CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW
D. Reading Interest
1. The Understanding of Reading Interest
It is said that reading is the way to success in school and life. People who cannot read will not be succeed. This is supported by Safiah (2000) who mentioned that those who are good readers are able to expand their views, experiences and thoughts. Therefore, reading is seen as a highly valued skill in our technology-driven world today. Reading is not a straightforward process of lifting the words off the page (Schoenbach, et al., 2000, p. 38).
This is a complex problem-solving process where the reader works to understand the text not only from words and sentences on the page but also from the ideas, memories, and knowledge that those words and sentences evoke. Although a glimpse of reading may seem passive, solitary, and simple, it is actually active, inhabited by a mix of voices that are rich and view the voices of writers, readers, and other readers who have heard, read about, and otherwise encountered throughout life.
Interest is one of a number of motivational variables that has been investigated in relation to student engagement and learning outcomes. Interest is one of factors which determines as attitude in working or studying actively. Hidi (2006, p. 549) defined interest as a unique motivational variable, as well as psychological state that occurs during interactions between persons and their objects of interest, and it is characterized by increasing attention, concentration and affect.. The assumption is that individuals are more likely to attend and to learn from interesting materials as opposed to uninteresting materials.
Reading interest is important in enhancing students‘ success in school and out of it.
Hence, students need to have high reading interests. Through reading, one has access to a wide range of knowledge found in various reading materials like academic books, magazines, news printeds and journals (US Department of Education, 2005, p. 10). A person who does not know how to read or does not like reading is likely to become old- fashioned because he fails to benefit from the opportunity to gain access to knowledge. In addition, when readers read to get information, they indirectly improve their reading skills.
This is supported by Eskey (2002, p. 6) states that by reading, one learns to read and becomes better at reading. Therefore, people who read widely can be good readers because they are exposed to new words. As a result, they will love to read and become successful.
Khairuddin (2013, p. 162) states that reading second language materials could determine ESL students‘ attitudes towards reading. He also says that students will employ the attitude that they have adopted towards reading in a second language as they advance to the development stages of reading. Furthermore, Grabe (2003, p. 242), states that students in the English language classroom come from different cultures and backgrounds.
Because of this, they differ in their reading interest in English reading material.
From the definitions of interest and reading above, it can be concluded that reading interest is the desire and tendency to perform reading activity in order to get some ideas and information. Renninger (2014, p. 88), cited by Vig and Sharma, defines reading interest as a personal variable which means a characteristic in an individual, which takes time to develop, but it become stable with passage of time towards a certain topic or domain and is influenced by degree of knowledge, values and positive feelings. The activity of reading that performed by a person who is interested in reading is a voluntary activity. They would like to read without being told before or forced by others. It is because when an individual is interested in reading, the activity will be a pleasure activity.
According to Mc Kool (2007, p. 111), reading interest is defined as readings done when students are outside the school compound. Furthermore, the US Department of Education (2005, p. 11) defined reading interests as whether or not students like to read in their spare time or at home or whether they like to go to the library. Besides, reading interest is also defined by the number of books read in a month and the number of times students read in a week and the favorite genres and types of English reading materials.
Moreover, Nafisah and Shorman (2001, p. 2), state that the individual‘s reading interests are considered one of the major factors that determine what she or he reads. The selection could be based on genre, or the kinds of printed pages. Some readers would like to read fiction, romance, history, or others. Some others would like to read texts from magazine, newspaper, comic, or novel. Khairuddin (2013, p. 3) defined reading interest as whether or not students like to read in the spare time or at home or whether they like to go to library. Besides, reading interest is also defined by the number of books read in a month
and times students read in a week and the favourite genres and types of English reading materials.
According to Stanovich (2011, p. 363), reading interest has a strong positive relationship with the success of students both in school and life. Students will gain more knowledge when they read, and this will help them to have wider and broader perspectives on certain issues. Besides, reading interest is also linked to academic success as students who love to read will be able to write well and have more ideas which will make them more creative and innovative (Grabe, 2003, p. 243). This means that students who have little or no interest in reading will not be able to force themselves to take books, read for academic purposes, and let alone to read for pleasure. This is maintained that students who do not like to read at an early stage will not adopt reading habit as they grow older.
Another researcher, Thomas (2001), reading interest refers to how excited an individual is to engage in reading some written material. It can also refer to an individual‘s perception of how stimulating or fulfilling reading material can potentially be. Based on the definition, reading interest revolves around an individual‘s attitude towards the process of reading, and towards different reading materials. Adetoro (2010, p. 49), discussed that in all cases of reading interest, the attention may arise from the particular needs of an individual. In most cases, the interest to engage in the activity of reading arises from a need to gain information about the individual‘s surroundings and contexts. Reading allows people to gather information about the experiences they undergo. They acquire explanations for things that may confuse them. Hence, from reading, individuals are able to minimize the confusion and the ambiguity that may surround them in any situation, thus allowing them to respond appropriately to various stimuli.
Apart from minimizing the ambiguity and confusion in their surroundings, individuals also engage in reading for acquiring the ability to ascertain when a problem arises (Adetoro, 2010, p. 59). Through reading, individuals gather information regarding the presence of concerns and issues that they may not have been sensitive to without the proper information. Furthermore, reading not only allows individuals to determine the presence of problems, it also allows them to derive solutions to these either directly or indirectly. Through reading, according to Adetoro (2010, p. 59), individuals can acquire specific information on how to solve a particular problem. They can also apply general themes from their reading or relate these to their experiences, indirectly deriving a solution based on what they have read. Based on these assertions by earlier researchers, Adetoro (2010) noted that readers rely on the process of reading for their personal growth as well as for their survival.
Miranda, et. al. (2011, p. 81) conduct a study regarding middle school students from Texas who had very little reading interest. The researchers termed such individuals reluctant readers and attempted to understand whether innovations in the process of reading, such as using e-reading techniques, could help pique their interests. Prior to conducting their study, however, the researchers noted the significance of reading interest, as asserted in earlier studies and findings in academic literature. They (2011, p. 83), noted that according to several studies, evidence has been uncovered supporting the hypothesis that reading interest and engagement are the key factors that determine reading success.
Simply put, when individuals are more interested in reading, they become more successful readers, as measured by their reading speed, their comprehension, and the quality of their vocabulary. Hence, increasing reading interest can be considered one of the more significant and effective ways by which to influence the success of individuals at reading.
According to the researchers, to overcome the lack of reading interest among students, educators need to determine the specific factors influencing their disinterest, whether these are linked to a lack of time or a lack of skill. Upon such determination, educators can then create reading training programs that respond to the particular needs of their students.
Furthermore, the researchers noted that because of the role of technology in reading interest, an argument could be made for using gadgets in teaching reading within schools to better engage students in the activity of reading that can elevate levels of reading interest, like the other solutions found by the researchers.
Clearly, reading interest is best represented by its subcomponents of psycho- behavioral dimensions. The high-level factor structures show the general factors of reading interest at the third-order level and the five second-order factors that represent reading in print settings, online reading, social media reading, academic reading, and recreational reading. Students who like reading can facilitate learning and improve academic achievement. Therefore, teachers or educators need to guide students to be more fond of reading.