Reading interests and motivation: Their relationship to the reading comprehension skills of freshman students of Passi National High School

Abstract

This research study was conducted at Passi National High School. The respondents consisted of freshman students officially enrolled during academic year 2005 - 2006. This research focused on the study of freshman students’ reading comprehension skills (dependent variable), reading interests, motivation to read (independent variables), sex, monthly income of parents, and fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments (antecedent variables). The study utilized the one-shot survey design. The sample size of 285 freshmen high school students of Passi National High School was selected through cluster sampling. The data were gathered by using the reading comprehension test portions of the Division Achievement Tests (DAT, 2002 -2004)) and questionnaires to determine the respondents’ reading comprehension skills, reading interests and motivation to read. To ensure validity of the instrument, five reading experts were asked to evaluate its content and consistency. The SPSS for Windows was used. The statistical tools utilized were Frequency Distribution, Percentage, Means, Pearson’s r, Chi-Square and Cramer’s V. the results of the statistical tests were interpreted at .05 of significance. Major Findings of the Study Based on their means, the kinds of reading materials the respondents prefer to read are text booklets (2.0) and textbooks (1.8). The topics they prefer to read about are science ((2.2), jokes or funny stories (2.2) and sports or games ((2.0). Finally, the types they prefer to read are: drama or play (2.0) and poetry (1.6). Their mean of 37.60 reveals that the respondents as an entire group exhibited a moderate level of reading interests. Furthermore, a significant relationship was noted between the respondents’ sex, monthly income of parents, fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments and the respondents’ reading interests. It was found out that female respondents had a reading interests’ mean of 39.24 which was higher than the male respondents’ mean of 35.09. The respondents from parents with a high monthly income had a level of reading interests mean of 41.61 which was higher when compared to the means of the respondents from parents with a low (35.99) and average (39.41) monthly incomes. Moreover, the respondents from fathers with college education had a mean of 40.14 which was higher than the means of the respondents from parents with elementary (34.23) and high school (38.20) education. Finally, the respondents from mothers who had college education had a mean of 40.90 which was higher than the means of the respondents with mothers who only had elementary (34.40) and high school (37.33) education. The importance to be a good reader proves to be the most important reason that motivates the students to read, having a mean of 3.9. The reason that they found reading fun and enjoyable follows with a mean of 3.8. The other reasons that they are motivated to read are that they like if there are many characters in the story with a mean of 3.8 and they tend to be deeply engaged when they read with a mean of 3.8. Finally, they are motivated to read because reading is important since it will make them more knowledgeable students with a mean of 3.7. When taken as a whole, the data show that the respondents had a high level of motivation to read with a mean score of 52.74. A significant relationship was noted between the respondents’ sex, monthly income of parents, fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments and the respondents’ motivation to read. It was found out that female respondents had a motivation to read mean of 54.02 which was higher than the male respondents’ mean of 50.79. The respondents from parents with high monthly income had a higher level of motivation to read with a mean of 55.71 than the respondents from parents with low (51.53) and average (54.14) monthly incomes. Moreover, the respondents from fathers with college education had a motivation to read mean score of 54.79 which was higher than the means of the respondents from parents with only elementary (49.92) and high school (53.29) education. Finally, the respondents from mothers with college education had a higher level of motivation to read as shown by their mean of 54.10 than the respondents from mothers with only elementary (50.85) and high school (52.95) education. The respondents as a whole exhibited a fair level of reading comprehension skills with a mean of 23.55. A significant relationship was noted between the respondents' sex, monthly income of parents, fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments and the respondents’ comprehension skills. The female respondents had reading comprehension skills mean of 25.41 which was higher than the male respondents’ mean of 20.78.The respondents from parents with high monthly income had a reading comprehension skills’ mean of29.13 which was higher than the respondents from parents with low (21.17) and average (26.45) monthly incomes. Furthermore, the respondents from fathers with college education had a higher level of reading comprehension skills’ mean of 28.58 which was higher than the means of the respondents from fathers with only elementary (19.42) and high school (23.23) education. Finally, the respondents from mothers with college education had a higher level of reading comprehension skills with a mean of 28.64 which was higher than the means of the respondents from mothers with only elementary (19.44) and high school (22.70) education. A significant relationship was noted between the respondents’ reading interests and their reading comprehension skills. Finally, the respondents’ motivation to read was also found to be significantly related with their reading comprehension skills. Conclusions The respondents prefer to read text booklets, textbooks and comic books. They have a preference to read about science, jokes or funny stories, and sports or games. Moreover, they like to read drama or play and poetry. The respondents as a whole exhibit a moderate level of reading interests as shown in their mean which was 37.60. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between the respondents’ sex, monthly income of parents, fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments and the respondents’ reading interests. The respondents as a whole are motivated to read intrinsically, that is, they want to be good readers. The respondents as a whole have a high level of motivation to read. There is a significant relationship between the respondents’ sex, monthly income of parents, fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments and respondents’ motivation to read. The respondents have a fair level of reading comprehension skills. Moreover, the respondents’ sex, monthly income of parents, fathers’ and mothers’ educational attainments are related with the respondents’ reading comprehension skills. The respondents’ reading interests has a significant bearing on their reading comprehension skills. Finally, the respondents’ motivation to read has a significant bearing on their reading comprehension skills. Recommendations Based on the major findings of the study, and conclusions drawn from these, the following recommendations are set forth: That Reading Centers be provided by institutions of higher learning with magazines, articles, newspapers, books and varied reading materials. That Learning Resource Centers inside the classroom be put up by teachers as these can help students be familiar with the different kinds and types of reading materials. Moreover, these can also increase students’ reading interests’ level. Furthermore, that both parents and teachers work jointly to encourage students to widen their reading interests and read for pleasure serve as models by reading frequently themselves. That children, especially from parents with low income and educational attainments, be made aware that besides having a wider vocabulary, the more often they read and the wider their reading interests are the better comprehension will be. Acquiring these skills will lead to higher level of reading proficiency. That teachers help to continue uplift the students’ level of motivation to read by providing more reading opportunities and educational experiences in school. That parents and teachers motivate students to read by reminding them of the many good reasons for them to read. That reading teachers should motivate students, especially those from parents with low monthly income and educational attainments, by reminding them of the pleasure and information they can get from reading. That they should help the students choose good books that interest them for this will help students love and value reading more. That upon entering first year high school, struggling and non-readers should be identified through oral and reading comprehension diagnostic tests and undergo immediate and intensive remedial reading. That teachers be given opportunities to attend reading seminars to develop their skills in teaching reading. Furthermore, that teachers give extra effort in helping students, especially male students and students from parents with low monthly income and educational attainments, develop their reading comprehension skills. They can do this by giving these students more reading activities and educational activities in school, That teachers and parents provide students with varied reading materials like magazines, newspapers, dictionaries and thesaurus and other reading materials that interest them. Through this, students' reading comprehension skills will be improved. Finally, that instructional aids adapt to the reading skills, motivation to read and needs of the different types of readers. Through this, students will find reading more appealing and worthwhile. This will also help improve students’ comprehension skills.