories and libraries for academic reading, accounting for 85.7%, and only two students choose cafes. In terms of reading channels, university students use search engines such as Baidu and Google the most (27.2%), followed by library databases (24.6%), professional websites (21.2%), academic platforms (13.9%), and social networks the least (13.1%). The highest percentage of new undergraduate students used search engines (30.4%) In terms of reading content, students read mainly Chinese literature (89.9%), with only a small proportion of foreign literature.

5.2. Reliability and validity analysis

The reliability of the scale is determined by the internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s α), average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR). As shown in Table 2 , Cronbach’s α of Performance Expectancy, Social Influence, Price Value, Perceived Risk, Facilitating Conditions, Habit, Behavioral Intention, Use Behavior are greater than 0.7, the AVE of the factor load value of each measurement item is greater than 0.5, and the CR of each combination reliability is greater than 0.7, indicating that each measurement item of the questionnaire has very good reliability. Validity testing includes content validity and structural validity. The design of this study’s scale was refined and modified through literature research, expert interviews and pre-survey of items. The process is rigorous and has good content validity. The KMO is 0.934, greater than 0.8, the Bartlett’s sphericity value is 344.692 (DF = 196), and the statistical significance (P) is less than 0.001, indicating that the research data has high correlation and is suitable for factor analysis. In confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the factor load value of each item is greater than 0.6, indicating that the validity of the measurement model is good.

Reliability and validity analysis results of questionnaire.

5.3. Structural model

Observation variables are continuous and follow normal distribution, and potential variables have significant correlation, so SEM method can be used for model fitting ( Supplementary Appendix 2 ). Amos26.0 is used to study the overall fitting evaluation and hypothesis test of the model. It can be seen from Table 3 that the model fitness meets the standard, indicating that the data collected and the model constructed match well, the proposed path assumption relationship is consistent with the actual situation, and the model coefficient results are accurate and effective.

Model fitness parameters.

The degree of interpretation of the whole model and the significance of relevant assumptions are evaluated by path coefficient, C.R. value and p value, as shown in Table 4 . The absolute value of the critical ratio C.R. of 7 paths is greater than 1.96, and the significance probability value p is less than 0.05; these hypotheses are accepted. The absolute value of the critical ratio C.R. of 3 paths is less than 1.96, and the significance probability value p is greater than 0.05; these hypotheses are rejected. The verification results in Table 4 show that some hypotheses proposed in this paper have passed the test.

Analysis of model results.

***corresponds to 0.1% significant level, p < 0.001.

In terms of model modification, the index variable whose factor load was less than 0.6 was deleted, and some index variables were adjusted according to the MI value. The index variable corresponding to the error variable with a larger MI value was deleted, and the correlation between the other error variables was added to obtain the new model. After empirical research and modification, the final digital academic reading behavior model (DARB) of college students is shown in Figure 3 .

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Digital academic reading behavior model of college students.

6. Discussion

The data suggests that undergraduates have recognized the importance of academic reading. However, most students do not place much emphasis on academic reading, and the demand for it is not high. Some senior students have gradually increased the reading frequency of academic literature because of project submissions and thesis writing. What’s more, digital academic reading requires a lot of energy, and it remains difficult for college students to read professionally for a long time. And the majority of students choose to do their academic reading on campus, which should be related to the need to access the campus network for digital academic reading. Finally, after the introduction of information retrieval and analysis courses in many colleges in the second year of university, college students learn that they can obtain digital academic resources from the database resources of digital library and their academic reading ability is also growing with the grade.

Based on the UTAUT2 model, this study adjusted the explanatory variables according to the characteristics of digital academic reading, removed hedonic motivation, gender, age and experience variables, added perceived risk (PR), and constructed the college students’ digital academic reading information behavior model (DARB). Amos 26.0 software is used to analyze the survey data, and it is found that effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), price value (PV), perceived risk (PR) and habit (BH) have a significant effect on behavioral intention (BI), and behavioral intention (BI) has a significant effect on use behavior (B). However, performance expectancy (PE) and facilitating conditions (FC) have no significant influence on behavioral intention (BI) and use behavior (B). The results of this analysis contradict with previous studies ( Alsaaid and Abd Razak, 2020 ; Farshad, 2022 ). When students believe that the educational process is beneficial to them, their willingness to use it will increase significantly. According to the survey results, the main concern of undergraduate students is to improve their academic performance. They regard digital academic reading as an activity that can help them do this. However, in this study, the students’ responses showed that the expectation performance did not affect their behavioral intention of digital academic reading. The main reason for this may be that students were not aware of the benefits of digital academic reading. At the same time, some students were bored with the frequent digital academic reading behavior during covid-19 epidemic. Even though they thought that the reading process could benefit them, they were reluctant to initiate the reading process. For the same reason, students’ willingness to read did not improve even when they were provided with easy access to digital academic reading.

Effort expectancy has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention. This is consistent with the hypothesis in the original UTAUT2 model ( Venkatesh et al., 2012 ; Omar et al., 2019 ; Kim and Lee, 2020 ). It is show that the convenience, system stability and difficulty of digital academic reading affect users’ behavioral intention. With the construction and development of the digital academic reading database platform, the operation of the system is becoming more and more convenient, stable and durable, reducing the efforts of college students to use the digital reading system, and the intention to read digital academic work will increase; On the contrary, if the system is complex and cumbersome, the intention will decline.

Habit is another most important factor that influences behavioral intentions and use behavior. Habit reflects users’ dependence on new information skills. Academic reading ability is a reflection of college students’ information literacy. Most students must be exposed to digital academic reading and have ability to obtain and use digital information, so they have a strong dependence on it.

Social influence has a significant negative effect on behavioral intention. This is inconsistent with the positive impact of previous studies ( Gil-Flores et al., 2012 ; Hahnel et al., 2016 ; Lim and Jung, 2019 ). But some studies also show that social influence has no effect on behavioral intention ( Kleopatra et al., 2021 ). Social influence reflects the influence of individual social environment on digital academic reading. Based on the questionnaire content and the results of face-to-face interviews with some college students, it is found that modern college students pursue independence and freedom, hate preaching, and they are unique, especially affected by the COVID-19 for a long time, making digital academic reading a regular learning content. The compulsion of learning tasks and the monotony of the reading platform (for example, students point out that they often use the pdf format documents published by teachers on the online platform stipulated by the school) reduce students’ interest in digital academic reading and hold a negative attitude. Therefore, when teachers or classmates around encourage students to carry out academic reading, they will arouse their aversion to digital academic reading.

Price value also has a significant positive impact on behavioral intention. This is consistent with previous studies ( Wong et al., 2019 ; Kleopatra et al., 2021 ). With the accelerated construction of digital libraries, most college libraries have sufficient digital academic resources, and provide students with perfect reading equipment and convenient access to the Internet ( Fang and Jia, 2019 ). The cost of students’ digital academic reading is greatly reduced. In addition, colleges tend to provide a large number of courses related to information resource retrieval, academic report writing, and academic paper reading. Therefore, students have gradually developed their interest in digital academic reading, which has also greatly improved the utilization of digital academic resources.

Perceived risk also has a significant negative impact on behavioral intention. Perceived risk reflects the risk that college students think digital academic reading may pose to them. Digital academic reading may pose risks to users in terms information quality, such as Pop up Window, personal information disclosure and so on, which have a great effect on college students ( Mizrachi, 2015 ; Clair-Thompson et al., 2017 ).

The hypothesis of the influence of performance expectation on behavioral intention is not valid, unlike the results of most previous studies ( Gil-Flores et al., 2012 ; Venkatesh et al., 2012 ; Hahnel et al., 2016 ; Lim and Jung, 2019 ), and is very worth discussing. Based on the content of the questionnaire and the results of face-to-face interviews with some college students, it is found that the digital academic reading of undergraduate students mainly occurs in their senior year, spent entirely on the graduation design and graduation thesis, and has a strong purpose. However, the importance of digital academic reading is ignored during the freshman to junior year, resulting in a non-significant impact of performance expectancy on behavioral intention. According to the analysis of questionnaires and interviews. Firstly, 57.6% of college students’ single digital academic reading time is more than half an hour, which is time-consuming. Academic reading is deep reading and requires a long period of time, and so fragmented time cannot be used reasonably and effectively. Secondly, 85.7% of students choose to do digital academic reading in libraries and dormitories. Compared with other public places, the learning atmosphere and environment are better and easier for them to concentrate. In addition, influenced by pandemic prevention and control, college students can only choose to study on campus, and the space convenience is also limited. Therefore, the influence of convenience conditions on behavioral intention and use behavior is not significant.

7. Conclusion and limitations

The main limitations of the study include the convenience sample and the use of a self-reporting scale to assess student’ behavioral intention and use behavior. Due to the limitation of covid-19 epidemic prevention measures, the samples were mainly from college students in Nanjing. The sample lacks diversity and may suffer from selection bias ( Kleopatra et al., 2021 ). Secondly, this study is cross-sectional in nature, so it does not model the change of students’ digital academic reading intention and behavior over time. To validate these patterns, more studies could be carried out with representative samples. For example, more geographical samples should be included. In addition, the sample should involve a more academically focused sample of postgraduate students, and explore whether the model can explain the amount of digital academic reading behavior of graduate students.

Despite the aforementioned limitations, this study produced promising findings. Overall, the findings supported the use of the modified UTAUT2 model as an appropriate framework for Digital Academic Reading Behavior. This offers new perspectives on the role of perceived risk (PR) on students’ behavior of digital academic reading in the context of Covid-19 popular, and calls for more empirical evidence on the role of social influence in the UTAUT model.

High level of Effort expectancy and low price value can effectively improve the reading intention of college students. Therefore, it is suggested that colleges should establish a training system for digital academic reading literacy and information literacy as soon as possible, cultivate their ability to acquire and use information and develop their keen information insight, strengthen professional information awareness, improve professional in-depth learning knowledge and enhance academic literacy, improve students’ effort to find digital academic resources accurately and effectively on the Internet, and reduce the cost of obtaining digital academic information. In addition, the operation system, digital academic reading resources and reading environment of university digital library system should be optimized to raise the expectation of students’ efforts to read digitally on the platform.

Finally, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of library digital resources, focus on the source supervision and quality control of digital academic resources, reasonably integrate digital academic resources to improve the availability of digital academic resources, provide an open, safe and stable working environment, and reduce students’ investment and expenditure in digital academic reading. It is also suggested that the security protection of personal information on the internet should be strengthened to prevent the disclosure of personal information during the use of resources and to reduce the perceived risk of users.

Data availability statement

Ethics statement.

In accordance with local legislation and institutional requirements, the questionnaire can only be carried out after fully explaining the study to the participants and obtaining their agreement to participate. Neither the survey process nor the results will involve the disclosure of participants’ personally identifiable information.

Author contributions

LC and JL: conceptualization and supervision. JL: methodology and writing—review and editing. YW and YF: software and writing—original draft preparation. LC: validation and project administration. YF: investigation. XZ: visualization All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

1 www.wjx.cn

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1007247/full#supplementary-material

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Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers

Published: 01 November 2012
Volume 22 , pages 357–365, ( 2013 )

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essay on decreasing reading habits among students

Azlin Norhaini Mansor 1 ,
Mohd Sattar Rasul 1 ,
Rose Amnah Abd Rauf 2 &
Bee Lian Koh 3

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Reading avidness is recognized as one of the predictors for academic achievement and as motivators for adult to be a life-long learner. The fact is that the number of avid readers is dwindling, and a recent survey showed that Malaysians read an average of two books per year. Thus, the focus of this research is to identify the factors that first led to students’ interest in reading and then to sustain this interest. The case study uses observations, interviews and documentary analyses method to collect data from seven 15-year-old Malaysian teenagers selected based on their reading avidness and various backgrounds. Through the course of this research, it was recognized that a key factor for reading ability stems from the home and choice of early childhood education. On the other hand, although parents do encourage and sustain interest in reading, the greater force seems to be from peers with similar interest. Like other facets of a teenager’s life, peer influence or as in this case positive peer influence, can be a key to unlock the dilemma of ‘reading reluctance’.

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Azlin Norhaini Mansor & Mohd Sattar Rasul

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Rose Amnah Abd Rauf

Open University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Mansor, A.N., Rasul, M.S., Rauf, R.A.A. et al. Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 22 , 357–365 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-012-0017-1

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International Journal of Library Science

p-ISSN: 2168-488X e-ISSN: 2168-4901

2018; 7(1): 15-20

doi:10.5923/j.library.20180701.03

Developing the Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria: The Way Forward

Akande S. O. 1 , Oyedapo R. O. 2

1 Centre for Educational Media Resource Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria

2 Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

In recent times, lack of cultivating the habit of reading has been the concern of all stakeholders. The lack of enthusiasm of secondary school students for reading has contributed to many failures such as poor writing and limited understanding about what they are taught in class. This growing concern provides motivation for this study. Thus, this study seeks to discover and elucidate the various ways whereby secondary school students in Nigeria could develop the habits of reading amidst divergent distractions around them especially in the 21 st century society as well as the roles of stakeholders towards enhancing the reading habits of students at the secondary school. The study concluded that the reading habits of secondary school students should be given rapt attention because of the imminent danger of losing reading habits in the era of information and communication technologies, where the use of social media sites is the order of the day. The study recommends that there must be a fixed time for reading a variety of reading materials that will appeal to students and that adopting different methods to arouse the interest of students could enhance their reading habits.

Keywords: Reading, Reading Habits, Secondary School and Students

Cite this paper: Akande S. O. , Oyedapo R. O. , Developing the Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria: The Way Forward, International Journal of Library Science , Vol. 7 No. 1, 2018, pp. 15-20. doi: 10.5923/j.library.20180701.03.

Article Outline

1. introduction, 2. importance of reading habits, 3. developing good reading habits, 4. factors inhibiting the reading habits of secondary school students in nigeria, 5. reading habits of secondary school students: the way forward, 6. conclusions, 7. recommendations.

Reading is Good Habit for Students and Children

500+ words essay on reading is good habit.

Reading is a very good habit that one needs to develop in life. Good books can inform you, enlighten you and lead you in the right direction. There is no better companion than a good book. Reading is important because it is good for your overall well-being. Once you start reading, you experience a whole new world. When you start loving the habit of reading you eventually get addicted to it. Reading develops language skills and vocabulary. Reading books is also a way to relax and reduce stress. It is important to read a good book at least for a few minutes each day to stretch the brain muscles for healthy functioning.

Benefits of Reading

Books really are your best friends as you can rely on them when you are bored, upset, depressed, lonely or annoyed. They will accompany you anytime you want them and enhance your mood. They share with you information and knowledge any time you need. Good books always guide you to the correct path in life. Following are the benefits of reading –

Self Improvement: Reading helps you develop positive thinking. Reading is important because it develops your mind and gives you excessive knowledge and lessons of life. It helps you understand the world around you better. It keeps your mind active and enhances your creative ability.

Communication Skills: Reading improves your vocabulary and develops your communication skills. It helps you learn how to use your language creatively. Not only does it improve your communication but it also makes you a better writer. Good communication is important in every aspect of life.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Increases Knowledge: Books enable you to have a glimpse into cultures, traditions, arts, history, geography, health, psychology and several other subjects and aspects of life. You get an amazing amount of knowledge and information from books.

Reduces Stress: Reading a good book takes you in a new world and helps you relieve your day to day stress. It has several positive effects on your mind, body, and soul. It stimulates your brain muscles and keeps your brain healthy and strong.

Great Pleasure: When I read a book, I read it for pleasure. I just indulge myself in reading and experience a whole new world. Once I start reading a book I get so captivated I never want to leave it until I finish. It always gives a lot of pleasure to read a good book and cherish it for a lifetime.

Boosts your Imagination and Creativity: Reading takes you to the world of imagination and enhances your creativity. Reading helps you explore life from different perspectives. While you read books you are building new and creative thoughts, images and opinions in your mind. It makes you think creatively, fantasize and use your imagination.

Develops your Analytical Skills: By active reading, you explore several aspects of life. It involves questioning what you read. It helps you develop your thoughts and express your opinions. New ideas and thoughts pop up in your mind by active reading. It stimulates and develops your brain and gives you a new perspective.

Reduces Boredom: Journeys for long hours or a long vacation from work can be pretty boring in spite of all the social sites. Books come in handy and release you from boredom.

Read Different Stages of Reading here.

The habit of reading is one of the best qualities that a person can possess. Books are known to be your best friend for a reason. So it is very important to develop a good reading habit. We must all read on a daily basis for at least 30 minutes to enjoy the sweet fruits of reading. It is a great pleasure to sit in a quiet place and enjoy reading. Reading a good book is the most enjoyable experience one can have.

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COMMENTS

Reading Habits Among Students in the Digital Era: Changes of Trends and Behaviours
collected using Google Sheet and the study found that majority o f the students (44%) like reading on websites. compared to other choices such as print books, e-books, magazines, comics, novel and ...
PDF Don't Throw Out Paper And Pens Yet: On The Reading Habits Of Students
The sampling frame was 9,300 students who had begun undergraduate studies in universities and academic colleges in 2012/2013. The response rate for the complete questionnaire was 79.1%; 1/7% submitted incomplete questionnaires and 19.2% did not complete the questionnaire. The main findings of the survey were:
PROOF POINTS: Scholars weigh decline in reading habits
The percentage of public school students who said they read 30 minutes or more a day, besides homework, declined by 4 percentage points from 53 percent in 2017 to 49 percent in 2019. These same young teens were also less likely to say they talked about books or went to the library. Positive attitudes about reading fell too.
Reading Habits and Attitudes among University Students: A Review
Research Papers in Education, 3 2 (5), 626-648 . ... The significant decline in leisure reading habits among university students created the impetus for this study. The purpose of this study was ...
The Causes of A Declining Interest in Reading Among Teenagers
The paper deals with the issue of a declining interest in reading among teenagers as evident from a qualitative research group. This study follows up on two studies presented at the ICERI 2018 in ...
Relationships among students' reading habits, study skills, and
Refer to Table 2 for the intercorrelation of variables among reading habits subscales, overall reading habits, and study skills; there were moderate-to-high positive correlations among variables. For reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, students' reading habits were significantly and positively correlated as r ...
Reading Habits Among Students and its Effect on Academic Performance: A
they differ in the pattern of reading habits. While some students have good reading habits, others tend to exhibit poor reading habits. Academic achievement means how much knowledge the individual has acquired from the school (Bashir & Mattoo, 2012). A creative and pragmatic education involves the habit of personal investigation. The act of ...
Reading skills of young students stalled during pandemic
The researchers examined trends in the students' long-run growth back to 2018, observing fairly steady growth until the onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. The trajectory flattened at ...
Study on factors influencing college students' digital academic reading
According to the analysis of questionnaires and interviews. Firstly, 57.6% of college students' single digital academic reading time is more than half an hour, which is time-consuming. Academic reading is deep reading and requires a long period of time, and so fragmented time cannot be used reasonably and effectively.
The Effects of Reading Habits on Academic Performance among Students in
Reading holds a key role in personal development and academic success, contributing significantly to knowledge acquisition, vocabulary enhancement, and critical thinking skills. The absence of a reading habit often corresponds with lower performance in English classes, underscoring the need to nurture this skill. This review investigates past studies, using Google Scholar and Education ...
Exploring the Factors Affecting the Development of Reading Habits among
books negatively affect the reading interest and reading development of the children. According to Akindele (2012), lack of time, lack of parental involvement, and less. interest are significant hindrances in developing reading habits among children. According to Ogunrombi and Adio (1995), parents' illiteracy, improper.
PDF A Survey on the Reading Habits among Colleges of Education Students in
It is man's pane into life. Reading conveys the past and the future into the present. Reading provides experience through which the individual may expand his horizons of knowledge, identity; extend and intensify his interests so as to gain deeper understanding of himself. (Rout and Chettri, 2013).
[PDF] Reading Habits Among Students and its Effect on Academic
Effective reading is important avenue of effective learning and reading is interrelated with the total educational process and hence, educational success requires successful reading habit. IntroductionReading habits are well-planned and deliberate pattern of study which has attained a form of consistency on the part of students toward understanding academic subjects and passing at examinations ...
Teens today spend more time on digital media, less time reading
In recent years, less than 20 percent of U.S. teens report reading a book, magazine or newspaper daily for pleasure, while more than 80 percent say they use social media every day, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. "Compared with previous generations, teens in the 2010s spent more time online and less ...
Read or Perish: Reading Habits among Students and its Effect on
out to investigate the reading habit among students and the effect on their academic performance in senior high schools, specifically among students of Eastbank Senior High School. ... reported that learners are most inspired by reading magazines and daily papers and as well as topics associated with love, sports, and governmental issues ...
Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers
Reading avidness is recognized as one of the predictors for academic achievement and as motivators for adult to be a life-long learner. The fact is that the number of avid readers is dwindling, and a recent survey showed that Malaysians read an average of two books per year. Thus, the focus of this research is to identify the factors that first led to students' interest in reading and then ...
PDF Evaluation of the reading habits of Indian students (reading aloud and
work aims to find the impact of reading habit on children‟s growth, the role of parents in inculcating reading habits in children, the importance of teachers in supporting children to read chosen materials, the connection between the habit of reading aloud and silently and the latest tools and techniques used for reading aloud and
An Exploration of Students' Current Reading Habits and Skills
habits and skills. These assumptions are as. follows: 1) th at reading habits are related to. reading skills, and 2) that reading performance. against reading comprehension questions is an ...
Developing the Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria
6. Conclusions. Reading habits of Nigerian Secondary School students has been a concern to all and sundry, because reading is the pillar of all round educational development. Reading habits enhance individual self-confidence, moral and intellectual development.
PDF Study Habits and Academic Performance among Students: A Systematic Review
mastery." Azikiwe (1998), Study habit is "The adopted way and manner a student plans his private reading after classroom learning so ... effective use of time, reading skills, essay writing, report writing skills, note-taking, examination techniques and even job-hunting skills." ... The aim of this systematic review was to explore and ...
Reading Habits and Their Influence on Academic Achievement Among
of reading habits among college students and has increased students' lack of passion for reading (Briggs, 1987; Palani, 2012). In addition, some students do not acquire reading habits because
Reading is Good Habit for Students and Children
500+ Words Essay on Reading is Good Habit. Reading is a very good habit that one needs to develop in life. Good books can inform you, enlighten you and lead you in the right direction. There is no better companion than a good book. Reading is important because it is good for your overall well-being. Once you start reading, you experience a ...
Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers
Studies on the role of peers in promoting and sustaining. reading habits among younger teens, 14-15-year-old, remain conclusive to this day. The reading habits of this. age group is an ...

PROOF POINTS: Why reading comprehension is deteriorating

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

2.2. Study skills

2.3. Reading habits and academic achievement

2.4. Study skills and academic achievement

2.5. Summary

3.1. Design

3.2. Sample

3.3. Instruments

3.4. Data collection and analysis

4.1. Descriptive statistics on students’ reading habits and study skills

4.2. Inferential statistics on students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English

4.3. Hypotheses testing

5. Discussion

6. Conclusion

7. Implications for practice

8. Limitations and implications for future research

Data availability statement

Ethics statement

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Acknowledgments

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Measuring periodically, not annually

A fundamental skill

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Study on factors influencing college students’ digital academic reading behavior

Xinyao Zhang

Originality/value

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

2.2. Development of digital academic reading

3. Research model construction and hypotheses

3.2. Model construction

3.3. Research hypotheses

4. Methodology

4.2. Study materials

4.3. Data collection

5.1. Demographic information

5.2. Reliability and validity analysis

5.3. Structural model

6. Discussion

7. Conclusion and limitations

Data availability statement

Author contributions

Conflict of interest

Publisher’s note

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Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers

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Developing the Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria: The Way Forward

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