READING HABITS AND EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

1.1 Introduction

Reading is simply defined as the process of communicating ideas, meanings, and messages from printed materials to the mind. It speeds up the readers' intellectual development and expands their creativity (Ibrahim, 2014). The best way to describe reading is as a learned behaviour that involves using written texts to get knowledge, enjoyment, or information. Reading books, periodicals, journals, and other information sources will help you develop the habit of reading. Reading habits are among the most significant and direct indicators of a student's intellectual achievement in both school and life. Students get deeply rooted in reading when they realize that it's a continuous process and a lifelong interest.

According to Saka (2012), the reading habit of Nigerian students says that their reading habit is poor because they read with only one aim in view that of passing examination, and not for pleasure. This shows that Nigerian students do not read for the purpose of pleasure but rather for examination purposes. School children read so as to pass examinations and to do assignment and that they read in classrooms and parlour of their respective houses and the major problems affecting reading culture include lack of library period in their school time table and lack of library in homes (Saka, 2012).

This chapter will address the background information that motivated this study, the challenges that prompted it, its aim, and its objectives as a preface to subsequent sections of the study. Additional factors include the study's significance, scope, limitations, research questions and hypotheses, and the definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Reading as an intellectual activity is undertaken in literate society for obtaining information, acquiring and expanding knowledge. It is an important activity in the life of an individual because it motivates the individual interest towards the achievement of more knowledge. It also affords the individual to derive pleasure and entertainment in sharing from the experiences of others communicated through prints or test materials. It is also a process by which printed words are assimilated, interpreted and transmitted into spoken words to understand the meaning and apply it on a daily basis.

A student’s ability to further his education after Secondary School depends on the extent of interest he has developed in reading over the years. Yusuf (2015) observed that reading is critical for children’s success in and outside school. in the views of Ogbonna (2014) reading literally refers to the ability to recognize and understand characters or speak words that may be printed or written on paper and other formats of recording human knowledge. It is the ability to obtain meaning from words. Consequently, a person who can easily read and write is said to be a literate person.

According to Tella and Akande (2014), the ability to read with flexibility is at the core of self-education and lifelong learning, which are creative endeavours that have the power to transform both society and life. Thus, reading is the cornerstone of successful learning and academic performance for secondary school pupils to succeed in their academic endeavours. Students that have good reading habits will be better able to retain information, know how to use a variety of information sources, and study well. Because reading is an essential tool for information transmission, developing a reading habit is a cognitive activity that improves one's ability to use reading techniques (Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014).

Students that spend excessive amounts of time memorising reading materials are not always barely making ends meet, according to Emily and Betty's (2014) observations. They contend that the stresses resulting from the use of comparatively ineffective teaching methods may harm a student's social, emotional, and personal growth. A student's ability to think independently is facilitated by their reading habits.

Similarly, Onwuegbuzie (2014) looked at the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement and found that there was a favourable correlation between the two. Nonetheless, research on academic performance shows that most students fall short of expectations (Dizney, 2014, Okegbile, 2014, and Adetunji et al., 2014). Lack of learning tools is another important factor contributing to kids' underdeveloped potential.

Reading is a receptive skill like listening and vocalizing what was stimulated, it also productive when it is done aloud. However, it is a mental process involving the interpretation of signs perceived through the sense organs. The reading habit of school children in Nigeria is rather poor and this affect to a great extent the academic performance of school children. Poor reading habit is believed to be one of the causes of poor performance in secondary schools in Nigeria today. There is however no generally accepted definition of academic performance because of the multifaceted domains of learning, Be that as it may, every academic pursuit should have some aims and objective which it sets out to achieve. At the completion of such programme, an evaluation is carried out to measure how far the participants benefitted from the programme or the extent to which the desired skills has been acquired by the learners.

Students in secondary schools frequently come from average-income and economically disadvantaged families, according to Hussain (2010). These families deal with a range of issues that lead to emotional instability in their kids, which affects their academic performance. The academic standing of schoolchildren has suffered significant harm due to this one reason alone.

Furthermore, according to Akabuike and Asika (2012), academic achievement at the secondary level is most likely a multifaceted phenomena that includes learning, study techniques, language competency, and certain personal traits. And if someone adopts good reading habits that help them become lifelong learners, this may be accomplished. Developing a love of reading at a young age is an essential ability for acquiring knowledge, which is highly demanding for all students in the classroom.

Therefore, in Mangu LGA of Plateau State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Reading Habits and Educational Achievement of Secondary School Students.

1.3 Statement of Problem

Investigation revealed that students' current problems with low test performance as well as their bad English speaking and writing are caused by a lack of reading habits. Concerns about poor reading habits among secondary school students have grown among the nation's parents, educators, and government officials. Many education experts place the blame on teachers' methods of instruction and the government's lack of funding for high-quality textbooks due to the rising trend of secondary school pupils performing poorly academically on external exams like the JAMB or WAEC (Ajayi 2012).

This appalling performance may be attributed to pupils' lack of a reading habit or their permissive attitude towards reading on the internet. Despite the fact that there are a variety of reasons why people read, studies and observations have revealed that students nowadays, particularly in developing nations, have a poor reading habit because reading is not viewed as a relevant leisure activity because it does not involve social interaction or television watching. The widespread use of information and communication technologies, such as smartphones, gaming consoles, the internet, and other viewing devices, is another significant issue contributing to students' lack of reading habits.

from early time to the present, Nigeria has attached much importance to reading starting from primary school through the tertiary level. It is important to note that there exist many complex problems that may result to the problem of poor reading habits and its consequences on the academic performance of students in school system. This made the researcher to dive into possible effects encountered by secondary school students in Mangu LGA of Plateau State. It is of great interest to note that most secondary school especially in Mangu LGA of Plateau State is faced with the problem of poor reading habits and this problem has taken deep roots in the part of the students either as a result of lack of qualified teachers, ill-health of students, bad method of teaching, outdated textbooks, family background and psychological factors and teachers poor attitude towards reading and teaching students the proper reading skills.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Reading Habits and Educational Achievement of Secondary School Students in Mangu LGA of Plateau State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the educational achievement of students who have developed a reading habit and those who do not have reading habit;
2. To examine the effect of reading habit on the educational achievement of secondary school students in the study area;
3. To examine factors influencing students reading habit in secondary school students;
4. To examine the relationship between reading habits and educational achievement in secondary school students;
5. To examine the reading habit of students in secondary school; and
6. To proffer solutions to the problems that hinders the secondary school students from forming the habits of reading in the study area.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the educational achievement of students who have developed a reading habit and those who do not have reading habit?
• What are the reading habits of students in secondary school?
• What are the effects of reading habit on the educational achievement of secondary school students in the study area?
• What are the factors influencing students reading habit in secondary school students?
• What is the relationship between reading habits and educational achievement in secondary school students?
• What are the solutions to the problems that hinder the secondary school students from forming the habits of reading in the study area?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant effect of reading habit on the educational achievement of secondary school students in the area under study
• H1: There is a significant effect of reading habit on the educational achievement of secondary school students in the area under study

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant relationship between students reading habit and educational achievement.
• H1: There is a significant relationship between students reading habit and educational achievement

1.7 Significance of Study

The findings of this research will provide valuable information about the effects of poor reading habit on the academic performance of students. The research will also provide valuable information about the effects of poor reading habit on the academic performance of students.

Furthermore, this research work would be useful to students, as they will have first hand information of the causes, effect and lasting solution on the problems of poor reading habits. Also, this research will make government, principals, of secondary school and teachers to update themselves with new method of teaching reading and the provision of educational facilities.

Finally, the findings of this study could be utilized by non-researchers to expand on their own research projects and will be of great use to other researchers who hope to learn more about this subject. This work advances knowledge and may function as a model for future research.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Reading Habits and Educational Achievement of Secondary School Students using Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State as a case study.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint:The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
3. Initial Cooperation Delay from Respondents: A particular limitation of this work came as a result of the respondent refusal to offer their cooperation at the initial time they were contacted. This contributed in making the success of this research study difficult.

1.10 Definition of Terms

Reading Habit:

This is a behaviour style that is systematically formed by students towards learning and achievement.

Student:

It is a person who is learning or reading at a place of higher or further education.

Reading Skills:

These are peculiar strategies developed by the students in reading.

Reading:

The process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among the reader, the text and the context of the reading situation

Academic Performance:

Academic Performance refers to the performance that falls within specified standard. The specified standard is usually called pass mark and the pass mark is score above average which students are considered having passed and below which students are considered having failed.