Relationship between Reading Habits in One Language and Reading Performance

As noted earlier, a considerable amount of literature has been published on the relationship between reading habits in one language and reading performance in various academic contexts: from school children to college/university students. Although, the studies regarding the relationship between school children’s reading habits and performance are not directly relevant to the present study, nonetheless, they offer an insight into the research area by suggesting a) possible correlation between reading habits and performance and b) the possible factors related to children’s home and school life, which might affect their reading habits and performance at university level.

Therefore, a few important studies regarding the relationship between school children’s reading habits and performance are discussed below, which could not only help investigate the relationship between Sindhi and Urdu students’ reading habits and English reading performance in the present study but also the causes of their high/low reading habits and performance. The following section reviews some important studies on the relationship between reading habits (in one language) and reading performance in relation to school children.

2.8.1.1 Reading Habits and Reading Performance of School Children

A considerable amount of research has been done on the relationship between school children’s reading habits and reading performance (irrespective of lingual concern) at different times (Witty, 1961; Greaney and Hegarty, 1987; Anderson et al., 1988; Cipielewski and Stanovich, 1992; Mol and Bus, 2011). Anderson et al. (1988)

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investigated the children’s out of school activities in relation to their reading achievement, vocabulary gain and speed of reading over eight to twenty-six weeks. A sample of 155 Grade 5 children from a school in east central Illinois participated in the study. The data was collected using questionnaires asking the learners about their out-of-school activities, a report regarding the children’s out-of-school activities in relation to their reading ability, and a reading test which measured reading ability, reading rate and vocabulary.

The study found that the children’s out-of-school reading had a positive effect on their reading proficiency, vocabulary gain and reading rate. One important finding of the study was that a majority of the children spent very little time in out-of-school reading. Additionally, the teachers’ role was found to be very crucial regarding the children’s reading more after the school hours. The influence of teacher on participants’ reading habits was substantial in a sense that the class where the teacher was more concerned about the children’s out of school reading showed 16.5 minutes reading per day on average as compared to the class with less teacher support that read only 4.1 minutes per day on average.

Similarly, Cipielewski and Stanovich (1992) investigated the effect of the amount of reading on children’s reading comprehension using two measures such as Title Recognition Test (TRT) and the Author Recognition Test (ART). Both the tests, included a list of fictitious and authentic children's book titles (TRT) or authors (ART), and the participants were asked to recognize the title or author. The results of the study exhibited that the author/title recognition had a significant influence on students reading comprehension and reading speed indicating a positive effect of the amount of reading on children’s reading comprehension.

Furthermore, similar to the present study, Pretorius and Ribbens (2005), compared the reading practices and English reading performance of Grade 8 and Grade 7 South African children from disadvantaged and advantaged schools respectively. The study was conducted to a) compare whether the students from different literacy learning environments (at home and school) differ in English reading performance and reading habits and b) the reasons for these differences. The study used an

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English reading test, including components of decoding, reading rate and comprehension, and a reading questionnaire on students’ reading and other leisure practices, literacy learning facilities at home and school and knowledge of children's literature.

The results of the study indicated that Grade 8 students, although they were on average two years older than Grade 7 learners, were considerably slow readers. A large majority of these students could read at 148 words per minutes (68.7%) in 2002 at 107 wpm (87.5%) in 2003. The slow reading rate also affected their reading comprehension. In comparison to Grade 8 students, Grade 7 learners, who were from advantaged school, did not face any difficulty in the test and they were fluent readers (93.7% of these learners read at 321 words per minutes) with high comprehension. Additionally, 73% of the Grade 8 students did not have a library membership and 55% had fewer than 10 or no books at home whereas, only 21% of the Grade 7 learners had 10 or fewer books in the home.

The most substantial difference between the Grade 8 and Grade 7 students was of storybook reading in the home: only 5% students from Grade 8 reported that their parents had read storybooks to them in their childhood, as opposed to 54% of the Grade 7s. Thus the authors argued that poor literacy environment at home and poor learning facilities in schools were two main reasons due to which the majority of Grade 8 learners did not engage in reading for pleasure. Additionally, it was also found that Grade 8 learners were not at all familiar with children's literature and many of them did not know the title of any book, had not read a book within the past year, and came from environments in which literacy practices play a minor role. Thus, Pretorius and Ribbens (2005:143) concluded that:

From their (Grade 8 students) poor performance on the reading test and their apparent lack of exposure to literacy practices it would seem that neither their home nor their past school environments had provided them with the motivation or stimulus to read, or opportunities to do so.

Overall, these studies on the reading habits and reading performance of school children not only indicate that time engaged in reading is an important factor in

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measuring reading habits, they also suggest a correlation between the amount of time spent outside school and reading comprehension, gains in vocabulary and reading achievement. Additionally, some of these studies show the influence of teacher (Anderson et al., 1988), home literacy environment, learning facilities in schools and access to books in L2, on students’ reading habits and performance (See Pretorius and Ribbens, 2005) supporting the rationale of the present study.

2.8.1.2 Reading Habits and English Reading Performance at University Level Moreover, a few researchers have examined reading habits of senior college or university students. A number of the studies, similar to the present study, have examined a correlation between the participants’ reading habits and their achievement at the college or University level. Mokhtari and Sheorey (1994) investigated the relationship of ESL university students’ reading habits and interests to TOEFL scores. A sample of 158 respondents was selected for the purpose of study. A questionnaire consisting of eight categories, such as academic reading, reading volume, non-academic reading and others was administered to measure the amount of time spent on each kind of reading respectively. The findings of the study showed that the students who spent more time (approximately 16 hours a week) on reading academic and non-academic materials had higher TOEFL scores.

Likewise, Akabuike and Asika (2012) studied the relationship between reading habits and English reading performance of two hundred undergraduate students from two Universities in Nigeria. The study used a questionnaire, a reading test and structured interviews as main data collection tools. The questionnaire was designed to examine students’ reading frequency, their perceptions and attitudes to reading, reading interest and factors affecting reading. Reading test was conducted to test their comprehension rate, speed of reading and reading difficulties.

Finally, interviews were held to examine the effects of subjects’ reading habits on their performance. Findings of the study yielded that the participants’ poor reading habits were a main reason for their abysmal reading performance. Many students read for passing their examination and not for pleasure. This study also found that lack of time and reading materials were two main reasons due to which students did

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not engage in reading. Additionally, it was also determined that reading speed and comprehension were two major problems for many participants due to which they considered reading as a painful activity.

Recently, Chen et al. (2013) studied the effects of e-books for extensive reading on English reading attitude, reading comprehension and vocabulary. The participants of the study were eighty-nine EFL students’ divided in two groups: experimental group with 46 students and control group with 43 students. The experimental group was engaged in a ten-week e-book extensive reading program in addition to their curriculum, whereas the control group did not do any extensive reading. The data was collected using Reading Attitude questionnaire and a reading comprehension and vocabulary test from TOEFL. The results of the study demonstrated a significantly higher reading attitude, reading comprehension and vocabulary of the experimental group than the control group which suggests that extensive reading is a great help in improving reading proficiency of students in second or foreign language.

The studies on the college and university students’ reading habits and performance not only suggest the ways to measure the reading habits at college or the university level; they also indicate a positive relationship between the student’s reading habits in English and English reading performance. Hence, these studies not only support the rationale of the present study but also indicate a need for further research in the similar context, to be fulfilled by the present study.

The above discussion sheds some light on various studies conducted on reading habits in one language and performance of the students at college or university level. The present study, however, is aimed at investigating a relationship of Sindhi and Urdu students’ reading habits in L1 and in English to their performance in English reading in a Pakistani University context. Hence, it is necessary to have some insight into the research which measures the relationship of reading habits in L1 and in a second language and their L2 reading performance.

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2.8.2 Relationship between Reading Habits (In L1/L2) and L2 Reading