SURVEY RESEARCH:
 

STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD READING AS A WAY TO LEARN IN SCHOOL

SUSAN GARVEY
 
 

Do students' attitudes towards reading affect their success in school?

Being a competent reader is the single most important factor for success in school and later life. As a middle school learning assistance teacher, I see many weak or reluctant readers who won't or can't read, and who won't or can't complete learning activities that require reading. They learn avoidance and display anger and frustration that is difficult to overcome.Their attitude towards reading, regardless of its genesis, tends to direct this behaviour towards their schoolwork and school in general. These students are stalled when expected to read complex literature as their skills have not developed to an adequate capacity. They often fail when they have the ability to succeed.
 

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions and attitudes of students towards reading as a way to learn in school. Specifically, I am interested in the students' responses to questions such as the following: Is reading an effective way to learn? Do students value reading as a way to learn? When students are given responsibility for their own learning by reading, are they successful? If students are challenged by reading (find reading difficult), will they persist with learning activities that require reading?

By interviewing a group of students across grades 8 to 12, I hope to elicit their perceptions about reading as a way to learn. Using the interview responses , a survey will be created that will provide information on what students believe and how it affects their success as learners. Preliminary results show the students as having several common
perceptions: reading "pays off" at some time and in some way for all of them they can make a connection between reading and other areas,such as getting better grades, training, jobs, and lifelong learning in school, the percentage of learning from reading should be reduced by 20% to 30% from what it is now, to be optimal for them.

The next step is to develop the survey which would explore the relationship between the two variables: attitude towards reading and success of learning through reading.