reading habits among students essay

Reading is Good Habit for Students and Children

 500+ words essay on reading is good habit.

Reading is a very good habit that one needs to develop in life. Good books can inform you, enlighten you and lead you in the right direction. There is no better companion than a good book. Reading is important because it is good for your overall well-being. Once you start reading, you experience a whole new world. When you start loving the habit of reading you eventually get addicted to it. Reading develops language skills and vocabulary. Reading books is also a way to relax and reduce stress. It is important to read a good book at least for a few minutes each day to stretch the brain muscles for healthy functioning.

Benefits of Reading

Books really are your best friends as you can rely on them when you are bored, upset, depressed, lonely or annoyed. They will accompany you anytime you want them and enhance your mood. They share with you information and knowledge any time you need. Good books always guide you to the correct path in life. Following are the benefits of reading –

Self Improvement: Reading helps you develop positive thinking. Reading is important because it develops your mind and gives you excessive knowledge and lessons of life. It helps you understand the world around you better. It keeps your mind active and enhances your creative ability.

Communication Skills: Reading improves your vocabulary and develops your communication skills. It helps you learn how to use your language creatively. Not only does it improve your communication but it also makes you a better writer. Good communication is important in every aspect of life.

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Increases Knowledge: Books enable you to have a glimpse into cultures, traditions, arts, history, geography, health, psychology and several other subjects and aspects of life. You get an amazing amount of knowledge and information from books.

Reduces Stress: Reading a good book takes you in a new world and helps you relieve your day to day stress. It has several positive effects on your mind, body, and soul. It stimulates your brain muscles and keeps your brain healthy and strong.

Great Pleasure: When I read a book, I read it for pleasure. I just indulge myself in reading and experience a whole new world. Once I start reading a book I get so captivated I never want to leave it until I finish. It always gives a lot of pleasure to read a good book and cherish it for a lifetime.

Boosts your Imagination and Creativity: Reading takes you to the world of imagination and enhances your creativity. Reading helps you explore life from different perspectives. While you read books you are building new and creative thoughts, images and opinions in your mind. It makes you think creatively, fantasize and use your imagination.

Develops your Analytical Skills: By active reading, you explore several aspects of life. It involves questioning what you read. It helps you develop your thoughts and express your opinions. New ideas and thoughts pop up in your mind by active reading. It stimulates and develops your brain and gives you a new perspective.

Reduces Boredom: Journeys for long hours or a long vacation from work can be pretty boring in spite of all the social sites. Books come in handy and release you from boredom.

Read Different Stages of Reading here.

The habit of reading is one of the best qualities that a person can possess. Books are known to be your best friend for a reason. So it is very important to develop a good reading habit. We must all read on a daily basis for at least 30 minutes to enjoy the sweet fruits of reading. It is a great pleasure to sit in a quiet place and enjoy reading. Reading a good book is the most enjoyable experience one can have.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in english at the secondary level.

• 1 Department of Education, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
• 2 Faculty of Education and Humanities, UNITAR International University, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
• 3 Faculty of Education, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• 4 Department of English Language and Literature, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message for personal growth and success in the relevant fields. Thus, psychologists consider it a multifaceted cognitive process of constructing meanings from texts. The present study was conducted to determine the relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English at the secondary level in Punjab, Pakistan.

Methods: The ( n = 1614) students enrolled in the science section for the academic year 2019–2020 participated in this descriptive correlational survey, selected from 40 high schools in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, through a non-proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ) and the Study Skills Scale (SSS) were used to collect data about students’ reading habits and study skills. At the same time, academic achievement was the students’ grades obtained in the ninth class in the subject of English that were determined by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore in 2019. Students’ responses were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: The results indicated that students have competent reading habits and study skills. The correlational findings showed a strong positive relationship among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, while moderate positive relationships between reading habits and academic achievement in English. However, regression analysis results were significant, while reading habits and study skills moderately predicted academic achievement.

Discussion: It is implicated that teachers should plan such assignments and tasks based on reflective thinking by considering the role of study skills in academic achievement. Moreover, teachers and school administrators could mutually create timetables for library lessons to build reading habits and study skills among learners.

1. Introduction

Knowledge gained through reading is vital for the cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal development of learners ( He, 2014 ; Baffoe and Okae-Anti, 2020 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ) because it is a person’s ability to enhance information and comprehend the words effectively ( Sabbah, 2016 ; Al-Jarf, 2019 ). An individual reads for numerous reasons, i.e., knowledge development, recreation, joy, relaxation, and so on ( Whitten et al., 2016 ). However, Erguvan (2016) and Mirza et al. (2021) directed that reading is an active part of life that is not just about pleasure when needed. However, Chotitham and Wongwanich (2014) conjectured that reading helps to develop critical and judgmental thinking abilities used to solve problems by conceptualizing context. Hence, Erdem (2015) and Pretorius and Klapwijk (2016) quantified that reading is essential to success because it starts from the commencement of school and continues throughout the lifetime.

Fischer et al. (2015) , Oyewole (2017) , Al-Jarf (2019) recognized that the importance of reading in learning could not be ignored because it is an emancipatory tool that releases students’ academic frustration, ignorance, and destitution. Palani (2012) distinguished that reading is an instrument used to exchange information, while reading habit is an academic activity that enables students to benefit from reading materials. Therefore, Walia and Sinha (2014) specified that reading habits require complex skills, such as perceiving a message, skimming and scanning information, and understanding the context. Thus, compelling reading depends on readers’ behaviors, known as study skills that enable them to conceptualize the new knowledge effectively ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ; Habibu and Ejembi, 2011 ; Gormley et al., 2018 ; Naqvi et al., 2018 ; Iheakanwa et al., 2021 ). While the effective study makes one narrate in their way using the stipulated meanings of the words and terms, the researchers take up for explanation and clarity ( Biyik et al., 2017 ).

According to the available literature, students’ reading habits and study skills have been of great importance for decades; while several deficiencies were found in previous studies, thus researchers considered few of them that are related to the study context. First, the researchers mainly focused on the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement separately in Western countries ( Bhan and Gupta, 2010 ; Sabbah, 2016 ). A few addressed Eastern countries restricted to the university level ( Demir et al., 2012 ; Davarci, 2013 ; Dilshad et al., 2013 ; Erguvan, 2016 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Porkaew and Fongpaiboon, 2018 ; Thamarasseri, 2018 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2019 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ; Tonka and Bakir, 2020 ; Mirza et al., 2021 ; Nguyen Thi Thu, 2022 ). However, students’ reading habits and study skills may be initiated from the school level enabling the individuals to grow in competence, comfort, and understanding of the audience. At the same time, previous researchers focused on university level students’ reading habits. Second, there are methodological identities that lead to dubious findings not confirming the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement ( Goel, 2014 ; Lawrence, 2014 ; Quadir and Chen, 2015 ; Sherafat and Murthy, 2016 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Silverrajoo and Hassan, 2018 ; Balan et al., 2019 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ). In general, there is a scarcity of research aiming to determine the correlation between students’ reading habits and achievement through the role of study skills at any academic level. Finally, in Pakistan, few studies could explore reading habits as a singular variable of different groups of students ( Bajwa et al., 2011 ; Hussain and Munshi, 2011 ; Rasheed, 2012 ). Numerous researchers only examined the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement ( Bashir and Mattoo, 2012 ; Bibi et al., 2020 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ). Moreover, Fazal et al. (2012) only investigated the association between study skills and achievement. Thus, this research examines the relationship among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English as practiced at the secondary level in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

Lahore is the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. In terms of population, this is the second largest city in Pakistan. It is located in the northeastern part of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Lahore is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Pakistan and is home to various cultures, traditions, and customs. Specifically, it provides researchers with opportunities to contextualize perspectives in light of academic processes and ethics.

2. Literature review

2.1. reading habits.

Rosli et al. (2018) suggested that reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message, while Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) stated that it is a gateway to all other information, which may lead to understanding the world outside the text. Hence, Al-Jarf (2021) and Dadzie (2008) asserted that reading is a multifaceted cognitive process of comprehending words written in a textual form that allows readers to enhance their knowledge for personal growth and academic success. Moreover, Ogeyik and Akyay (2009) ; Erguvan (2016) , Mirza et al. (2021) stated that reading is just a method of communication between the writer and the reader. Thus, Bhan and Gupta (2010) and Baron (2017) assumed that reading is the art of decoding and interpreting messages from various written materials such as books, magazines, journals, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pamphlets, and diaries. Hassan et al. (2021) stated that reading habits influence reading materials, activities, time duration, place of reading, and reader motivation. In this study, reading habits are considered to be the students’ reading preferences, interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and reading problems during study at the secondary level.

2.2. Study skills

Study skills are the readers’ inclination toward organizing, highlighting, reviewing, reciting, and using devices, flashcards, etc. to comprehend new knowledge effectively ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ; DiPerna, 2006 ; Rozalski, 2008 ; Madhavi et al., 2014 ; Sabbah, 2016 ). While reading habit is the frequency, a reader regularly reads ( Winne, 2013 ). Moreover, study skills are the students’ intellectual practices to process new information effectively and efficiently, while reading habits are considered a psychological trait of one’s personality ( Farrington et al., 2012 ; Pillai, 2012 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Shahidi et al., 2014 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Rosli et al., 2018 ). Thus, the concept of study skills is different from reading habits. This research defines study skills as secondary school students’ approaches to comprehending new knowledge.

2.3. Reading habits and academic achievement

Horbec (2012) and Singh (2011) determined a significant positive relationship between students’ reading habits and academic achievement. Hence, Issa et al. (2012) explored that students’ reading patterns vary and have a moderately significant influence on academic success, while Bashir and Mattoo (2012) examined that academic performance is dependent on the level of students’ study habits; thus, reading habits influence on future success, which was confirmed by Owusu-Acheaw and Larson (2014) through quantitative measures. Chotitham and Wongwanich (2014) found a moderate positive relationship between students’ study habits and achievement. However, Lawrence (2014) rejected the association between students’ academic achievement and study habits, and Goel (2014) confirmed that study habits do not influence academic performance. Therefore, Schwabe et al. (2015) , Quadir and Chen (2015) concluded through a quantitative correlational study that heavy reading habits significantly impact reading efficiency; the longer the reading time, the better the results. Malik and Parveen (2016) discovered significant differences in low- and high-academic achievers’ attitudes toward study habits. They determined that high achievers are more concentrated and exhibited better study habits, good time management skills, and punctuality compared to low achievers. In the meantime, Sherafat and Murthy (2016) directed that study habits facilitate learners toward higher achievement because of their significant connections with academic achievement. Consequently, Silverrajoo and Hassan (2018) revealed divergent findings that students’ reading methods have a negative and weak relationship with academic achievement.

Ameyaw and Anto (2018) recognized the importance of reading styles in students’ learning and found that reading styles affect students’ performance. Meanwhile, Alzahrani et al. (2018) verified that students’ reading styles significantly impact their performance. Dolmaz and Kaya (2019) discovered that students’ creative writing skills are affected by their reading styles. Moreover, Balan et al. (2019) determined that students’ purpose of reading significantly affected their performance, as Annamalai and Muniandy (2013) suggested that academic performance is based on students’ reading purpose. Hence, Whitten et al. (2016) and Fatiloro et al. (2017) discovered that reading habits significantly assist students in learning and enhancing their performance. Bibi et al. (2020) examined that students’ study habits were significantly positively associated with achievement. Ehsan and Sultana (2020) predicted that reading habits significantly increase students’ performance. Moreover, Hassan et al. (2021) found a significant correlation between secondary school students’ reading habits and their reading achievement and concluded that reading habits significantly contribute to academic achievement. Thus, Nguyen Thi Thu (2022) revealed that reading habits have a significant role in the development of students writing performance.

On the other hand, by designing a correlational study, Tonka and Bakir (2020) found a negative relationship between reading anxiety and reading habits. Thus, they concluded that reading anxiety plays a role in students’ performance and reading habits. Similarly, Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) found a significant negative association between study habits and academic stress, reading habits, and academic achievement. The researchers measured all the variables through a questionnaire consisting of four scales and 43 items.

2.4. Study skills and academic achievement

Nouhi et al. (2009) determined that study skills have a significant positive association with academic success measured through a closed-ended questionnaire confirmed by Awang and Sinnadurai (2011) through an experimental study. Meanwhile, Hassanbeigi et al. (2011) and Sabbah (2016) verified that study skills are critical for academic success because they positively correlate with academic achievement found through a descriptive correlational survey using a study skills scale. Hence, Fazal et al. (2012) suggested that higher academic achievers use a wide range of study skills than low achievers, while there was a weak correlation between study skills and academic success. Furthermore, Demir et al. (2012) revealed through an experimental study that students’ study skills had a considerable influence on performance which was also confirmed by Wernersbach et al. (2014) from an experimental study. In both of the studies, researchers measured study skills through closed-ended items. Moreover, they also discovered that study skills significantly impact students’ academic self-efficacy. Nonetheless, Tahamtani et al. (2017) and Naqvi et al. (2018) revealed a weak negative link between achievement and study habits through quantitative measures that were rejected by Gormley et al. (2018) , who found a significant positive impact of study skills on achievement.

Several gaps were found in already conducted studies; first, the researchers mainly focused on the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement separately in Western countries, while few addressed this phenomenon in Eastern countries. However, the investigation was restricted to university level students. Second, methodological identities lead to dubious findings not confirming this phenomenon. Finally, in Pakistan, few studies could explore reading habits as a singular variable of different groups of students. At the same time, some researchers only examined the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement. Thus, this study aimed to develop our understanding of the relationship between students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

2.5. Summary

Reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message for personal growth and success. Thus, psychologists consider it a multifaceted cognitive process of constructing meaning from texts. Bhan and Gupta (2010) stated that reading is the art of decoding and interpreting messages from the content of the written material that is often carried out in magazines, journals, newspapers, books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pamphlets, diaries, and so on. While reading habits are the degree to which a reader engages in reading while studying skills to gain knowledge. Reading habits assist students in learning more, whereas study skills encourage them to understand new information effectively. Both reading habits and study skills influence students’ academic performance.

Based on literature insights, the following hypotheses are formulated:

Hypothesis (H 1 ): A significant relationship exists between students’ reading habits and their academic achievement in English language comprehension .

Hypothesis (H 2 ): A significant relationship exists between stqudents’ study skills and their academic achievement in English language comprehension.

3.1. Design

A research design is comprised of numerous elements (i.e., research paradigm, research approach, research design, and data collection method that provide guidelines for carrying out the study ( Creswell and Clark, 2017 ; Myers, 2019 ), while a correlational research design is used to determine the relationship between two or more than two variables ( Cohen et al., 2018 ). Thus, a correlational research design of a quantitative approach (positivism paradigm) was used. At the same time, a cross-sectional survey method was applied to collect data about studied variables (i.e., reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English).

3.2. Sample

The sample comprised 10th-grade students enrolled in district Lahore’s public sector high schools for the academic year 2019–2020. The inclusion criteria were those students who enrolled in the science section only. During the data collection, the total number of active students in both sections (i.e., science and arts) of 10th grade was 36,847 enrolled at 334 high schools in district Lahore ( Government of Punjab [GOP], 2019 ). While in the science section, the active students were 17,028, considered an accessible population of this study. A total of 1,800 (900 boys and 900 girls) were selected from 40 high schools through a non-proportionate random sampling technique that was 10.57% of the accessible population, which shows the sample was normally distributed. Out of 1,800 selected students, 1,619 participated as respondents because 181 students had not passed the subject English in the ninth-grade annual examination conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore. Three students declined to participate in this survey, while two could not complete the questionnaires. Therefore, the final sample consisted of n = 1,614 secondary school students.

3.3. Instruments

Two instruments were used, i.e., the Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ) and Study Skills Scale (SSS), to collect data about students’ reading habits and study skills.

Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ): The researchers developed a paper and pencil student self-report RHQ based on Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the social-cognitive theory of self-regulated learning strategies ( Pintrich et al., 1993 ; Duncan and McKeachie, 2005 ; Duncan et al., 2007 ). Ajzen’s (1991) TPB suggests that socio-psychological characteristics of a person’s behavior, such as reading, influence reader proximal behaviors ( Stokmans, 1999 ; Miesen, 2003 ; Van Schooten et al., 2004 ), while the social-cognitive theory of self-regulating learning strategies suggested that students’ reading habits are meta-cognitively and behaviorally active in a student’s learning process to achieve goals ( Eccles and Wigfield, 2002 ). The classical test theory model was utilized to develop RHQ, which initially consisted of 44 closed-ended items. Each item was constructed on a 5-point Likert-type agreement scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), which means developing level reading habits to advance level reading habits. However, content validity was ensured by five education and assessment experts to validate the content coverage, language appropriateness, and usability of RHQ at the secondary level. Moreover, a pilot study was conducted on 250 students selected purposively from the target population to confirm unidimensionality among items and scales through exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23 software. Four subscales of RHQ (i.e., preferences for reading, interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and reading problems) were constructed during EFA. In contrast, nine items (two to three from each subscale) were deleted because their factor loading values (λ) were less than 0.5. In an analysis of items, reliability was also determined through Cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.821) value which was statistically acceptable. Psychometric evidence shows that RHQ was reliable for determining students’ reading habits. Improved RHQ consisted of 35 items based on four subscales, i.e., preferences of reading (10 items), interest in reading (nine items), attitude toward reading (nine items), and reading problems (seven items).

Study Skills Scale (SSS): The researchers adopted the SSS from Academic Competence and Evaluation Scale, developed by DiPerna and Elliott in 2000. The validity, as well as reliability of SSS, was confirmed by numerous researchers ( Kettler et al., 2014 ; Strunk, 2014 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ) and concluded that SSS is a standardized scale to measure study skills. The SSS consisted of 11 items that were also constructed on a 5-point Likert-type frequency scale, ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (almost always) which means developing level to advance level skills ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ). The SSS was also administered to 250 students to ensure reliability through Cronbach’s alpha tests and found a value of α = 0.874 that was suitable to measure study skills in the local context (Pakistan).

Academic Achievement: Students’ marks obtained in ninth grade in the subject of English were asked them that determined by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore in 2019. Their obtained scores in the subject of English were considered an academic achievement of students.

3.4. Data collection and analysis

After getting consent from the district education administration officer, the researchers personally gained permission from the selected schools’ principals and class teachers for data collection. All the selected students were informed in their classes about the study purpose and given the right to withdraw from the study at any time before data analyses. RHQ and SSS administration occurred over 8 weeks during mid of the September to mid of November 2019 academic year. Before administering the instruments, participants were informed about the confidentiality procedures. Moreover, the researchers encouraged them to respond honestly and told them to write about their obtained marks in ninth grade in English. After collecting the questionnaires, the researchers quickly scanned the participants’ responses about missing answers, and the students were asked to complete the responses in the questionnaire. A total of 1,614 participants provided valuable responses about their reading habits and study skills. The response rate was 89.6%, acceptable in social sciences research for quantitative data. Students’ responses about reading habits and study skills were analyzed by applying descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) and inferential statistics (i.e., Pearson r test and regression test) through SPSS version 25 software.

4.1. Descriptive statistics on students’ reading habits and study skills

The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to check the normality of data. At the same time, the skewness and kurtosis values indicated that data were normally distributed because skewness and kurtosis were between –2 and + 2, which was suitable for parametric statistics ( George, 2011 ; Albers, 2017 ; Mishra et al., 2019 ). Table 1 indicates that students give more preferences to reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading problems as M = 4.13, SD = 0.486; M = 3.91, SD = 0.616; M = 3.68, SD = 0.676; and M = 3.57, SD = 0.813, respectively. Students also thought they were facing reading problems because English was not their native language as M = 3.68; SD = 0.813. Overall, results revealed that students have permissive and desired reading habits and study skills as M = 3.88, SD = 0.455 and M = 3.85, SD = 0.602.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of reading habits and study skills.

4.2. Inferential statistics on students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English

The Pearson product–moment correlation analysis was applied to test null hypotheses, i.e., whether there are significant relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

4.3. Hypotheses testing

Refer to Table 2 for the intercorrelation of variables among reading habits subscales, overall reading habits, and study skills; there were moderate-to-high positive correlations among variables. For reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, students’ reading habits were significantly and positively correlated as r = 0.314–0.721. A value of r = (±) 0.3–0.7 exhibits a moderate-to-high correlation between variables ( Akoglu, 2018 ; Schober et al., 2018 ). Results also reveal higher positive correlations between reading habits and study skills while moderate positive correlations between reading habits and academic achievement in English as r = 0.848 and 0.584, respectively. Moreover, there was a higher positive correlation between study skills and academic achievement in English as r = 0.721. Thus, it is revealed that students’ reading habits and study skills are positively associated with academic achievement in English.

Table 2. Intercorrelations matrix and relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

Since the hypotheses “there is a significant relationship between students’ reading habits and academic achievement in English, and there is a significant relationship between students’ study skills and academic achievement in English” were accepted because moderate-to-strong positive relationships were found among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

A regression analysis was conducted to explore whether students’ reading habits and study skills predict academic achievement in English. Students’ reading habits and study skills served as independent variables, while students’ academic achievement in English served as dependent variables. The regression analysis results were significant. The unique individual predictor for students’ academic achievement in English interested in reading and attitude toward reading. These two sub-factors of reading habits significantly predicted 42 and 43% of the variance, respectively.

In contrast, the numeric regression does not considerably reveal the remaining two sub-factors (preferences of reading and reading problems). However, students’ reading habits accounted for 44% of the variance, and study skills accounted for 48% of the variance. Refer to Table 3 for unstandardized betas, standard errors, standardized betas, and adjusted R 2 . The independent variables in these analyses are moderately correlated and predict academic achievement because the variance inflation factor (VIF) estimation was below 5.0 in regression.

Table 3. Summary of regression analyses, with 95% confidence intervals, of students’ reading habits and study skills predicting academic achievement in English.

5. Discussion

Reading habit is a crucial aspect of creating a literate society because it helps to shape personality, develop creative and critical thinking abilities, and enhance knowledge ( Palani, 2012 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Fischer et al., 2015 ; Bano et al., 2018 ; Rosli et al., 2018 ; Al-Jarf, 2019 ; Wu et al., 2019 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ). At the same time, study skills are the readers’ strategies to process new information effectively ( Kuterbach, 2012 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ; Abid et al., 2021 ). Both reading habits and study skills are interdependent and influence students’ academic performance as well as future success ( Demir et al., 2012 ; Wernersbach et al., 2014 ; Tahamtani et al., 2017 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Gormley et al., 2018 ; Balan et al., 2019 ; Dolmaz and Kaya, 2019 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ). Therefore, this study is designed to examine relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement at the secondary level in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore is one of the cosmopolitan cities of Pakistan and a hub of many cultures, traditions, and customs. Regarding the academic processes and ethics, it provides opportunities for researchers to contextualize the perspectives accordingly. Reading habits have been and are still being taught in schools, colleges, and universities through model reading by teachers, parents, or elders of the families. In addition, the reading and recitation of fold tales and poems get to gathers like at Pak Tea House, Lawrence Garden, Quaid-e-Azam Library, and so on, while formal schools books, extra reading exercises, and reading and writing competitions at the school level are prepared through a variety of book reading within the context of the particular objective. The results of normality tests indicated that the data were normality distributed and suitable to apply parametric statistics. The descriptive findings also showed that students have more preferences for reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading challenges. These results support the finding of numerous researchers (e.g., Pehlivan et al., 2010 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014 ; Haliru et al., 2015 ; Erguvan, 2016 ; Krashen, 2016 ; Kulatunga, 2016 ; Loan and Shah, 2017 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Porkaew and Fongpaiboon, 2018 ; Mirza et al., 2021 ) who found that students give more preference to read academic content from textbooks and other reading materials (i.e., newspaper, storybooks, poetry, novel, magazines, cartoons, comics, sports, etc.). Rasheed (2012) determined that reading habits play a substantial essential role in developing positive attitudes toward reading. However, Maiyo and Siahi (2015) revealed that higher achievers had better reading habits than low achievers. Students prefer reading online because they can easily read content from the internet material in this technological age, so they prefer reading online ( Dollah et al., 2017 ). Thus, Molotja and Themane (2018) found that students’ reading habits may enhance through global reading strategies and problem-solving strategies. Moreover, it is found that students have competence in reading habits and study skills. These results are also in line with the findings of previous studies, e.g., Dadzie (2008) , Ogeyik and Akyay (2009) , Bhan and Gupta (2010) , and Issa et al. (2012) , and Sabbah (2016) revealed that the majority of the students read books to pass the exams that why they have good reading habits. Furthermore, it is determined that students also possess the competence level of study skills that confirmed the study conducted by numerous researchers (i.e., DiPerna, 2004 , 2006 ; Rozalski, 2008 ; Kuterbach, 2012 ; DuPaul and Stoner, 2014 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ; Abid et al., 2021 ).

Furthermore, researchers also concluded from correlational results that there were moderate-to-significant positive correlations among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English. In the literature review, it is seen that these findings are consistent with the results of Singh (2011) , Horbec (2012) , Issa et al. (2012) , Sabbah (2016) , Ameyaw and Anto (2018) , Hassan et al. (2021) . They found a positive relationship between reading habits and academic achievement, while reading habits influence students’ academic performance. Moreover, some researchers determined a moderate relationship between reading habits and academic success (e.g., Chotitham and Wongwanich, 2014 ; Kutay, 2014 ; Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Adigun et al., 2021 ; Nguyen Thi Thu, 2022 ). Sherafat and Murthy (2016) directed that study habits facilitate learners toward higher achievement because of their significant connections with academic achievement, that confirmed by Bibi et al. (2020) . In contrast, few researchers found different results due to participants’ different selection procedures and contextual differences (i.e., purposive sample method, content, reading material, culture, etc.). For example, Lawrence (2014) ; Goel (2014) , Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) revealed no significant correlation between students’ academic achievement and study habits. At the same time, Silverrajoo and Hassan (2018) found that students’ reading styles have a negative, weak relationship with academic achievement. Findings regarding study skills: e.g., Nouhi et al. (2009) , Awang and Sinnadurai (2011) , Hassanbeigi et al. (2011) , Maiyo and Siahi (2015) , Gormley et al. (2018) revealed a significant positive connection between study skills and academic success, whereas Demir et al. (2012) and Wernersbach et al. (2014) found study skills have a considerable influence on performance that support the present study findings. However, few researchers found a negative correlation between study skills and academic performance ( Fazal et al., 2012 ; Tahamtani et al., 2017 ; Naqvi et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, researchers determined in this study students’ reading habits have positive correlations with study skills. Thus, reading habits and study skills directly correlate with their academic achievement in English. In addition, it is also revealed that reading habits and study skills moderately predict students’ academic achievement. Annamalai and Muniandy (2013) suggested that academic performance is based on students’ reading habits. Whitten et al. (2016) and Fatiloro et al. (2017) revealed that reading habits significantly help students learn more to enhance their academic performance. Ehsan and Sultana (2020) predicted that reading habits significantly improve students’ academic performance.

6. Conclusion

Reading habits and study skills differ in conceptual understanding. Reading habits are the degree to which readers regularly read, whereas study skills are the ability to comprehend new information effectively. Both reading and study habits influence students’ academic performance. It is concluded that the collected data were normally distributed. The descriptive findings about reading habit sub-constructs indicated that students give more preferences to reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading problems. Simultaneously, they have competent reading habits and study skills. Furthermore, it is found that there are moderate-to-strong positive correlations among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English. Thus, it is concluded that reading habits and study skills directly correlate with academic achievement in English. In addition, it is also revealed that reading habits and study skills moderately predict students’ academic achievement.

7. Implications for practice

It is determined that students prefer reading to their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and challenges and have competent reading habits and study skills. Thus, it is suggested that teachers plan such assignments and tasks based on reflective thinking ( Aslam et al., 2021 ), so students have to visit the school library to read more academic material to accomplish assigned tasks through extensive reading. Students’ reading habits and study skills have a moderate-to-strong connection with their academic achievement in English. So school administrations design a timetable by consulting with teachers, allowing students to spend at least an hour in the library regularly. In contrast, the library should have up-to-date reading material, exciting storybooks, and stock which attract students. In addition, parents can also engage their children in constant reading at home by providing related textbook materials and allowing them to watch educational television programs to gain the essence of reading habits and study skills.

8. Limitations and implications for future research

There are several limitations to this study. First, this study was conducted on secondary school students by selecting a sample from the Lahore district of Punjab, Pakistan. Therefore, future studies may include participants from other districts of Punjab and other provinces of Pakistan to increase the generalizability of results. Second, longitudinal studies are needed to explore the change in students reading habits and study skills over time. To enhance reading habits and study skills, interventional studies may build lifelong reading habits and study skills among learners to make a scholarly society. Last but not least, future researchers may explore parent’s role in developing their children’s reading habits and study skills by selecting participants from diverse populations. Cultural factors would affect students’ reading habits; thus, Pakistan’s unique culture should be considered a potential theoretical explanation in future.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants or their legal guardian/next of kin.

Author contributions

NA presented the main idea and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. SA contributed to conducting the methodology. SA, AA, and TK were involved with the revisions and proofreading. All authors contributed to the article revisions and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this study by Grant Code: 22UQU4280253DSR01.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : reading, reading habits, study skills, academic achievement, secondary school students

Citation: Abid N, Aslam S, Alghamdi AA and Kumar T (2023) Relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English at the secondary level. Front. Psychol. 14:1020269. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1020269

Received: 16 August 2022; Accepted: 09 January 2023; Published: 27 January 2023.

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Copyright © 2023 Abid, Aslam, Alghamdi and Kumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers

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Reading avidness is recognized as one of the predictors for academic achievement and as motivators for adult to be a life-long learner. The fact is that the number of avid readers is dwindling, and a recent survey showed that Malaysians read an average of two books per year. Thus, the focus of this research is to identify the factors that first led to students’ interest in reading and then to sustain this interest. The case study uses observations, interviews and documentary analyses method to collect data from seven 15-year-old Malaysian teenagers selected based on their reading avidness and various backgrounds. Through the course of this research, it was recognized that a key factor for reading ability stems from the home and choice of early childhood education. On the other hand, although parents do encourage and sustain interest in reading, the greater force seems to be from peers with similar interest. Like other facets of a teenager’s life, peer influence or as in this case positive peer influence, can be a key to unlock the dilemma of ‘reading reluctance’.

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The Factors that Influence the Reading Habit Among Malaysian: A Systematic Literature Review

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Azlin Norhaini Mansor & Mohd Sattar Rasul

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Mansor, A.N., Rasul, M.S., Rauf, R.A.A. et al. Developing and Sustaining Reading Habit Among Teenagers. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 22 , 357–365 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-012-0017-1

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• Reading is a Good Habit Essay

An Essay On Reading Is A Good Habit

Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (L-S-R-W) are the four skills of language learning. These are the set of four capabilities that allow an individual to comprehend and use a spoken language for proper and effective interpersonal communication. Reading is considered as one of the best habits anyone can possess. Reading helps a great deal in building our confidence, reduces stress and puts us in a better mood. It also develops our imagination and provides us with a fortune of knowledge. It is rightly said that books are our best friend as reading helps build up our wisdom and thinking capabilities. By developing the habit of reading, one can gain confidence in learning any language. The interest in reading, like any other habit, comes with time. Once a person starts reading, it becomes a part of habit and he/she starts to explore a whole new world.

Reading good books has a plethora of advantages. The habit of reading broadens our horizons and helps us become a better person in life. It also helps in developing a fresh viewpoint of life. The more we read, the more we fall in love with reading. It helps to develop vocabulary and language abilities. Reading is also one of the best ways to reduce anxiety as it provides relaxation and recreation. A book puts us in a better mood and allows us to have a strong imagination. At the end of a hectic and stressful day, all we need is a good book to help us rejuvenate and momentarily escape from the realities of life. 

The habit of reading must be inculcated in children from a young age. Reading is a great habit from the learning point of view as it boosts the understanding of language, improves vocabulary, helps in improving speaking and writing skills, etc. While reading a book, the plot and its characters hover in our imagination. It is said that reading builds imagination power more than any other form of activity. Anyone who has good reading skills shows indication of higher intelligence as reading helps to broaden our wisdom and knowledge to a great extent. It not only boosts our confidence but personality too. 

One of the most beneficial habits one can have is reading. It expands your creativity and provides you with a wealth of information. Reading helps you create confidence and improve your attitude, thus books are your best friend or partner. When you start reading every day, you'll discover a whole new world of information.

When you make it a practice to read every day, you will become addicted to it. Reading can help you develop cognitively and offer you a fresh perspective on life. Good novels can have a great impact on people and lead you down the correct path in life. The more time you spend reading, the more you will fall in love with it. The more time you spend reading, the more you will fall in love with it. Reading can help you improve your vocabulary and linguistic skills. Reading can help you unwind and de-stress.

Reading boosts your creativity and gives you a greater grasp of life. Reading also encourages you to write, and if you do so, you will undoubtedly fall in love with the craft. If you want to create excellent habits in your life, reading should be at the top of your list because it is essential to a person's general growth and development.

Good books will always point you in the right direction. The following are some of the advantages of reading books:

Self-improvement: Reading can help you think more positively. Reading is important because it molds your thinking and provides you with a wealth of information and life lessons. Books will help you have a better understanding of the world around you from a new perspective. It keeps your mind active, healthy, and helps you be more creative.

Communication Skills: Reading increases your vocabulary, enhances your language skills, and improves your communication skills. It teaches you how to be more creative with your thoughts. It not only improves your communication skills, but it also helps you improve your writing skills. In every element of life, effective communication is essential.

Increases your Understanding: Books provide you a foundational understanding of civilizations, customs, the arts, history, geography, health, psychology, and a variety of other topics and elements of life. Books provide an unlimited amount of information and wisdom. 

Reduces Stress: Reading a good book transports you to another world and helps you escape the stresses of everyday life. There are a number of beneficial impacts on your mind, body, and soul that aid with stress relief. It keeps your mind healthy and powerful by stimulating your brain muscles to perform efficiently.

Great Pleasure: Anyone who reads a book for pleasure does so. They delight in reading and gain access to a whole new universe. When you begin reading a book, you will become so engrossed in it that you will not want to put it down until you have finished it.

Enhances your Imagination and Creativity: Reading enhances your imagination and creativity by transporting you to a realm of imagination and, in some ways, increasing your creativity. Reading allows you to examine life from several perspectives. You generate inventive and creative thoughts, visions, and opinions in your mind while reading books. It encourages you to think outside of the box, imagine, and use your imagination.

Enhances your Analytical Abilities: Active reading allows you to gain access to a variety of viewpoints on life. It aids in the analysis of your thoughts and the expression of your opinions. Active reading brings new ideas and thoughts to mind. It activates and alters your brain, allowing you to see things from a different perspective.

Boredom is Lessened: Despite all the other social activities, long-distance travel or a protracted vacation from work can be tedious. In such instances, books come in handy and keep you from being bored.

Reading books adds knowledge and plays a great role in education. Whether it is fiction or nonfiction, we get to learn a great deal from books. It exposes us to the outer world which helps acquire sensibility and understanding of different social subjects. It is therefore very important to develop a good reading habit. We should all read daily for at least 30 minutes to enjoy the wonderful beneficial perks of reading. It is a great happiness to live in a calm place and to enjoy the moments of reading. Reading a good and informative book is one of the most rejuvenating and enthusiastic experiences a person can have. 

One must inculcate the habit of reading. Reading is said to be a great mental exercise. Reading also helps us release boredom. Reading allows us to sleep better. Hence, we must develop the habit of reading books before bedtime. Even in this digital age where any information is just a click away, reading has its own charm. The benefits of reading are irreplaceable as the detailed knowledge it provides is unmatched to anything we read on the internet. Happy reading!

FAQs on Reading is a Good Habit Essay

1. Why is the habit of reading so important?

Reading is important as it develops our thinking capacity and gives important life lessons. Reading molds our personality and makes us a better person. It also enhances our creativity and keeps our minds healthy and active. Reading improves communication and vocabulary skills. Whenever you try to speak in front of everyone, you are unable to speak proper English. This habit of speaking fluent English can only be corrected with the help of reading books regularly and speaking in English with your peers.

2. Why is the habit of reading declining?

The habit of reading is gradually declining. The advent of the internet is often described as the reason behind the changing habits of reading. Nowadays, most people go to the internet for information rather than reading books. The deterioration in reading habits can also lead to a decline in the world’s cultural development. Hence, people should give reading the importance it deserves. Accordingly, people are becoming lazier and not wanting to read as they find it a waste of time. The students nowadays find newspapers to be boring and they perceive mobile applications of new channels to be the ultimate source of news information.

3. What are the difficulties you will face if you don’t read?

If a student is unwilling to read and speak English or any other languages they intend to learn, then he or she will never be able to be creative and innovative in their approach to any other aspect of life. Reading opens up with the mind of the people and leads them to understand the concept of vocabulary and innovation. A lot of students struggle with their vocabulary and grammar. All of this is just done to help the students improve their speaking ability and experience. If you don't read then you won't be able to write good English literature answers in school as you won't be able to manage the content well.

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An Exploration of Students’ Current Reading Habits and Skills

South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics

This study is an exploration of students' reading habits and skills. This research employed a cross-sectional survey design to assess students' reading habits and skills. In a cross-sectional study, data is gathered in general to concentrate on a populace at a single point to look at the connection between variables of interest. Some inconsistencies in data trends were found in reading frequency and duration. This may indicate that higher reading frequencies and/or longer reading durations does not necessarily translate to better reading comprehension. Frequent reading of a material that does not effectively reinforce reading comprehension skills may just be as effective as infrequent reading of a material of substance. The findings of the study will be helpful for Academic Institutions, Educators, and Students. In the first place, this review will assist Academic Institutions with working on the school in the advancement of reading programs for student improvement. This stu...

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This study provides important insights into the attitudes and abilities associated to reading by exploring the reading habits and comprehension levels of a group of learners. Results show that students had good reading habits overall, with many praising readings for pleasure and acknowledging its significance in their life. Reading comprehension is an area where most students may stand to improve, though they are mostly in the "Proficient" and "Approaching Proficiency" ranges. They may be surprised to learn that their reading habits are surprisingly uncorrelated with their reading comprehension, and that this association is not even statistically significant. These findings highlight the importance of conducting additional research to identify the elements that impact these students' reading performance. Even for students who already have good reading habits, this data can help educators and legislators craft more effective interventions to improve reading comprehension.

Ratna Rintaningrum Scopus Author ID 35772946400

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Siska Oktawidya Wati

The aim of this study was to observe on the correlation between students’ reading habit and their reading comprehension of eleventh grade at SMA Negeri 1 Madang Suku 3 OKU Timur. In this quantitative study with correlational study, the writer used questionnaire and test to collect the data. The questionnaire measured students’ reading habit and test measured students’ reading comprehension. Populationof this study was all the eleventh grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Madang Suku 3 OKU Timur in academic year 2018/2019 were 124 student and took sample by using purposive sampling were 64 students. Based on the finding, the mean score of questionnaire was 60,89 and mean score of students’ reading comprehension was 56,94 which was in moderated category. The writer found that there was significantly correlation between students’reading habit and their reading comprehension the correlation coofficient was 0,555. It meant that alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted and null hypothesis was r...

Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada

Claudia Finger-Kratochvil

Many institutions have been studying the construction of different aspects of the reading process and the reader (e.g. OECD, INEP), and they have revealed a gap in the process of building reading abilities at all levels of education. The present study focuses on entry-level college students and analyzes data from thirty-three students, collected by means of (a) two questionnaires assessing the participants' views of the reading process, purposes of reading, and their reading practices, and (b) three reading units designed to measure the participants' reading ability in their native language. The results revealed that a large number of students spend little time reading, although they report that reading is a rewarding activity. Moreover, for most of them, reading is a bottom-up process, and the consequences of this view can be observed in their performance on the reading tasks.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

Marcos Nhapulo

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This study was aimed to investigate reading habit among junior high school students using a case study design involving ten students at one of junior high school in West Bandung Regency as participants. The data collections were obtained from classroom observation, questionnaire, interview, and document analysis. This study revealed that the students had low reading habit; they preferred watching TV and surfing the internet than reading for their leisure time. Most of them read-only for 1-2 hours per day. In term of reading material preference, most of students preferred fiction books written in Indonesian language. In addition, the students faced difficulties when engaged in reading in English due to their anxiety regarding their general proficiency needed to decode and comprehend the texts. The study invites teachers, school authorities, and family members to team up to improve students' reading habit.

hasanul bishry

This research was motivated by students’ comprehension in reading. In teaching and learning process, students should be able to understand the text, analyze the text and interpret the text. Students could improve their achievement when they understand the text. In some cases, students were difficult to understand the text, they also could not be able to find the meaning of the text and author’s idea. Based on this case, the purpose in this research was to investigate the correlation between students’ reading habit on their reading comprehension. This research used quantitative method. The design in this research was a correlational research. The subject in this research was the students in fifth semester at STIE Riau. The sample used cluster sampling. The data collection used questionnaire and test. Then, the data was analyzed by SPSS Computation with correlational design. The finding in this research showed that there was correlation between reading habit and reading comprehension....

British Journal of Multidisciplinary and Advanced Studies

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This study aims at investigating the effective technique used by secondary school students in strengthening reading comprehension. The study adopted the experimental method. Pre-posttest test is used as a primary tool for data collection. The population of the study is year students of English- College of Education at SUST. The sample of study drawn from the population consisted of 44 students who were selected randomly. This study used the statistical package for social science (SPSS) program to analyze and verify the hypotheses. The results showed that pre-test and posttest show that there are statistical significance differences among the respondents of experimental group in terms of reading technique. On the other hand, students unable to use scanning techniques while practicing reading in the classroom. Furthermore, students do not use skimming technique for obtaining general information. The study recommended that students should be aware about different types of reading ski...

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Dewa Komang Tantra

The general objective pursued in this research is to describe and predict the students’ reading habit, reading interest, reading motivation, and reading self-efficacy to their reading competency in the Senior High School. The design applied is a quantitative research. There were 124 students recruited using cluster sampling technique. Data were gathered using four rating scales and a reading test. The obtained data were analyzed in two phases, namely: descriptively and inferentially. Descriptively, central tendency measures and dispersion were computed for the four predictor variables and one criterion variable. Whereas inferentially, gross and net contributions of the four predictor variables to the criterion variables were computed using regression analysis technique. Descriptively, the mean scores of reading habit, reading interest, reading motivation, reading self-efficacy, and reading comprehension are categorically moderate. The multiple correlation between the predictor vari...

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International Journal of Library Science

p-ISSN: 2168-488X    e-ISSN: 2168-4901

2018;  7(1): 15-20

doi:10.5923/j.library.20180701.03

Developing the Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria: The Way Forward

Akande S. O. 1 , Oyedapo R. O. 2

1 Centre for Educational Media Resource Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria

2 Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Copyright © 2018 by the authors and Scientific & Academic Publishing.

In recent times, lack of cultivating the habit of reading has been the concern of all stakeholders. The lack of enthusiasm of secondary school students for reading has contributed to many failures such as poor writing and limited understanding about what they are taught in class. This growing concern provides motivation for this study. Thus, this study seeks to discover and elucidate the various ways whereby secondary school students in Nigeria could develop the habits of reading amidst divergent distractions around them especially in the 21 st century society as well as the roles of stakeholders towards enhancing the reading habits of students at the secondary school. The study concluded that the reading habits of secondary school students should be given rapt attention because of the imminent danger of losing reading habits in the era of information and communication technologies, where the use of social media sites is the order of the day. The study recommends that there must be a fixed time for reading a variety of reading materials that will appeal to students and that adopting different methods to arouse the interest of students could enhance their reading habits.

Keywords: Reading, Reading Habits, Secondary School and Students

Cite this paper: Akande S. O. , Oyedapo R. O. , Developing the Reading Habits of Secondary School Students in Nigeria: The Way Forward, International Journal of Library Science , Vol. 7 No. 1, 2018, pp. 15-20. doi: 10.5923/j.library.20180701.03.

Article Outline

1. introduction, 2. importance of reading habits, 3. developing good reading habits, 4. factors inhibiting the reading habits of secondary school students in nigeria, 5. reading habits of secondary school students: the way forward, 6. conclusions, 7. recommendations.

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Relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English at the secondary level

1 Department of Education, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

Sarfraz Aslam

2 Faculty of Education and Humanities, UNITAR International University, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Abdulelah A. Alghamdi

3 Faculty of Education, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Tribhuwan Kumar

4 Department of English Language and Literature, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia

Associated Data

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Introduction

Reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message for personal growth and success in the relevant fields. Thus, psychologists consider it a multifaceted cognitive process of constructing meanings from texts. The present study was conducted to determine the relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English at the secondary level in Punjab, Pakistan.

The ( n = 1614) students enrolled in the science section for the academic year 2019–2020 participated in this descriptive correlational survey, selected from 40 high schools in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, through a non-proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ) and the Study Skills Scale (SSS) were used to collect data about students’ reading habits and study skills. At the same time, academic achievement was the students’ grades obtained in the ninth class in the subject of English that were determined by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore in 2019. Students’ responses were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.

The results indicated that students have competent reading habits and study skills. The correlational findings showed a strong positive relationship among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, while moderate positive relationships between reading habits and academic achievement in English. However, regression analysis results were significant, while reading habits and study skills moderately predicted academic achievement.

It is implicated that teachers should plan such assignments and tasks based on reflective thinking by considering the role of study skills in academic achievement. Moreover, teachers and school administrators could mutually create timetables for library lessons to build reading habits and study skills among learners.

1. Introduction

Knowledge gained through reading is vital for the cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal development of learners ( He, 2014 ; Baffoe and Okae-Anti, 2020 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ) because it is a person’s ability to enhance information and comprehend the words effectively ( Sabbah, 2016 ; Al-Jarf, 2019 ). An individual reads for numerous reasons, i.e., knowledge development, recreation, joy, relaxation, and so on ( Whitten et al., 2016 ). However, Erguvan (2016) and Mirza et al. (2021) directed that reading is an active part of life that is not just about pleasure when needed. However, Chotitham and Wongwanich (2014) conjectured that reading helps to develop critical and judgmental thinking abilities used to solve problems by conceptualizing context. Hence, Erdem (2015) and Pretorius and Klapwijk (2016) quantified that reading is essential to success because it starts from the commencement of school and continues throughout the lifetime.

Fischer et al. (2015) , Oyewole (2017) , Al-Jarf (2019) recognized that the importance of reading in learning could not be ignored because it is an emancipatory tool that releases students’ academic frustration, ignorance, and destitution. Palani (2012) distinguished that reading is an instrument used to exchange information, while reading habit is an academic activity that enables students to benefit from reading materials. Therefore, Walia and Sinha (2014) specified that reading habits require complex skills, such as perceiving a message, skimming and scanning information, and understanding the context. Thus, compelling reading depends on readers’ behaviors, known as study skills that enable them to conceptualize the new knowledge effectively ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ; Habibu and Ejembi, 2011 ; Gormley et al., 2018 ; Naqvi et al., 2018 ; Iheakanwa et al., 2021 ). While the effective study makes one narrate in their way using the stipulated meanings of the words and terms, the researchers take up for explanation and clarity ( Biyik et al., 2017 ).

According to the available literature, students’ reading habits and study skills have been of great importance for decades; while several deficiencies were found in previous studies, thus researchers considered few of them that are related to the study context. First, the researchers mainly focused on the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement separately in Western countries ( Bhan and Gupta, 2010 ; Sabbah, 2016 ). A few addressed Eastern countries restricted to the university level ( Demir et al., 2012 ; Davarci, 2013 ; Dilshad et al., 2013 ; Erguvan, 2016 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Porkaew and Fongpaiboon, 2018 ; Thamarasseri, 2018 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2019 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ; Tonka and Bakir, 2020 ; Mirza et al., 2021 ; Nguyen Thi Thu, 2022 ). However, students’ reading habits and study skills may be initiated from the school level enabling the individuals to grow in competence, comfort, and understanding of the audience. At the same time, previous researchers focused on university level students’ reading habits. Second, there are methodological identities that lead to dubious findings not confirming the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement ( Goel, 2014 ; Lawrence, 2014 ; Quadir and Chen, 2015 ; Sherafat and Murthy, 2016 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Silverrajoo and Hassan, 2018 ; Balan et al., 2019 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ). In general, there is a scarcity of research aiming to determine the correlation between students’ reading habits and achievement through the role of study skills at any academic level. Finally, in Pakistan, few studies could explore reading habits as a singular variable of different groups of students ( Bajwa et al., 2011 ; Hussain and Munshi, 2011 ; Rasheed, 2012 ). Numerous researchers only examined the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement ( Bashir and Mattoo, 2012 ; Bibi et al., 2020 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ). Moreover, Fazal et al. (2012) only investigated the association between study skills and achievement. Thus, this research examines the relationship among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English as practiced at the secondary level in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

Lahore is the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. In terms of population, this is the second largest city in Pakistan. It is located in the northeastern part of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Lahore is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Pakistan and is home to various cultures, traditions, and customs. Specifically, it provides researchers with opportunities to contextualize perspectives in light of academic processes and ethics.

2. Literature review

2.1. reading habits.

Rosli et al. (2018) suggested that reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message, while Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) stated that it is a gateway to all other information, which may lead to understanding the world outside the text. Hence, Al-Jarf (2021) and Dadzie (2008) asserted that reading is a multifaceted cognitive process of comprehending words written in a textual form that allows readers to enhance their knowledge for personal growth and academic success. Moreover, Ogeyik and Akyay (2009) ; Erguvan (2016) , Mirza et al. (2021) stated that reading is just a method of communication between the writer and the reader. Thus, Bhan and Gupta (2010) and Baron (2017) assumed that reading is the art of decoding and interpreting messages from various written materials such as books, magazines, journals, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pamphlets, and diaries. Hassan et al. (2021) stated that reading habits influence reading materials, activities, time duration, place of reading, and reader motivation. In this study, reading habits are considered to be the students’ reading preferences, interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and reading problems during study at the secondary level.

2.2. Study skills

Study skills are the readers’ inclination toward organizing, highlighting, reviewing, reciting, and using devices, flashcards, etc. to comprehend new knowledge effectively ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ; DiPerna, 2006 ; Rozalski, 2008 ; Madhavi et al., 2014 ; Sabbah, 2016 ). While reading habit is the frequency, a reader regularly reads ( Winne, 2013 ). Moreover, study skills are the students’ intellectual practices to process new information effectively and efficiently, while reading habits are considered a psychological trait of one’s personality ( Farrington et al., 2012 ; Pillai, 2012 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Shahidi et al., 2014 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Rosli et al., 2018 ). Thus, the concept of study skills is different from reading habits. This research defines study skills as secondary school students’ approaches to comprehending new knowledge.

2.3. Reading habits and academic achievement

Horbec (2012) and Singh (2011) determined a significant positive relationship between students’ reading habits and academic achievement. Hence, Issa et al. (2012) explored that students’ reading patterns vary and have a moderately significant influence on academic success, while Bashir and Mattoo (2012) examined that academic performance is dependent on the level of students’ study habits; thus, reading habits influence on future success, which was confirmed by Owusu-Acheaw and Larson (2014) through quantitative measures. Chotitham and Wongwanich (2014) found a moderate positive relationship between students’ study habits and achievement. However, Lawrence (2014) rejected the association between students’ academic achievement and study habits, and Goel (2014) confirmed that study habits do not influence academic performance. Therefore, Schwabe et al. (2015) , Quadir and Chen (2015) concluded through a quantitative correlational study that heavy reading habits significantly impact reading efficiency; the longer the reading time, the better the results. Malik and Parveen (2016) discovered significant differences in low- and high-academic achievers’ attitudes toward study habits. They determined that high achievers are more concentrated and exhibited better study habits, good time management skills, and punctuality compared to low achievers. In the meantime, Sherafat and Murthy (2016) directed that study habits facilitate learners toward higher achievement because of their significant connections with academic achievement. Consequently, Silverrajoo and Hassan (2018) revealed divergent findings that students’ reading methods have a negative and weak relationship with academic achievement.

Ameyaw and Anto (2018) recognized the importance of reading styles in students’ learning and found that reading styles affect students’ performance. Meanwhile, Alzahrani et al. (2018) verified that students’ reading styles significantly impact their performance. Dolmaz and Kaya (2019) discovered that students’ creative writing skills are affected by their reading styles. Moreover, Balan et al. (2019) determined that students’ purpose of reading significantly affected their performance, as Annamalai and Muniandy (2013) suggested that academic performance is based on students’ reading purpose. Hence, Whitten et al. (2016) and Fatiloro et al. (2017) discovered that reading habits significantly assist students in learning and enhancing their performance. Bibi et al. (2020) examined that students’ study habits were significantly positively associated with achievement. Ehsan and Sultana (2020) predicted that reading habits significantly increase students’ performance. Moreover, Hassan et al. (2021) found a significant correlation between secondary school students’ reading habits and their reading achievement and concluded that reading habits significantly contribute to academic achievement. Thus, Nguyen Thi Thu (2022) revealed that reading habits have a significant role in the development of students writing performance.

On the other hand, by designing a correlational study, Tonka and Bakir (2020) found a negative relationship between reading anxiety and reading habits. Thus, they concluded that reading anxiety plays a role in students’ performance and reading habits. Similarly, Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) found a significant negative association between study habits and academic stress, reading habits, and academic achievement. The researchers measured all the variables through a questionnaire consisting of four scales and 43 items.

2.4. Study skills and academic achievement

Nouhi et al. (2009) determined that study skills have a significant positive association with academic success measured through a closed-ended questionnaire confirmed by Awang and Sinnadurai (2011) through an experimental study. Meanwhile, Hassanbeigi et al. (2011) and Sabbah (2016) verified that study skills are critical for academic success because they positively correlate with academic achievement found through a descriptive correlational survey using a study skills scale. Hence, Fazal et al. (2012) suggested that higher academic achievers use a wide range of study skills than low achievers, while there was a weak correlation between study skills and academic success. Furthermore, Demir et al. (2012) revealed through an experimental study that students’ study skills had a considerable influence on performance which was also confirmed by Wernersbach et al. (2014) from an experimental study. In both of the studies, researchers measured study skills through closed-ended items. Moreover, they also discovered that study skills significantly impact students’ academic self-efficacy. Nonetheless, Tahamtani et al. (2017) and Naqvi et al. (2018) revealed a weak negative link between achievement and study habits through quantitative measures that were rejected by Gormley et al. (2018) , who found a significant positive impact of study skills on achievement.

Several gaps were found in already conducted studies; first, the researchers mainly focused on the influence of reading habits and study skills on academic achievement separately in Western countries, while few addressed this phenomenon in Eastern countries. However, the investigation was restricted to university level students. Second, methodological identities lead to dubious findings not confirming this phenomenon. Finally, in Pakistan, few studies could explore reading habits as a singular variable of different groups of students. At the same time, some researchers only examined the relationship between reading habits and academic achievement. Thus, this study aimed to develop our understanding of the relationship between students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

2.5. Summary

Reading is an attempt to comprehend the writer’s message for personal growth and success. Thus, psychologists consider it a multifaceted cognitive process of constructing meaning from texts. Bhan and Gupta (2010) stated that reading is the art of decoding and interpreting messages from the content of the written material that is often carried out in magazines, journals, newspapers, books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pamphlets, diaries, and so on. While reading habits are the degree to which a reader engages in reading while studying skills to gain knowledge. Reading habits assist students in learning more, whereas study skills encourage them to understand new information effectively. Both reading habits and study skills influence students’ academic performance.

Based on literature insights, the following hypotheses are formulated:

Hypothesis (H 1 ): A significant relationship exists between students’ reading habits and their academic achievement in English language comprehension .

Hypothesis (H 2 ): A significant relationship exists between stqudents’ study skills and their academic achievement in English language comprehension.

3.1. Design

A research design is comprised of numerous elements (i.e., research paradigm, research approach, research design, and data collection method that provide guidelines for carrying out the study ( Creswell and Clark, 2017 ; Myers, 2019 ), while a correlational research design is used to determine the relationship between two or more than two variables ( Cohen et al., 2018 ). Thus, a correlational research design of a quantitative approach (positivism paradigm) was used. At the same time, a cross-sectional survey method was applied to collect data about studied variables (i.e., reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English).

3.2. Sample

The sample comprised 10th-grade students enrolled in district Lahore’s public sector high schools for the academic year 2019–2020. The inclusion criteria were those students who enrolled in the science section only. During the data collection, the total number of active students in both sections (i.e., science and arts) of 10th grade was 36,847 enrolled at 334 high schools in district Lahore ( Government of Punjab [GOP], 2019 ). While in the science section, the active students were 17,028, considered an accessible population of this study. A total of 1,800 (900 boys and 900 girls) were selected from 40 high schools through a non-proportionate random sampling technique that was 10.57% of the accessible population, which shows the sample was normally distributed. Out of 1,800 selected students, 1,619 participated as respondents because 181 students had not passed the subject English in the ninth-grade annual examination conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore. Three students declined to participate in this survey, while two could not complete the questionnaires. Therefore, the final sample consisted of n = 1,614 secondary school students.

3.3. Instruments

Two instruments were used, i.e., the Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ) and Study Skills Scale (SSS), to collect data about students’ reading habits and study skills.

Reading Habits Questionnaire (RHQ): The researchers developed a paper and pencil student self-report RHQ based on Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the social-cognitive theory of self-regulated learning strategies ( Pintrich et al., 1993 ; Duncan and McKeachie, 2005 ; Duncan et al., 2007 ). Ajzen’s (1991) TPB suggests that socio-psychological characteristics of a person’s behavior, such as reading, influence reader proximal behaviors ( Stokmans, 1999 ; Miesen, 2003 ; Van Schooten et al., 2004 ), while the social-cognitive theory of self-regulating learning strategies suggested that students’ reading habits are meta-cognitively and behaviorally active in a student’s learning process to achieve goals ( Eccles and Wigfield, 2002 ). The classical test theory model was utilized to develop RHQ, which initially consisted of 44 closed-ended items. Each item was constructed on a 5-point Likert-type agreement scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), which means developing level reading habits to advance level reading habits. However, content validity was ensured by five education and assessment experts to validate the content coverage, language appropriateness, and usability of RHQ at the secondary level. Moreover, a pilot study was conducted on 250 students selected purposively from the target population to confirm unidimensionality among items and scales through exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23 software. Four subscales of RHQ (i.e., preferences for reading, interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and reading problems) were constructed during EFA. In contrast, nine items (two to three from each subscale) were deleted because their factor loading values (λ) were less than 0.5. In an analysis of items, reliability was also determined through Cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.821) value which was statistically acceptable. Psychometric evidence shows that RHQ was reliable for determining students’ reading habits. Improved RHQ consisted of 35 items based on four subscales, i.e., preferences of reading (10 items), interest in reading (nine items), attitude toward reading (nine items), and reading problems (seven items).

Study Skills Scale (SSS): The researchers adopted the SSS from Academic Competence and Evaluation Scale, developed by DiPerna and Elliott in 2000. The validity, as well as reliability of SSS, was confirmed by numerous researchers ( Kettler et al., 2014 ; Strunk, 2014 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ) and concluded that SSS is a standardized scale to measure study skills. The SSS consisted of 11 items that were also constructed on a 5-point Likert-type frequency scale, ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (almost always) which means developing level to advance level skills ( DiPerna and Elliott, 2000 ). The SSS was also administered to 250 students to ensure reliability through Cronbach’s alpha tests and found a value of α = 0.874 that was suitable to measure study skills in the local context (Pakistan).

Academic Achievement: Students’ marks obtained in ninth grade in the subject of English were asked them that determined by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore in 2019. Their obtained scores in the subject of English were considered an academic achievement of students.

3.4. Data collection and analysis

After getting consent from the district education administration officer, the researchers personally gained permission from the selected schools’ principals and class teachers for data collection. All the selected students were informed in their classes about the study purpose and given the right to withdraw from the study at any time before data analyses. RHQ and SSS administration occurred over 8 weeks during mid of the September to mid of November 2019 academic year. Before administering the instruments, participants were informed about the confidentiality procedures. Moreover, the researchers encouraged them to respond honestly and told them to write about their obtained marks in ninth grade in English. After collecting the questionnaires, the researchers quickly scanned the participants’ responses about missing answers, and the students were asked to complete the responses in the questionnaire. A total of 1,614 participants provided valuable responses about their reading habits and study skills. The response rate was 89.6%, acceptable in social sciences research for quantitative data. Students’ responses about reading habits and study skills were analyzed by applying descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) and inferential statistics (i.e., Pearson r test and regression test) through SPSS version 25 software.

4.1. Descriptive statistics on students’ reading habits and study skills

The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to check the normality of data. At the same time, the skewness and kurtosis values indicated that data were normally distributed because skewness and kurtosis were between –2 and + 2, which was suitable for parametric statistics ( George, 2011 ; Albers, 2017 ; Mishra et al., 2019 ). Table 1 indicates that students give more preferences to reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading problems as M = 4.13, SD = 0.486; M = 3.91, SD = 0.616; M = 3.68, SD = 0.676; and M = 3.57, SD = 0.813, respectively. Students also thought they were facing reading problems because English was not their native language as M = 3.68; SD = 0.813. Overall, results revealed that students have permissive and desired reading habits and study skills as M = 3.88, SD = 0.455 and M = 3.85, SD = 0.602.

Descriptive statistics of reading habits and study skills.

4.2. Inferential statistics on students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English

The Pearson product–moment correlation analysis was applied to test null hypotheses, i.e., whether there are significant relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

4.3. Hypotheses testing

Refer to Table 2 for the intercorrelation of variables among reading habits subscales, overall reading habits, and study skills; there were moderate-to-high positive correlations among variables. For reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English, students’ reading habits were significantly and positively correlated as r = 0.314–0.721. A value of r = (±) 0.3–0.7 exhibits a moderate-to-high correlation between variables ( Akoglu, 2018 ; Schober et al., 2018 ). Results also reveal higher positive correlations between reading habits and study skills while moderate positive correlations between reading habits and academic achievement in English as r = 0.848 and 0.584, respectively. Moreover, there was a higher positive correlation between study skills and academic achievement in English as r = 0.721. Thus, it is revealed that students’ reading habits and study skills are positively associated with academic achievement in English.

Intercorrelations matrix and relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

PR, preferences of reading; IR, interest in reading; AR, attitude toward reading; RP, reading problems; RHT, reading habits total score; SS, study skills; AAE, academic achievement in English; N , 1614; and **correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).

Since the hypotheses “there is a significant relationship between students’ reading habits and academic achievement in English, and there is a significant relationship between students’ study skills and academic achievement in English” were accepted because moderate-to-strong positive relationships were found among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English.

A regression analysis was conducted to explore whether students’ reading habits and study skills predict academic achievement in English. Students’ reading habits and study skills served as independent variables, while students’ academic achievement in English served as dependent variables. The regression analysis results were significant. The unique individual predictor for students’ academic achievement in English interested in reading and attitude toward reading. These two sub-factors of reading habits significantly predicted 42 and 43% of the variance, respectively.

In contrast, the numeric regression does not considerably reveal the remaining two sub-factors (preferences of reading and reading problems). However, students’ reading habits accounted for 44% of the variance, and study skills accounted for 48% of the variance. Refer to Table 3 for unstandardized betas, standard errors, standardized betas, and adjusted R 2 . The independent variables in these analyses are moderately correlated and predict academic achievement because the variance inflation factor (VIF) estimation was below 5.0 in regression.

Summary of regression analyses, with 95% confidence intervals, of students’ reading habits and study skills predicting academic achievement in English.

PR, preferences of reading; IR, interest in reading; AR, attitude toward reading; RP, reading problems; RHT, reading habits total score; SS, study skills; AAE, academic achievement in English; and ** p < 0.001.

5. Discussion

Reading habit is a crucial aspect of creating a literate society because it helps to shape personality, develop creative and critical thinking abilities, and enhance knowledge ( Palani, 2012 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Fischer et al., 2015 ; Bano et al., 2018 ; Rosli et al., 2018 ; Al-Jarf, 2019 ; Wu et al., 2019 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ). At the same time, study skills are the readers’ strategies to process new information effectively ( Kuterbach, 2012 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ; Abid et al., 2021 ). Both reading habits and study skills are interdependent and influence students’ academic performance as well as future success ( Demir et al., 2012 ; Wernersbach et al., 2014 ; Tahamtani et al., 2017 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Gormley et al., 2018 ; Balan et al., 2019 ; Dolmaz and Kaya, 2019 ; Ehsan and Sultana, 2020 ). Therefore, this study is designed to examine relationships among students’ reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement at the secondary level in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore is one of the cosmopolitan cities of Pakistan and a hub of many cultures, traditions, and customs. Regarding the academic processes and ethics, it provides opportunities for researchers to contextualize the perspectives accordingly. Reading habits have been and are still being taught in schools, colleges, and universities through model reading by teachers, parents, or elders of the families. In addition, the reading and recitation of fold tales and poems get to gathers like at Pak Tea House, Lawrence Garden, Quaid-e-Azam Library, and so on, while formal schools books, extra reading exercises, and reading and writing competitions at the school level are prepared through a variety of book reading within the context of the particular objective. The results of normality tests indicated that the data were normality distributed and suitable to apply parametric statistics. The descriptive findings also showed that students have more preferences for reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading challenges. These results support the finding of numerous researchers (e.g., Pehlivan et al., 2010 ; Mansor et al., 2013 ; Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014 ; Haliru et al., 2015 ; Erguvan, 2016 ; Krashen, 2016 ; Kulatunga, 2016 ; Loan and Shah, 2017 ; Ameyaw and Anto, 2018 ; Porkaew and Fongpaiboon, 2018 ; Mirza et al., 2021 ) who found that students give more preference to read academic content from textbooks and other reading materials (i.e., newspaper, storybooks, poetry, novel, magazines, cartoons, comics, sports, etc.). Rasheed (2012) determined that reading habits play a substantial essential role in developing positive attitudes toward reading. However, Maiyo and Siahi (2015) revealed that higher achievers had better reading habits than low achievers. Students prefer reading online because they can easily read content from the internet material in this technological age, so they prefer reading online ( Dollah et al., 2017 ). Thus, Molotja and Themane (2018) found that students’ reading habits may enhance through global reading strategies and problem-solving strategies. Moreover, it is found that students have competence in reading habits and study skills. These results are also in line with the findings of previous studies, e.g., Dadzie (2008) , Ogeyik and Akyay (2009) , Bhan and Gupta (2010) , and Issa et al. (2012) , and Sabbah (2016) revealed that the majority of the students read books to pass the exams that why they have good reading habits. Furthermore, it is determined that students also possess the competence level of study skills that confirmed the study conducted by numerous researchers (i.e., DiPerna, 2004 , 2006 ; Rozalski, 2008 ; Kuterbach, 2012 ; DuPaul and Stoner, 2014 ; Anthony and DiPerna, 2018 ; Abid et al., 2021 ).

Furthermore, researchers also concluded from correlational results that there were moderate-to-significant positive correlations among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English. In the literature review, it is seen that these findings are consistent with the results of Singh (2011) , Horbec (2012) , Issa et al. (2012) , Sabbah (2016) , Ameyaw and Anto (2018) , Hassan et al. (2021) . They found a positive relationship between reading habits and academic achievement, while reading habits influence students’ academic performance. Moreover, some researchers determined a moderate relationship between reading habits and academic success (e.g., Chotitham and Wongwanich, 2014 ; Kutay, 2014 ; Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2014 ; Alzahrani et al., 2018 ; Adigun et al., 2021 ; Nguyen Thi Thu, 2022 ). Sherafat and Murthy (2016) directed that study habits facilitate learners toward higher achievement because of their significant connections with academic achievement, that confirmed by Bibi et al. (2020) . In contrast, few researchers found different results due to participants’ different selection procedures and contextual differences (i.e., purposive sample method, content, reading material, culture, etc.). For example, Lawrence (2014) ; Goel (2014) , Alnahdi and Aftab (2020) revealed no significant correlation between students’ academic achievement and study habits. At the same time, Silverrajoo and Hassan (2018) found that students’ reading styles have a negative, weak relationship with academic achievement. Findings regarding study skills: e.g., Nouhi et al. (2009) , Awang and Sinnadurai (2011) , Hassanbeigi et al. (2011) , Maiyo and Siahi (2015) , Gormley et al. (2018) revealed a significant positive connection between study skills and academic success, whereas Demir et al. (2012) and Wernersbach et al. (2014) found study skills have a considerable influence on performance that support the present study findings. However, few researchers found a negative correlation between study skills and academic performance ( Fazal et al., 2012 ; Tahamtani et al., 2017 ; Naqvi et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, researchers determined in this study students’ reading habits have positive correlations with study skills. Thus, reading habits and study skills directly correlate with their academic achievement in English. In addition, it is also revealed that reading habits and study skills moderately predict students’ academic achievement. Annamalai and Muniandy (2013) suggested that academic performance is based on students’ reading habits. Whitten et al. (2016) and Fatiloro et al. (2017) revealed that reading habits significantly help students learn more to enhance their academic performance. Ehsan and Sultana (2020) predicted that reading habits significantly improve students’ academic performance.

6. Conclusion

Reading habits and study skills differ in conceptual understanding. Reading habits are the degree to which readers regularly read, whereas study skills are the ability to comprehend new information effectively. Both reading and study habits influence students’ academic performance. It is concluded that the collected data were normally distributed. The descriptive findings about reading habit sub-constructs indicated that students give more preferences to reading than their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and reading problems. Simultaneously, they have competent reading habits and study skills. Furthermore, it is found that there are moderate-to-strong positive correlations among reading habits, study skills, and academic achievement in English. Thus, it is concluded that reading habits and study skills directly correlate with academic achievement in English. In addition, it is also revealed that reading habits and study skills moderately predict students’ academic achievement.

7. Implications for practice

It is determined that students prefer reading to their attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and challenges and have competent reading habits and study skills. Thus, it is suggested that teachers plan such assignments and tasks based on reflective thinking ( Aslam et al., 2021 ), so students have to visit the school library to read more academic material to accomplish assigned tasks through extensive reading. Students’ reading habits and study skills have a moderate-to-strong connection with their academic achievement in English. So school administrations design a timetable by consulting with teachers, allowing students to spend at least an hour in the library regularly. In contrast, the library should have up-to-date reading material, exciting storybooks, and stock which attract students. In addition, parents can also engage their children in constant reading at home by providing related textbook materials and allowing them to watch educational television programs to gain the essence of reading habits and study skills.

8. Limitations and implications for future research

There are several limitations to this study. First, this study was conducted on secondary school students by selecting a sample from the Lahore district of Punjab, Pakistan. Therefore, future studies may include participants from other districts of Punjab and other provinces of Pakistan to increase the generalizability of results. Second, longitudinal studies are needed to explore the change in students reading habits and study skills over time. To enhance reading habits and study skills, interventional studies may build lifelong reading habits and study skills among learners to make a scholarly society. Last but not least, future researchers may explore parent’s role in developing their children’s reading habits and study skills by selecting participants from diverse populations. Cultural factors would affect students’ reading habits; thus, Pakistan’s unique culture should be considered a potential theoretical explanation in future.

Data availability statement

Ethics statement.

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants or their legal guardian/next of kin.

Author contributions

NA presented the main idea and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. SA contributed to conducting the methodology. SA, AA, and TK were involved with the revisions and proofreading. All authors contributed to the article revisions and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this study by Grant Code: 22UQU4280253DSR01.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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About 1 in 5 U.S. teens who’ve heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork

Roughly one-in-five teenagers who have heard of ChatGPT say they have used it to help them do their schoolwork, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17. With a majority of teens having heard of ChatGPT, that amounts to 13% of all U.S. teens who have used the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot in their schoolwork.

Teens in higher grade levels are particularly likely to have used the chatbot to help them with schoolwork. About one-quarter of 11th and 12th graders who have heard of ChatGPT say they have done this. This share drops to 17% among 9th and 10th graders and 12% among 7th and 8th graders.

There is no significant difference between teen boys and girls who have used ChatGPT in this way.

The introduction of ChatGPT last year has led to much discussion about its role in schools , especially whether schools should integrate the new technology into the classroom or ban it .

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand American teens’ use and understanding of ChatGPT in the school setting.

The Center conducted an online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, via Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel . The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey was weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other categories.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its  methodology .

Teens’ awareness of ChatGPT

Overall, two-thirds of U.S. teens say they have heard of ChatGPT, including 23% who have heard a lot about it. But awareness varies by race and ethnicity, as well as by household income:

• 72% of White teens say they’ve heard at least a little about ChatGPT, compared with 63% of Hispanic teens and 56% of Black teens.
• 75% of teens living in households that make $75,000 or more annually have heard of ChatGPT. Much smaller shares in households with incomes between $30,000 and $74,999 (58%) and less than $30,000 (41%) say the same.

Teens who are more aware of ChatGPT are more likely to use it for schoolwork. Roughly a third of teens who have heard a lot about ChatGPT (36%) have used it for schoolwork, far higher than the 10% among those who have heard a little about it.

When do teens think it’s OK for students to use ChatGPT?

For teens, whether it is – or is not – acceptable for students to use ChatGPT depends on what it is being used for.

There is a fair amount of support for using the chatbot to explore a topic. Roughly seven-in-ten teens who have heard of ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use when they are researching something new, while 13% say it is not acceptable.

However, there is much less support for using ChatGPT to do the work itself. Just one-in-five teens who have heard of ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use it to write essays, while 57% say it is not acceptable. And 39% say it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT to solve math problems, while a similar share of teens (36%) say it’s not acceptable.

Some teens are uncertain about whether it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT for these tasks. Between 18% and 24% say they aren’t sure whether these are acceptable use cases for ChatGPT.

Those who have heard a lot about ChatGPT are more likely than those who have only heard a little about it to say it’s acceptable to use the chatbot to research topics, solve math problems and write essays. For instance, 54% of teens who have heard a lot about ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use it to solve math problems, compared with 32% among those who have heard a little about it.

Note: Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its  methodology .

• Artificial Intelligence
• Technology Adoption
• Teens & Tech

Olivia Sidoti is a research assistant focusing on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center

Jeffrey Gottfried is an associate director focusing on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center

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