Factors Influencing Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The main objective underlying the study is to assess factors influencing the reading habits of students of the major tribes. Other objectives are to:
- determine the reading profiles of these students;
- assess qualitative levels of reading materials used by these students;
- determine quantitative levels of materials read;
- establish implications of gender on the reading habits of students of the major tribes;
- determine whether rural and urban factors would have serious consequences on the reading habits of these students; and
- identify variables that have positive or negative influences on the reading habits of these students
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
The literature related to the study is reviewed under the following sub-headings: Reading habits: theories, concepts and issues; Cultural hindrances to reading habits development of students; Reading habits across the major Nigerian tribes; Assessment of reading habits‟ profiles on secondary school students; Reading habits among Hausa students; Reading habits among Igbo students; Reading habits among Yoruba students; Reading habits and gender disparity; Reading habits and school location; Reading facilitative variables and Reading inhibitive variables. Fundamentally, the chapter lays a foundation for the research design in chapter three. The chapter ends with summaries of the concepts reviewed including their relevance and examination of theoretical framework relevant to the present study.
Reading Habits: Theories, Concepts and Issues
Reading is the centre of literacy development and one of the most fundamental skills upon which all formal education within the school system depends. It paves a way for academic success. It is a yardstick for measuring academic progress. Agada (2008) asserts that reading is an indispensable tool for learning in the various hierarchies of modern educational set up. It facilitates learning process and effectively promotes intellectual development in learners. Reading plays a vital role in any worthwhile effort to teach/learn English, the language of instruction at all levels of education in Nigeria. It has relationship with other language skills and that is the more reason why Lawal (2003) describes it as a tool for learning other subjects in the curriculum. Reading is central to learning and its absence has serious consequences on learners. This necessitated the study to look at reading habits of these students.
A habit is a consistently repeated behaviour that is considered normal to the person performing the action. It refers to a disposition to behave or do something in a particular way. Habits are patterns of behaviour which manifest with regularity in what one does and how it is done. This can be good or bad. The desire for a change in behaviour is gradual depending on the resolution and persistency. Habits are easily formed and once formed, become difficult to erase. However, development of a habit is gradual and does not just happen by chance. Reading is one of the habits that can bring great satisfaction and sense of accomplishment to the reader. Hence reading habits are ways of adjusting to routine requirements of daily reading. In other words, the routine of positive reading habits can enhance one‟s life, sharpen the reader‟s mind and bring fulfilment everytime it is successfully carried out. Tella and Akande (2007) define reading habits as the behaviour which expresses likeness of reading of an individual. Posistive or good reading habits help students in mastering the content of learning. When such a habit is formed, reading becomes a hobby.
A positive reading habit refers to the desire for one to read books across genres, and also learn from reading. It is one‟s likeness for books which makes one read on a regular basis. A creative and pragmatic education involves habits of personal investigation. This requires self study that manifest in self thinking, evaluation and analysis. This personal investigation, or self education or independent study that involves reading at one‟s accord is what is described as reading habits.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter deals with design and procedures of the study. It is organized under the following sub- headings: Research design, Population size, Sample and sampling technique, Instruments for data collection, Validation of instrument, Reliability of instrument, Procedures for data collection, Scoring procedures, and Data analysis procedures. The research design, procedures and analyses of the study are informed by the literature reviewed in chapter two of this work.
Research Design
The design for this study was a descriptive survey based on specific assessment criteria for determining influence of availability of books, environment and culture on reading habits of secondary school students across the three major tribes of Nigeria. The adoption of survey method was in adherence with Viterek (2007) and Acheaw and Larson (2014) style of collecting data for reading habits of students. The study made use of questionnaire to gather data on students‟ habits and their reading frequency profile across the major tribes of Nigeria. The questionnaire items were completed by students and were meant to assess influence of reading habits variables on students. The Reading Assessment Test (RAT) adopted adhered to Ofoedu‟s (2011) style of self designed questionnaire meant to assess factors that influence extensive reading habits development. Below is the structure for the research design:
Population Size
The population for the study comprised entire senior secondary school students within core Hausa states from the Northern part of the country; core Igbo states of the South East and core Yoruba states of the South West of Nigeria. The total number of students within these zones in 2008 stood at 4,298,155 cutting across gender. Information from the Federal Ministry of Education (FME, 2008) reveals that the North had the total number of 1,648,354 students; South west had 1,703,897 students and South east had the population of 945,904 students. The population comprises male and female students. The students investigated were from Senior Secondary Schools two (SSS 2), who were assumed to have more experiences in reading.
Since the English language is a core subject, all the secondary school students in these zones constituted the target population. Table 3.1 presents the total number of students and the number of secondary schools per state across the major tribes.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATON AND ANALYSES
Introduction
This chapter presents results and analyses of findings from the study. The presentations were based on research questions raised in 1.4 and the corresponding hypotheses in 1.5 of chapter one. The hypotheses were analysed on the basis of total number of students and percentages. Summary tables were employed for the questionnaire analyses. The first strand of the findings was based on questionnaires‟ exploratory questions on students‟ reading habits inventory which depicts students‟ reading profiles.
The second strand, which was intertwined with the first, focused on observation of students. This is presented simultaneously with questionnaire data. Results of data collected were analysed and are presented in tables in the form of frequencies and percentages.
The school system should create an environment that nurtures intrinsic motivation and provides instruction in reading skills and strategies required for a learner to thrive as an independent reader. Reluctant readers can be motivated to view reading as an academic task as well as a thing of joy. Since every student wants to be successful in life, the discovery that readers are always successful could change their attitude.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This final chapter summarizes the study and its main findings. It discusses the implications of the study for reading and reading curriculum, reading teacher, students‟ reading habits, and textbook writers. The chapter proposes solutions in the form of recommendations. Thereafter, the researcher identifies limitations of the study in terms of challenges encountered during the course of research and proposes areas for further studies.
Summary
The topic of this study is factors influencing reading habits of secondary school students in Nigeria. The purpose emanates from the researcher‟s desire to investigate, uncover and describe reading habits of secondary school students across the major Nigerian tribes with a view to improve and establish a reading oriented programme in schools. The belief is that if students of the major tribes have positive reading habits, it will be transferred to other students from minority tribes because reading can be infectious. Since major tribes constitute over fifty percent of Nigerian population and if their students fail to read, it means there would be a failure in reading in Nigerian secondary schools.
The investigation was carried out through formulation of seven research questions with their corresponding null hypotheses. The research questions were designed to find out reading frequency profiles of students of the major tribes, qualitative levels of rreading materials and the number of such materials. The research questions also sought to find out whether there were gender differences in reading habits of students and whether school location could influence reading habits of such students or not. The extent to which facilitative and inhibitive variables contribute to influencing reading habits of secondary school students across the major tribes was also investigated.
The findings did not authenticate students‟ claim of daily reading because it failed to provide evidence of such reading activities. It appears students wanted to be seen as those who read daily. Thus, questionnaire claims of daily reading did not tally with evidences of such reading. The evidence proved that only few students across the major tribes actually embarked on daily reading (Table 4.04). Igbo students had the highest percentage (44.11%) of students who read prescribed materials daily (Table 4.04).
With regard to the quality of topics read, the findings showed that students of the major groups read more of notebooks than other materials. Students across Yoruba states had the highest percentage of reading high quality materials (3.22%), followed by Hausa (3%), while Igbo came last (2.22%). However, only twenty fiction and non fiction texts were identified as read by students across the major tribes and only a few students read those few texts. No student from any zone provided evidence of reading more than ten literary texts. Moreover, no gender reading differentials was observed in reading habits of these students.
The study on influence of school location on reading habits of students revealed no significant difference in habits of students in urban and rural schools. The location of a school did not affect reading habits of students of the major tribes; although students in rural schools tended to read more prescribed texts and notebooks than their counterparts in urban schools. Students in urban schools engaged in more extensive reading materials and newspapers than their colleagues in rural schools.
The variables that facilitated reading behaviour of students of the major tribes were reading for knowledge, self development and passing examinations. On the contrary, variables that inhibited development of reading habits were laziness and chatting. Watching of movies and distractions from friends and parents became mid factors.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis of the data collected and the findings emanating from the analyses, this study arrives at the following conclusions:
- Itis obvious that reading habits of students across the major tribes have Out of the entire students investigated, a large proportion did not engaged in daily reading activities.
- The reading activities are limited to prescribed literary texts and notebooks. A downward trend in reading habit was discovered. Less than 3% of the students engaged in extensive reading that could broaden their academic
- Among the few who read, the pattern of reading was directed towards notebooks. This increases aversion to reading which reduces the chances of students‟ wide and broadbased knowledge that would improve them. Although knowledge comes in many forms, it best comes in pages of
- Students have a strong desire to read to acquire knowledge that could develop them, yet they are ignorant of the materials to read. Moreover, they are crippled with laziness and the only option left is chatting. Students in both urban and rural schools do not bother much to read.
Besides, the fact that many of the students across the major tribes did not read, indicates that there has become a polarization between increase number of students that do not read at all and those who read one to two reading materials. The increase aversion to reading reduces the desire to read and with reduced reading, competency worsens.
Recommendations
Emanating from the study is deplorable reading habits in Nigerian secondary schools. There is a need for a holistic restructuring of reading activities in secondary schools within the major tribes and beyond. The proposal emerges from the researcher‟s call to total break from reading only for examination purposes, to reading for acquisition of knowledge. The recommendations are largely for students of the major research area. It is, however, projected beyond the study area to include all students.
McKenna (2001:139) suggests that “if we are to be successful in changing children‟s attitudes towards reading, we must target factors that affect those attitudes”. The first thing is to develop reading habits plan on the school time-table. There is an urgent need to have a reading speacialist teacher for SSS. Alternative to English language teachers are all SSS teachers. They are to serve as reading teachers in their various subjects and classes. A reading speacialist and teachers of English language studies should pay attention to the teaching of extensive reading skills in schools so as to develop higher reading skills in students. Once these students are able to acquire the skills, they would make adequate use of them to read extensively.
Reading specialists are lacking in schools. Therefore, teacher training becomes crucial to equip them with teaching skills strategies. Training of teachers to acquire reading habits development comprehension skills is paramonut. This helps in motivating students to read for academic purposes and for pleasure. It increases students‟ reading interest enhancing strategies, silent reading strategies that would enhance extensive reading activities, rapid reading techniques, critical and evaluative reading techniques that could make reading beneficial to students.
Implications of the Study
The theoretical framework for this study firmly holds to the need to provide students with adequate inputs. This could be accompanied by articulated processes to achieve desirable outputs. The implications of the study are presented in the following sub-headings.
Limitations of the Study
As it is the case with all research studies, the current study undoubtedly, has its limitations. The major limitation is that the research was carried out during the peak of insecurity in the country. As a result, many school administrators refused allowing research in their schools. Some schools refused video coverage of their students because they suspected the researcher might be working for insurgents. This affected video coverage, especially in the northern part of the country. Also, because of huge financial involvement, the observation was cut short from three to two weeks.
The study is restricted to three out of the six zones in the country. The sample selected for the study is less than 2% of the entire population for financial constraints. As a result, generalizations cannot be projected too far. Students could not respond much to fiction and non-fiction texts. Some mentioned only the major characters and this became impossible for the researcher to examine them on the knowledge of specific texts. However, those who mentioned correctly some characters from the texts were classified among the readers of such texts. Students of the major groups expressed that they were motivated to read in order to acquire knowledge. It was impossible to ascertain the knowledge they desired whether it was solely to pass examinations. The questions elicited from the students had to be reduced to avoid boring them with answering many questions.
Suggestions for Further Studies
In line with limitations of the study highlighted above and the new areas that the present study has thrown open, more research efforts are needed in the following:
- Reading habits of secondary school students across the minority tribes ofNigeria;
- Reading habits and its impact on the English language structures of secondary school students inNigeria;
- Reading Habits and the Time Spent on Extensive Reading Daily:A case study of secondary school students of the Major Tribes;and
- The use of ICT in enhancing reading habits of secondary school students in
REFERENCES
- Aaronson, D. & Ferres, S. (1986). Reading strategies for children and adults: A quantitative model. Psychology Review pp.93
- Abidin, M. J., Pour-Mohammadi, M. and Jesmin, A. (2011). A survey of online reading habits of rural secondary school students in Malaysia. International Journal of Linguistics 3(1): E33.
- Abioye, T. (2010a). Managing language testing in Nigeria large classes: Process and prospects. English Language Teaching (Canada). 3 (2):82 -87.
- Abioye, T. (2010b). Integrating reading and writing skills in Nigerian schools using news- paper texts. Papers in English and Linguistics (PEL). (OAU, Ife). 11, 44-53.
- Abram, S. (2007). American reading habits. Retrieved August 23, 2007 from http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2007/08/american_readin. html
- Acheaw, M. O. & Larson, A. G. (2014). Reading habits among students and its effects on academic performance: A study of students of Koforidua Polytechnic. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Available at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu./libphilprac/1130
- Achebe, C. (1985 January, 20). Education falls apart in Nigeria. In Sunday concord. Adams, W. R. (1974). Reading skills: A self-teaching guide. John Wiley &Sons, Inc.
- Adamu, Y. (2002) Hausa literary movement and the 21st century. Kano online articles available at http://www.kanoonline.come/yusufadamu/kano,Nigeria
- Adegbite, W. (1995). The use of English programme in Nigerian tertiary institutions: some basic considerations. Nigerian Journal of Education Research (1), 99-105.
- Adegbite, W. (1995).Ineffectiveness in the presentation of English in Nigeria: Sources and remedies. In Bamgbose, A., Banjo, A. and Thomas, A. (eds.) New Englishes: A West African perspectives. Lagos: The British Council.
