ESL undergraduates reading habits and attitudes towards English language reading

• Main Authors: Eugenia Ida Edward, Kamsilawati Kamlun, Wardatul Akmam Din, Chelster Sherralyn Jeoffrey Pudin
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Global Academic Excellence 2022
• Subjects: PE1001-1693 Modern English
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37817/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37817/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37817/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

The ability to read and comprehend English text is one of the four core language abilities, hence ESL students need to develop strong reading skills. Reading is quite difficult to learn because many students are still struggling with reading in English. This study seeks to comprehend the reading habits and attitudes of undergraduate English as a Second Language (ESL) students in Malaysia. This research aims to investigate the preferred English reading materials of ESL undergraduate students, the amount of time they spend time reading each day, and their attitudes toward reading English materials. The information for this study was gathered via a survey. This study utilised an adapted version of Smith's (1991) Adult Survey of Reading Attitude (ASRA) and Pandian's (1997) Reading Habit questionnaire. The data was analysed using SPSS statistics and descriptive statistics was used to determine the respondents’ reading attitudes. The questionnaire was sent to 215 undergraduate ESL students currently enrolled in English proficiency courses. The study revealed that (i) ESL undergraduates enjoy reading English materials but still experience anxiety when doing so, and (ii) students enjoy reading as much as they enjoy visiting websites, such as social media sites. The paper will conclude by discussing the implications of the findings for the development of instructional materials within a reading context.