The Effect of Reading Culture on Agricultural Science Student Academic Achievement
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the study
- The research seeks to achieve the following objectives:-
- To investigate the reading culture of students of Agricultural Science.
- To find out the types of materials they read and their purposes for reading
- To find out the perception of students on reading culture and academic achievement and the factors that affect their reading culture.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter presents a review of literature on the reading culture and its impact on academic achievement of students at St. John‟s Grammar Senior High School. It presents information on reading definitions, importance and benefits of reading, factors that hinder reading, students‟ reading culture and reading culture and academic achievement of secondary school students. The chapter also presents some related findings on reading culture.
Definition of Reading
Reading came into being at the time written languages were used as a medium of communicating complex ideas to create a larger meaningful whole, be it scientific observation, artistic expression or religious truth. Such reading is a special activity, during which the reader consumes written material enabling him to achieve some goal, be they utilitarian enjoyment, personal fulfilment, or a combination of these three (Stebbins, 2013). He further indicated that, most people use their eyes to read, they can certainly realise many of these ends by consuming the relevant material aurally, by hearing words originally set out to be read, or tactile, by feeling text written in Braille. Modern reading consists of understanding more or less complex ideas expressed, at least initially, in written language.
According to World Book Encyclopaedia (2006) reading is the act of “getting meaning from printed or written words”. It is the foundation of the study and one of the most important skills in day-to-day life. Reading gives the clue to all sorts of information. It enables one to study how to improve or do things, to like stories, to find what other people trust, and to develop ideas and to put in place plans of our own. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English
(1995) also defines reading as “the act of or an instance of reading or pursuing reading or reproduce mentally or vocally the written or printed words of a book by following the symbols with the eye or by feeling embossed symbols with the fingers. For example, Braille design for the blind.”
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2002) defines reading as the “process of recognizing written or printed words and understanding their meaning”. This type of reading often allows the reader to pay close attention to what he or she is reading, poses a series of mental questions to him-self as he reads along, and the answers to these questions will help him or her to better understand the text he or she reads.
Day and Bamford (1998) defined “reading as the construction of meaning from a printed or written message”. The interpretation of substance requires the reader connecting the information from the written report with foregoing apprehension to arrive at meaning or understanding.
Eskey (2005) referred to reading as a purposeful and creative mental process in which a reader gets the meaning from his background knowledge or the information in the text. Reading can therefore be seen as a procedure of proving a dynamic sense which may require an effectual way of communicating with the writer and the reader. It is sometimes difficult for an adult to develop a reading habit if this is not acquired during early teen age. Though, some people know how to read, they read very little.
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter describes the methodology, design and techniques used for the data collection. Design such as quantitative method and techniques such as sampling procedure, location and the population for the study, instrument for data collection, and data analysis among others have been explained as well as the quantitative analysis technique that was used.
Research Design
Research designs according to Creswell (2014) are types of inquiry within qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches that provide specific direction for procedures in a research study. The design consist of a clear statement of the research question as well as plans for gathering, processing, and interpreting the findings intended to answer the question or objectives which some researchers refer to as a strategy of inquiry
The study adopted a quantitative survey method. A quantitative research involves collecting and analysing numerical data and applying statistical text. It is a means for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables. Relationships that exist among quantitative variables are usually depicted with graphs. Quantitative research is also a form of research in which the investigators use the correlational statistics to describe and measure the degree or association between two or more variables or sets of scores. The variables used can therefore be measured on instruments so that numbered data can be analysed using statistical procedures. Quantitative data usually includes closed-ended responses (Creswell, 2012, 2014, p.12).
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Introduction
DEMOGRAPHY OF RESPONDENTS
Demographic data collected included gender, level of education, and age of respondents. It is believed that parent‟s educational background usually has an influence on the reading culture of their children. Therefore, information on parent‟s occupation and level of education was also sought.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This chapter is the summary, conclusion and recommendations. The purpose of the study was to investigate the reading culture and its impact on academic achievement of students of St. John‟s Grammar Senior High Secondary School in Kaduna. The main objectives of the study are to find out:
- The reading culture of students of Agricultural Science.
- The types of materials they read and their purposes for reading
- The perception of students on reading culture and academic achievement and the factors that affects their reading culture.
Summary
- Reading interest or habit of the students of Johns Grammar School
- The study revealed that 7% of respondents read after class schedules.
- It was clear from the study that 9% of the respondents perceive reading as interesting. Only 7.6% and 3.1% found reading to be boring and difficulty respectively.
- The study further revealed that 6% of the respondents read daily, and 22.9% read weekly.
- The study also found out that 3% and 27.5% of the respondents read between 1-2 hours and 2-3 hours daily respectfully.
Conclusion
This study was carried out to ascertain the reading culture and its effect on academic achievement of students of St. Johns Grammar Senior High School in a subbed in Kaduna.
Based on the findings of the study, it was revealed that the perception that people of Africa have not cultivated the culture of reading is not entirely true since most of the respondents were found to read different types of reading materials such as fiction, novels, newspapers, magazines, etc., after their normal school schedules. Reading was also found to impact their academic achievement in different ways including knowledge acquisition, improvement in their verbal and written English, grades, performance in their examinations, and broadening of their horizons. They however encountered problems such as, lack of access to reading materials, lack of money to buy the materials, lack of interest in reading, lack of encouragement to read and lack of time to read which hindered their quest to develop the reading culture. It is important for stakeholders to work together to solve these problems for more impactful academic achievement.
Recommendations
The following recommendations have been made based on the findings for the improvement of reading culture among the students of Agricultural Science.
Bibliography
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- Burgess, S., and Jones, K. (2010). Reading and Media Habits of College Students Varying by Sex and Remedial Status. College Student Journal. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/library/p1917/college-student-journal?gclid=CjwKEAjwkf- gBRCd-b2m2aOo0EQSJABMeQDkniCBxMffDtB4mNmUSAhbmO1gAHyBr5JBIdPRhNKuy RoCtlzw_wcB
- Busha Charles H. and Harter (1980). Research methods in Librarianship: techniques and interpretation. San Diego: Academic Press.
- Cambridge English Dictionary (2006). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Chaudhry, A.S. and Low, G. (2009). “Reading preferences among different generations: a study of altitudes and choices in Singapore”. Singapore Journal of Library & Information Management. 38(1), p. 27-48 Retrieved December 18, 2015
