A study of text topics motivate classroom reading

Author

• Lily Fu, Universiti Malaya

Date of Award

1-1-2000

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Department

-

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

In this age of information technology, it is not enough that students know how to read, but more importantly, they must want to read. For without an enthusiasm for reading, students will not read on their own initiative, or read beyond their school assigned texts. This study is an attempt to find out why students do not like reading from their textbook and what they are interested in reading about so that an inventory of reading interests can be drawn up. The purpose of such an inventory is to provide some guidelines to teachers and textbook writers in the selection of content materials to teach reading. A total of 236 Form 4 students from two schools participated in the survey. The objective was to examine whether there is any correlation between reading interest and each of these variables, namely, setting (location), gender, stream (science, arts/commerce), and language proficiency. The findings were thus organized into nine categories: rural and urban, boys and girls, science and arts/commerce, and good, average and weak. 30 teachers also took part in the survey. The students' selection of reading interests and topics of interest was compared with the teachers' selection to find out if there was any mismatch. Finally, the students' selection was also compared with the selection of passages in the reading section of 7 Form 4 KBSM English textbooks to see how far they cater to the needs and interests of the students. Although this study is limited in scope, the findings clearly suggest that gender and stream affect reading interests more significantly than do setting and language proficiency. Students prefer to read about topics that are relevant to their needs and interests. Although prior knowledge and cultural background help students to comprehend what they read, topic familiarity does not necessarily motivate students to read a text. The findings also reveal that teachers do not always know their students' reading interests. Perhaps, the most significant finding is the inadequacy of the textbook in motivating students to read. It is hoped that this study will help focus attention on the need to introduce appealing materials that would motivate classroom reading. This would not only facilitate the teaching of the reading skills but also promote the reading habit among students.

Initial

snms

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A) -- Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 2000.

Recommended Citation

Fu, Lily, "A study of text topics motivate classroom reading" (2000). Student Works (2000-2009). 255.
https://knova.um.edu.my/student_works_2000s/255

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.