Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)

Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)Reading performance and reading interests of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University: basis for supplementary integrative reading materials (LV thạc sĩ)

READING PERFORMANCE AND READING INTERESTS OF COLLEGE FRESHMAN STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY:

BASIS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INTEGRATIVE READING

MATERIALS

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School

Batangas State University

Batangas City, Philippines

ABSTRACT

Title : READING PERFORMANCE AND READING INTERESTS

OF COLLEGE FRESHMAN STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: BASIS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INTEGRATIVE READING MATERIALS

Author : Dinh Thi Huong (Lilac)

Course : Doctor of Philosophy

Administration The study tested the following hypothesis that there is

no significant relationship between demographic profile and level of reading performance of students and there is no significant relationship between reading performance and reading interests of students

To gather the needed data, reading test was administered and

a researcher-made questionnaire were utilized Content validity was established by submitting the instrument to the adviser for the comments and suggestions and to the experts in the field The data generated by the test and the questionnaire were analyzed using percentage, weighted mean, chi-square test and Pearson-r

Findings of the study revealed that in terms of gender, one hundred forty-nine of the student respondents are males, while two hundred fifty-one are females As to type of school graduated from, seventy-nine are from private schools, while three hundred twenty-one are from public schools In terms of living accommodation, one hundred thirty-seven owned their accommodation, while two hundred sixty-three are only renting their places In terms of family income, ninety-six come from high earners, while one hundred forty-three are with their families who fall under average earners Meanwhile, one hundred sixty-one of the students come from low earner families In terms of educational qualification of parents, one hundred one of the respondents‘ mother

obtained college degree; two hundred eighty-eight finished high school diploma; while eleven respondents reported that their mothers only completed the elementary curriculum On the other hand, one hundred thirty of the respondents‘ father obtained college degree; two hundred sixty-six finished high school diploma; while four respondents reported that their fathers only completed the elementary curriculum

Moreover, in the students‘ reading performance in English, one hundred forty of the respondents fall under average reading performance followed by moderately good gotten by one hundred fifteen

of the respondents Meanwhile, only six fall under good reading performance Overall mean performance indicates that the students fall under average reading performance

In the relationship between demographic profile and reading performance of the students, the computed p-value for type of school graduated from shows that there is a significant relationship on reading performance However, the computed value of gender; living accommodation; family income; educational qualification of father; and mother which are all greater than 0.05, indicate that reading demographic profile has no significant relationship on the reading performance of the students

In addition, the reading interests of students relates music, musical reviews got the highest weighted mean with verbal interpretation of interesting This was followed by The Life Story of Beethoven with a weighted mean verbally interpreted as interesting However, The Birth of a New Tenor obtained the lowest weighted mean with less interesting verbal interpretation

In terms of literature, Diaries of Famous People in Vietnam is interesting as compared to Historical Novels which according to the respondents was less interesting

In terms of food and health, health journals got the highest weighted mean with less interesting verbal interpretation It was followed by Fitness and Wellness Magazines Lastly, the Recipe Books obtained the lowest weighted mean

In terms of sports and games, basketball Tips got the highest weighted mean; followed by Journals of Great Athletes and sharing on the last rank are Biographies of Football Stars and Sports Reviews

In terms of science, Issue on Ebola Virus got the highest weighted mean, followed by Discoveries on Space and Astronomy and lastly, Reading on Stem Cell Therapy

In the relationship between reading performance and reading interests, the computed p-value for music; literature; food and health;

sports and game; and science which are all greater than 0.05, indicate that reading interest has no significant relationship on the reading performance of the students

Therefore, reading performance is not affected by students‘ reading interest

The study therefore recommends that literary works and musical reading materials, as mostly appreciated by the respondents to aid their reading performance, must be enhanced

Integrative simple musical literary pieces may be given to students together with a follow-up study giving emphasis on other factors aside from the reading interest which could improve reading performance such as language difficulty, level of fluency and reading rate Supplementary reading materials are hereby proposed for implementation

Dr Hoang Bich Thao, Director for International Training Center, for his assistance and for supporting the researcher a chance to gain professional growth through completion of this study

The Panel of Examiners, for their honest and meaningful comments and recommendation to go on with this research work

Dr Amada Banaag, her adviser and mentor, who drained all her effort and her best during the entire preparation and revision of this study

To the Rectors of the University, for his permission to conduct the research at Thai Nguyen Universities

To the students who served as her respondents for their assistance and collaboration in providing information necessary for the completion of the study

To her family and her children, for inspiring her to fulfill her dream

To her ever dearest friends, and relatives who in one way or another, gave her encouragement and remarkable support

D.T.H APPROVAL SHEET

This dissertation entitled READING PERFORMANCE AND READING INTERESTS OF COLLEGE FRESHMAN STUDENTS OF THAI

INTEGRATIVE READING MATERIALS

prepared and submitted by DINH THI HUONG in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGMENT vi

APPROVAL SHEET vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

LIST OF TABLES xii

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 6

Scope, Delimitations and Limitations of the Study 7

Significance of the Study 8

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature 10

Research Literature 26

Synthesis 32

Theoretical Framework 35

Conceptual Framework 37

Hypothesis 39

III RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE

Research Environment 41

Research Design 43

Subjects of the Study 44

Data Gathering Instrument 46

Data Gathering Procedure 48

Statistical Treatment of Data 49

IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION OF DATA V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary 144

Findings 147

Conclusions 150

Recommendations 151

BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A Questionaire for student 163

B Letter Of request To Conduct Study 178

C Documentation for dry-run 183

E Photographs of the Research Sites 184

F Photographs of the Approval Test Administration 185

G Photographs of the Student Respondents 187

CURRICULUM VITAE

LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page

1 Distribution of Subjects 44

2 Scale of Reading interests of students 47

3 Scale of Reading performance of students 48

4 Gender Profile of Student Respondents 51

5 Type of High School Graduated from Profile of Student Respondents 52

6 Living Accommodation Profile of Student Respondents 53

5 Monthly Family Income Profile of Student Respondents 53

8 Educational Attainment of Parents Profile of Student Respondents 54

9 Level of the Students‘ Reading Performance in English 56

10 Relationship between Demographic Profile and Reading Performance of the Students 58

11 Reading Interests of Freshman Students with Regards to Literature 60

12 Reading Interests of Freshman Students with Regards to Science 61

13 Reading Interests of Freshman Students with Regards to Sports and Games 62

14 Reading Interests of Freshman Students with Regards to Music 64

15 Reading Interests of Freshman Students with Regards to Food

and Health 65

16 Summary Table on the Reading Interest of the Students 67

17 Relationship between the Reading Performance of the Students

and Reading Interests of Freshman Students 68

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Title Page

1 The Conceptual Model of the Study Using the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines

It is now the concern of English teachers to apply language learning into useful, meaningful and worthwhile classroom engagements and create career advantage in life

As English is the language of academic instruction, the success

of students depend on their communication ability which is anchored on their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in English But in the recent times, the performance of the college students have fallen short

of the standard output expected while there is an increasing complaint

of the college professors that most college students are disabled readers Most of the college students are no longer fluent in speaking, reading, and writing the English language

With the advent of new technology, students nowadays spend more of their free time enjoying with their gadgets, mostly for games rather than with their reading materials No matter how hard educators push the campaign of reading among students, most of them would prefer not to participate

One of the most important skills being taught to students today is reading This is the foundation for which the individual builds new skills, expands knowledge, and drives great satisfaction Perhaps, the most complex process the students experience is the skill in reading The teacher, whether in elementary, secondary or even in college, needs to guide the students properly in the acquisition of basic skills to be able to read with understanding

Development of reading skills is vital most especially for students Reading is a multifaceted process that develops only with practice There are certain aspects of reading, such as fluency and word recognition, which can be learned in a few years These basics must be mastered but at the same time reading comprehension should be emphasized in the process

Nowadays, in Vietnam, English is considered as a basic subject It

is being taught in most of the universities, including Thai Nguyen University In doing so, the University is doing its best to keep the students

at par with their other Asian counterparts in terms of English studies This

is also the reason why in the English classes, reading is given importance

as it helps the learner not only to learn the subject but also to understand more about the outside world

However, it is sad to note that even reading is an interesting activity; most students in Thai Nguyen do not show much interest in it Instead they give attention to other activities that are either physical or the use of gadget to entertain themselves For them, reading is a complex process that causes them a lot of time and effort that they find

it rather boring and time-consuming

With this, the researcher being a Basic English instructor became interested in the reading performance and interests of TNU freshmen students so as to propose integrative reading materials that may help them improve their reading comprehension She also hopes that she will be able to arouse the reading interests of students through the materials that she will propose

It is in this note that the researcher conducted the study to help TNU freshmen students to cope up with the reading demands of both academic and professional endeavors

The learners will be informed the events, culture, people, and others in foreign countries through English newspaper, magazines or

books Reading is the key that unlocks the door in the world of enlightenment and enjoyment

The goals of reading are to understand written text, integrate new ideas, and generalize from what is read Reading comprehension depends on several interrelated skills: understanding oral language, decoding the printed word, reading fluently, and using strategies to increase comprehension No matter what the student‘s age is, it‘s important his skills develop in all areas because significant difficulty in any one of them can cause a breakdown in the whole process of reading (Baumel, 2003)

Good readers know and understand the processes involved in reading and consciously control them This awareness and control of the reading processes is called metacognition, which means ―knowing about knowing‖ Some students do not know what they are reading They continue to red even though they do not comprehend Poor readers tolerate such confusion because they either don‘t realize that it exists or don‘t know what to do about it Poor reader focuses on facts whereas good readers try to absorb details into a larger cognitive pattern

The reading performance interest college students must be given priority so that they will be able to cope up with the demands of both academic and professional endeavors To see better development, the

researcher decided to tap the freshmen students of the University so that in the end, integrative reading materials will be proposed to enhance the reading performance of the students

Hence, the problem in reading skill acquisition that prevails among the first year college students has to be identified and given attention to The researcher really wanted to come up with a concerted effort among English instructors of the different colleges of this university– to lessen, if not eradicate the reading weaknesses of the students Such effort however, is an expectation for better quality of today‘s college graduates

Likewise, the need for this study is really on call since it should always be the concern of the English teachers to know the abilities, interests, needs and characteristics of the students under his control and at the same time discuss the weaknesses of each student in reading as well as give the corresponding measure As one goes up the ladder of education, this student has to learn to read extensively in order to improve his level of achievement He has to develop the basic skills in reading The researcher wanted to emphasize the need for reading skills because she believes that success in reading is success

in school, thus, success in future life It is even obvious that the ability to read is vital to learning because access to knowledge in the various

disciplines is made possible through reading This eventually prepares the youth for both local and global competitiveness

It is in light that this study is conducted

Statement of the Problem

This study determined the reading performance and reading

interests of freshman students of Thai Nguyen University

Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:

1 What is the demographic profile of college freshman students of Thai Nguyen University in terms of:

1.1 gender

1.2 type of high school graduated from

1.3 living accommodation

1.4 monthly family income

1.5 educational qualification of parent?

2 What is the level of the students‘ reading performance in English?

3 How does reading performance relate to the demographic profile

of the students? Are there significant relationships?

4 What are the reading interests of college freshman students along the following:

4.1 literature

4.2 science

4.3 sports and games

4.4 Music

4.5 Food and health

5 How do the reading performance relate to reading interest?

6 What supplementary integrative reading materials may be prepared?

Scope, Delimitations and Limitations of the Study

This study focused and was limited to the reading performance

of freshman students of Thai Nguyen University It included the demographic profile of students in terms of gender, type of high school graduated from, living accommodation, monthly family income and educational qualifications of parents

It also dealt with the survey of reading interests of students along literature, science, sports and games, music, food and health The output is the proposed integrative reading materials The study was conducted in the school year 2013-2014 among 400 freshman students

of TNU

Students who were in their Second year to Fourth year level were not included in the study Results of this research study were limited only on the data gathered from the respondents in the Academic Year 2013-2014 in Thai Nguyen University system

Significance of the Study

With the good intention of the researcher, this study will be in a way benefiting directly or indirectly to the following who are involved in the educational system most especially those concerned with the English courses or even other tool subjects where the medium of instruction is English The researcher believe that this study would be beneficial to the following

The Students of TNU The useful and relevant information

acquired from the study will encourage them to keep on using English

as their second language

The English Teachers The results of this study could provide them

insights on how they will address the needs, problems and constraints toward the concept of reading More so, they could be able to understand better the attitudes, interest, comprehension skills and problems of the students as regards reading

The Language Department of TNU The findings would serve as

an indispensable basis in revitalizing and intensifying English as well as the Reading Program The results too, would give them ideas of integrating a well-planned reading activities in English and developmental Reading subjects

School Administrators This study would be instrumental in the

performance of the school as far as students‘ development is concerned With an improved grammar, the school would be well

represented in inter-schools and community activities Moreover, the output of the study could be considered as supplementary to the reference materials provided in the school library This could also encourage them to further intensify the school‘s both English and Reading Programs

More likely, the findings would motivate the administrators to implement a reading program that could assist English teachers to discover students‘ strengths and weaknesses in reading skills

Parents The integrative reading materials to be suggested in the

study would be easily appreciated, since the end beneficiary in any educative process is the student

Other Higher Education Institutions The data collected would

likely be useful for the teachers of other higher education institutions who have limited English proficient students

Syllabus Designers This research study could make the

syllabus designers find a place for reading competencies in the course

of activities for lessons they have to make This would give them the realization that reading should not be taken for granted and that it needs

to be involved in their design This would prompt them to continue developing materials that will enrich the students‘ reading competence

The future researchers This could provide them additional

insights in doing similar study on reading

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of conceptual and research literatures which are related to the present study It also include the synthesis, theoretical framework, the conceptual framework, definition

of terms and the hypothesis

Conceptual Literature

The concepts reviewed in this section includes characteristic of freshman college students, reading performance of college students, reading interests of college students and integrative supplementary reading materials These concepts provide the researcher much information that helped her gain understanding on the constructs of this research

Characteristic of College Students Freshman college students

are young, enthusiastic group of people who came from different backgrounds They belong to varied racial or ethic origin, academic and social systems, demographic and personal backgrounds which bring a

wide array of behavior, beliefs, languages and practices into the campus

These students also are still influenced by their precollege experiences, perceptions and expectations that affect their interaction with their professors, newfound friends and classmates such section in the university where freshman students meet provide a fertile around for new avenues of learning and curious discovery among these young people (http://link.springs.com/article/10.1007%2FB00991406)

This generation of students belong the information age where much is taken from the internet, television, radio and other social media platforms such as face book, twitter, instagram and viber This is the group of people who prefer to see and hear information rather than read and think Most of these young people are products of technology environment where they are exposed to gadgets such as cellular phones, fax m cameras and machines, tablets, ipads, portable cameras and many more With this scenario, much of their time is focused on using these gadgets instead of spending time and effort in traditional reading Though they are reading, they don‘t read the traditional reading way but instead have news online, e-mails, e-books, e – entertainment magazines, e – journals and other online stuff (Int‘l.joural in engineering, science and technology, V.I, June, 2002)

When it comes to their reading characteristics, this group of young people belong to different categories since they come from a diverse background and even culture majority of them read books in school to fulfill requirements and there is also those who have habit of reading books every day But there is also group of young people who are not reading at all because of certain circumstances unsupportive environment and of course economic deprivation

Young people are also reading in different ways where they show

a general positive attitude towards reading They find reading relaxing and fun as well as educational and informative They recognize the importance of reading, its educational benefit and what it can do to improve their life

However, there are also a group of students who describe reading as boring – a description more likely to be chosen by those attending state public schools Some of them regard reading as hard work especially when all coursework require voluminous reading assignment that new college students see as irrelevant and pointless (National Youth Readership Journal, n.d.)

On a Claser look, in a cross – section between males and females who come to the university to study, male students prefer to read magazines on sports, music and entertainment Even coming from

a diverse background, young male students show a common liking to science fiction, adventure, history and even mystery These young male students also are readers of newspapers mainly for sports and entertainment purposes

On the other hand, their female counterpart enjoy reading romance novels, literatures from other countries and so spense young female university students also reason, magazines with contexts on music, hair, fashion, life styles and entertainment Mystery is also one genre that these young girls reading (The Journal of College Literary and Learning, Vol.31, 2002-2003)

These facts about the characteristics, backgrounds and experiences of young university entrants pose a big challenge to the management, faculty and staff of the educational institution Dealing with a group of people with diverse demographics need careful planning and understanding of the preconceptions they bring in to the university The enthusiasm, the aggressiveness and youthfulness of the college freshman students must be dealt with equal enthusiasm and willingness to meet their expections and needs

Reading Performance One of the most important skills that a

person can acquire is reading It helps the learner to understand the world by enabling them to learn about the past and plan for the future

(Grove et al, 1982) For academic success, reading is important since

it is also considered a critical skill In the educational system reading

is well integrated that either educational or academic success is considered synonymous to reading success

In term of reading skills, the ability to read is essential to the ability to talk Without this ability, one can find this modern world a confusing place to live in It will be difficult to find one‘s way about a strange city without help

One must be able to read if he desires to talk or write in such a way as to interest, convince, or persuade other people Through reading, he will learn, not only what other people thought, felt, dreamed

of, or believed in; but also have those people expressed their ideas, emotions, dreams, and beliefs

In academic setting, reading is the central means for learning new information and gain access to alternative explanations and interpretations Reading also provides the foundation for synthesis and critical evaluation of skills It is the primary means for independent learning wherever the goal is performing better on academic tasks, learning more about subject matter, or improving language abilities Reading as pointed out by Beber (1995) is a process by which information is extracted from written or printed texts Since reading is a

complex process there are critical aspects of which it is dependent and these are the written format of the word and the reader‘s ability to decode the phonetic relationships between the letters of the page and the sounds of the spoken language and a semantic or syntactic process that has to do with meaning of the words which are being pronounced Reading as one skill in language performance is basically about making sense of a text and is the receptive skill of the morphologic form of the language It is astoundingly complex cognitive process It has cognitive consequences that extend beyond its immediate task of lifting meaning from

a particular passage (www.csun.ed/know/ands/content/Academic Resource/Reading) Dauzat (1981) on the other hand states that reading

as a process involves mental ability embedded in other communication abilities and converts graphic stimuli into meanings It is an act of reconverting symbols into language with which the individual is already familiar For reading and academic success, strong vocabulary skills both expressive and receptive are critical Vocabulary depth is significant because it supports reading development Reading can also help us develop our own ideas about relationship as well as the world of thoughts and emotions

Reading has to be considered in the role of language because according to Anderson (1985), it is a basic life skill and creates almost

limitless possibilities for achievements Much of the learning takes place

in the form of reading in spite of other medium of instruction used whether it be in the form of a textbooks or a written work In conveying information and new knowledge, reading plays a pivotal role

Reading performance is watered down into the detailed presentation of the reading process For readers to easily process what they read, Samuels (2002) have identified steps that readers use whenever they read These are decoding, comprehension and attention Comprehension is a process in which meaning is constructed using information from the printed page and the knowledge stored in the head

of the reader as the building materials To decode and comprehend text, attention is required Attention is the cognitive energy used in mental processing tasks such as decoding and comprehending It is a resource that is available in limited quantity, and the processing demands required in reading may exceed the amount of attention that is available All these steps must be present to deliver a successful reading performance among learners

Pure reading performance is most directly linked to a child's success with five early literacy skills phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension (Anderson, 2014) For high school students, the later three are the major concerns He has

described the scope of each ‗Fluency‘ involves the accuracy and speed

of a student's reading A fluent reader is able to read text correctly, quickly and with appropriate voice tone Gaining fluency makes reading

a more pleasurable and less stressful experience for students Fluent readers are usually able to read almost effortlessly This allows them to concentrate their efforts on comprehension and vocabulary as opposed

to decoding and recognizing words For a student to become a proficient reader who gains meaning from text, she must first become a fluent reader

Next is vocabular involves gaining meaning from words while

reading Essentially, a student cannot comprehend or construct meaning from text without understanding the words within the passage

A child with strong vocabulary knowledge is able to read more fluently and with more purpose A child's vocabulary grows daily through conversation, reading, direct instruction and life experiences Reading aloud

to children every day and explicitly teaching selected words help nurture strong vocabulary knowledge

Lastly, ‗comprehension‘ involves constructing meaning from what is

being read Reading truly has no purpose without comprehension In order

to comprehend text, a reader must actively and intentionally think about and analyze meaning while reading Good comprehension requires strong

abilities in all four of the other fundamental literacy skills Students must consider many bits of information while reading to comprehend the text such as genre, text structure, the author's purpose and familiar and unfamiliar words Strong comprehension encourages self-directed learning and lifelong reading

Anderson‘s (2014) measures of reading performance are presently part of the content standards followed by the K+12 curricula for high school in the Philippines The seven content standards are as follows: listening comprehension, oral and reading fluency, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, writing and comprehension, grammar awareness and structure, attitude

Continually improving reader‘s performance is vital The Commission on Adolescent Literacy of the International Reading Association asserts: Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21stcentury will read and write more than any other time in human history They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn They will need literacy to feed their imaginations

so they can create the world of the future In a complex and sometimes

even dangerous world, their ability to read will be crucial Continual instruction beyond the early graders is needed (Vacca, 2002)

Reading performance is partly measured by standardized tests In the Philippines, National Achievement Test (NAT) is annually done to test grade six and ten students The students' knowledge and mastery over the subjects English, Mathematics, Science, Filipino, and Hekasi are measured using a multiple choice type test The examination is administered by the Department of Education's National Educational Testing and Research Center (NETRC) There were not much available data online about the results of NAT However, one site posted by the Philippine Statistics Authority last May 2007 which compared NAT results in three consecutive years (S Y 2003-2006) It showed a generally deteriorating performance of the students

Reading interests of College students Generally speaking,

adolescents love to read books for pleasure and edutainment—education through fun This edutainment blended with wittiness may influence their reading preferences More or less, all individuals are likely to have the sense of humor and wittiness Therefore, the books on humor appeal to the people irrespective of their age (Greenlaw & Wielan, 1979) groups but adolescents seem to be more inclined toward them They love reading poetry, adventurous & mysterious novels and

comic books They prefer to idealize romantic, brave, humorous, and adventurous characters with an inclination to adopt

People read for a variety of purposes such as get the main idea They read to locate specific information like scanning for a name, data,

or term They read data to learn information and sometimes, they are expected to synthesize information to multiple texts, or from a longer chapter or book in order to take a critical position with respect to fact information (Murcia, 2006)

There are different purposes of reading One may read a text to learn a material, or could just be for pure pleasure and sometimes reads

to follow a set of directions For students, much of their readings are to learn assigned material and get information

There are generally two reasons cited for reading: pleasure and study The type of materials used for study includes dictionary, textbook, instructional material, internet material, report and story/novels This implies that the materials associated with academic work would be regarded as important for study Whereas those cited for pleasure reading include magazines, emails, newspapers and novels These types of reading material do not require much processing as the others cited for study Thus, learners are more relaxed and feel comfortable reading these materials in a leisurely manner (Noor, 2011),

stated that young people favored reading magazines and newspapers most and novels least

Recently introduced e-reader brands have attracted so much attention that it is sometimes difficult to remember that those currently

on the market are not the first generation of such devices The first generation was introduced, to little fanfare, in the 1990s Devices such

as the Soft Book and the Rocket E-Book reader are well documented

in the literature, but were unsuccessful in the market The most recent wave of e-readers began with the Sony Reader in 2006 and Amazon‘s Kindle in 2007, and thus far is enjoying more success Barnes and Noble and Borders have entered the market with the Nook and the Kobo, respectively, and Apple has introduced the iPad, a multifunction device that works well as an e-reader

Amazon claims that e-book sales for the Kindle have outstripped their hardcover book sales These numbers may reflect price differences, enthusiasm on the part of early adopters, marketing efforts

on the parts of these particular companies, or a lack of other options for e-reader users because the devices are designed to be compatible primarily with the offerings of the companies who sell them Nevertheless, they certainly indicate a rise in the con- sumption of e-books by the public, as the dramatic increase in wholesale e-book sales

bears out In the meantime, sales of the devices increased nearly 80 percent in 2010 With this flurry of activity have come predictions that e-readers will replace print eventually, perhaps even within the next few years Books have been published with such bold titles as

Print is Dead However, despite the excitement, e-readers are still a

niche market

Research from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2002) showed that reading enjoyment is more important for students‘ educational success than their family‘s socio-economic status Reading for pleasure could therefore be one important way to help combat social exclusion and raise educational standards According to Krashen (1993), who is a major proponent of the value of reading for pleasure: when children read for pleasure, when they get

―hooked on books‖, they acquire, involuntarily and without conscious effort, nearly all of the so-called ―language skills‖ many people are so concerned about: they will become adequate readers, acquire a large vocabulary, develop the ability to understand and use complex grammatical constructions, develop a good writing style, and become good (but not necessarily perfect) spellers Although free voluntary reading alone will not ensure attainment of the highest levels of literacy,

it will at least ensure an acceptable level What young people has been

an area of interest to researchers, teachers, librarians and other interested parties for more than a century and many studies have attempted to answer it Researchers have studied reading interests and preferences using a variety of methods, such as surveys and interviews However, there still is no definitive understanding of what they prefer to read and when these preferences develop Research findings are also likely to present only a temporal snapshot of children‘s and young people‘s reading preferences

Young people read a diverse range of materials outside class, incorporating materials not traditionally regarded by schools as acceptable reading matter For example, the Reading Connects survey (Clark & Foster, 2005) showed that when young people were asked what types of materials they were reading outside class, magazines, websites, text messages, jokes and books/magazines about TV programmes emerged as the most popular reading choices Over half them also indicated reading emails, fiction, comics, while newspapers were also popular choices When asked specifically about what type of fiction, if any, they preferred reading, adventure, comedy and horror/ghost stories were the most frequently chosen types

Integrative supplementary reading materials Integrative reading materials are instrumental for enhancing reading performance

and arousing reading interests In its simplest term, integrative materials are those that help the teachers to teach reading with ease and the learners to learn without stress These materials appeal to the reading appetite of students They include materials not usually used by teachers inside the classroom and are sources from different areas to arouse reading interests of students

The kind and quality of integrative reading material developed influence the behavior most likely manifested in the quality of readers personal choices and reading maturity Integrative reading materials are indispensable to the attainment of desired reading outcomes in terms of comprehension understanding, habits, skills, and attitudes

Richards (2001) considered integrative reading materials as an important component in language programs as it can motivate students, contribute to their understanding, provide exciting reading experiences, reinforce comprehension and change attitudes toward reading In addition, integrative reading materials generally serve as a supplement for much of the language input learners receive and the language practice that occurs inside and outside the classroom

The development of materials for reading is an example of instructional material production According to Gustafson (2002), the preparation of integrative reading materials and their interest includes choosing of a good text, the students‘ skills and their interest Before the

development per se, they must first be an analysis of the reading text, students‘ difficulty as well as their interests

Another element that must not be missed in the development of integrative materials according to Salazar (2001) is the quality of being interesting Teachers‘ use of interesting integrative reading materials make students more engaged in reading and focused for better understanding It was pointed out that the students read and learn best

if they enjoy what they are reading and doing Integrative reading materials should be stimulating and incorporating a variety of types to gain students‘ attention, arouse interests and encourage more engagement at the same time challenging them to read more Gallas and Smagorinsky (2002) stated that learners feel comfortable with texts which include their experiences and perspectives particular to their group

Likewise, Blay (2009) noted that in developing reading materials used in language learning, there is a need to include motivation systematically as part of strategy If passages used are appealing, the attitudes of readers are not only greatly improved but more importantly, their reading performance is greatly enhanced

Aquino (2008), however, stressed that in constructing integrative reading materials for ESL courses, materials must be chosen based on students‘ familiarity of the topic and variability of subject matter to ensure that the materials are not biased for a particular field of