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1 – 10 of over 31000Mohammad N. Khreisat and Sarjit Kaur
This study aims to investigate English recreational reading habits of Arab Jordanian EFL university students when classes are in session and during vacation, and the types of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate English recreational reading habits of Arab Jordanian EFL university students when classes are in session and during vacation, and the types of recreational reading they engage in. In addition, the study explores other relationships such as the relationship between reading habits and students ' cumulative grade point average (CGPA); and the effect of parents ' educational level and their time spent on reading.
Design/methodology/approach
The respondents, comprising 225 third- and fourth-year English majors, completed an English recreational reading habits questionnaire. The study utilised a non-probability sampling method, namely, purposive sampling. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS software v. 20.
Findings
The findings indicated that students read more when they were on vacation compared to their readings while classes are in session. The students ' average time spent on reading when classes are in session and during vacation is 2.15 hours and 2.82 hours per week, respectively. Slightly more than half (57 percent) the students always read emails/chat rooms/Facebook, which are their most preferred type of recreational reading. Non-fiction books were the least favourite among students with 47 percent of students indicating that they never or rarely read this type of genre. Among all the reading interests, only novels had a significant correlation with the students ' CGPA. The findings showed that the respondents with higher levels of fathers ' education were significantly reading more.
Originality/value
The reading habits of EFL students have received little attention and there is limited research that surveyed Arab EFL students ' recreational reading habits at the tertiary level. The purpose of this study is to address this gap in the literature and set out to be a point of reference and comparison for future investigations about English recreational reading habits of Arab EFL tertiary students.
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Abdul Jabbar and Nosheen Fatima Warraich
Providing equal opportunities in class as well as at home does not ensure equal promotion of leisure reading among girls and boys. Gender differences have wider impacts on their…
Abstract
Purpose
Providing equal opportunities in class as well as at home does not ensure equal promotion of leisure reading among girls and boys. Gender differences have wider impacts on their reading development. The purpose of this paper is to find out gender differences in leisure reading habits among children.
Design/methodology/approach
The search process was conducted during Aug.–Sept. 2019 using Scopus database. A total of 41 studies were selected for the review. The systematic review used Cochrane Methodologies reported as per preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines for identification, evaluation and selection of studies. The studies that dealt with leisure reading, reported gender difference of reading, had age group of 4–18-year children, were in English language and were accessible to the researchers were selected for review.
Findings
The results were presented in terms of identified reading factors including reading frequency, reading choice, reading time, reading media, reading influence, reading value and library use. The girls were more frequent readers than boys. The girls were in favor of fiction, while boys were interested in reading nonfiction. Girls preferred online materials but boys were in favor of printed materials. The boys were influenced by their fathers and peer groups’ reading, while girls were influenced by their mothers’ reading habits.
Research limitations/implications
The study provided better understanding of boys’ and girls’ reading differences and required the librarians, teachers and academic policymakers to deal with them accordingly.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first kind of systematic review reporting difference of reading on the basis of gender and inferred reading factors. It will be helpful for librarians, teachers and academic policymakers to consider these differences while dealing with boys’ and girls’ reading choices and interests.
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Jose G. Clavel and Mauro Mediavilla
This paper aims to focus on how reading for pleasure is transmitted within the family. Using data taken from the Programme for International Student Assessment test of 2009, which…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on how reading for pleasure is transmitted within the family. Using data taken from the Programme for International Student Assessment test of 2009, which dealt in depth with the reading proficiency of students, the authors show that children of parents who read for pleasure are better readers. Within the extensive research and published results on reading performance, the authors focused on the transmission of parents’ reading attitudes to their children.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors have opted for an approach of “difference in differences”, applied to a population that represents all 15-year-olds from five countries (Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Italy and Portugal). To support this study, the authors chose as a response variable the difference between reading performance and maths performance of each student, taking into account five plausible values for each student. The authors have several explanatory variables, among them what we call the “treatment”, which is the parents’ enthusiasm for reading.
Findings
The calculated estimations clearly indicate that there is a positive effect for four out of the five countries analysed, ranging from 4 points for Italy to 6.5 points for Germany and Portugal. As for the significance of the effect, with the exception of Hungary, the result is reliable and robust. It should also be noted that the variable that indicates the existence of a reading habit by children (daily reading for pleasure) is seen as a factor that positively affects the difference between competence in reading and mathematics in four out of the five countries analysed.
Originality value
The results show positive effects on children whose parents read for pleasure, and this fact should be used to further encourage parents to promote their own reading time for pleasure. In view of the already quantified trend in international reports that adults are reading less, it seems crucial to involve educational authorities in reversing this phenomenon, knowing the impact that adult reading habits have on the reading competence of young people.
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Stepanian tells how the excellence of school libraries in her suburban Ohio district infects the student body, and therefore the community, as success breeds success and generous…
Abstract
Stepanian tells how the excellence of school libraries in her suburban Ohio district infects the student body, and therefore the community, as success breeds success and generous support from prooud parents and other taxpayers. The Shaker Height library system serves as the model for this example of a succesful marriage between community, school, and library.
Paulette M. Rothbauer and Lucia Cedeira Serantes
The purpose of this paper is to explore various concepts of time and temporal dimensions in the context of everyday reading experiences.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore various concepts of time and temporal dimensions in the context of everyday reading experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses theoretical bricolage that puts existing reading research into conversation with theories of time and temporalities.
Findings
Three registers of time in reading are put forward: (1) libraries and books as places that readers return to again and again over time, (2) temporalized reading bodies and (3) everyday reading as a temporalized practice.
Research limitations/implications
Using lenses of time and temporalities, everyday reading is shown to be central to ways of being in time. Subjectives experiences of time in the context of reading expand the limited ways that time is presented in much Library and Information Science (LIS) reading research.
Originality/value
This paper offers a new conceptual framework for studies of reading and readers in LIS.
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Denton L. Collins, Kirsten A. Cook and Matthew T. Hart
Research readings groups represent a recent innovation in accounting doctoral education that appears to be spreading at research-oriented universities. In this chapter, the…
Abstract
Research readings groups represent a recent innovation in accounting doctoral education that appears to be spreading at research-oriented universities. In this chapter, the authors describe how accounting research readings groups can serve as a mechanism to engage doctoral students in the consumption and discussion of research throughout all phases of the doctoral program. An accounting research readings group supplements the breadth of knowledge gained in doctoral seminars by adding depth of knowledge in a focal research area. The authors offer insights from the educational psychology literature to justify research readings groups as a form of team-based learning and then offer suggestions on the formation and operation of these groups. The authors enumerate the many benefits that these groups afford to both doctoral students and faculty members. The authors also distribute a survey to faculty organizers of the existing accounting research readings groups and share the results of this survey to supplement their advice with firsthand experiences, the authors also share the results of a survey distributed to faculty organizers of existing accounting research readings groups. The authors’ goal is to encourage the use of accounting research readings groups to inspire, foster, and enhance the research culture within accounting departments and doctoral programs.
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Frank Huysmans, Ellen Kleijnen, Kees Broekhof and Thomas van Dalen
This paper aims to describe the effects of the Dutch policy program the Library at School on primary school pupils’ leisure book reading and attitude towards reading books, in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the effects of the Dutch policy program the Library at School on primary school pupils’ leisure book reading and attitude towards reading books, in the first year of the nationwide implementation of the program.Design/methodology/approach – In monitoring the effectiveness of the Library at School, online questionnaires were administered to students (grades 2‐6), teachers and reading‐media consultants. The study is based on data collected in the school year 2011‐2012 from a sample of 4,682 students from 229 classes, with 284 teachers of 68 schools.
Findings
Multilevel regression analyses show that effects of the Library at School on reading attitude and leisure reading cannot yet be discerned in 2011‐2012, although slightly positive univariate effects are found.
Research limitations/implications
As yet, the number of participating schools is limited, hence statistical power is low on that level. Whether the sample can be considered representative for all Dutch primary schools is not certain.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that a school library in itself is not sufficient to promote book reading in leisure time. The role of the reading‐media consultant in facilitating both teachers and learners might have to be strengthened.
Originality/value
This study gives a first glimpse at the effects of the program the Library at School on the reading attitude and leisure reading of primary school students in The Netherlands. The continuous monitoring approach employed is new and can be helpful for similar policy programs in other countries.
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Yan Yu Cora Sung and Dickson K.W. Chiu
This study aims to examine the perception and preference of parents for their children using mobile devices to read. The pros and cons of electronic books and print books are…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the perception and preference of parents for their children using mobile devices to read. The pros and cons of electronic books and print books are examined from the parents' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 parents in Hong Kong, who have children in primary and secondary schools. Their opinions were summarized into common themes to explore their choice of books for children in terms of format and content.
Findings
The findings indicated that most parents and schools still prefer print books unless required by schools. However, the e-book has played an essential role under the current COVID-19 pandemic and digital literacy development.
Originality/value
Scant studies focus on parents' views on their choice of book formats for children, especially for East Asian metropolises. The findings are useful for schools, teachers and publishers to explore publication and collection, as well as market development in digital reading resources.
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Kari Bosma, Audrey C. Rule and Karla S. Krueger
Graphic novels can contribute to effective content area reading on social studies topics such as the American Revolution. This action research study’s purpose was to examine…
Abstract
Graphic novels can contribute to effective content area reading on social studies topics such as the American Revolution. This action research study’s purpose was to examine student recall of facts, enjoyment of reading, and interest in the topic when using graphic novels as compared to illustrated nonfiction prose in social studies content area reading. Twenty-two fifth grade students (13 females, 9 males) in a public school in a Midwestern state participated in the study. Half of the students read about the Boston Massacre and Patrick Henry through graphic novels and read about Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party with illustrated nonfiction texts, with the other half doing the opposite. The mean number of correct ideas recalled by students two weeks after reading two books in the graphic novel condition was 8.6 compared to 7.1 for the nonfiction prose condition with a medium effect size. Students rated their reading enjoyment significantly higher in the graphic novel condition indicating that graphic novels should be employed more often into the school curriculum. Suggestions for integrating graphic novels into the curriculum are provided along with other ways to take action.
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