The State of Reading in Tertiary Institutions: A Pragmatic Analysis of a Ghanaian University

Abstract

Positive attitude towards learning, ability to independently think and work, ability to inquire, good command over English language are often considered characteristics of a tertiary education student. To excel, the student must be able to read and make meaning out of what is read as reading underlies all forms of academic study and is crucial to academic success (Grabe, 2009). This study investigated the state of reading among tertiary education students. The sequential explanatory mixed method design was employed for the study. Systematic and convenient sampling techniques were used to sample 1169 students from which data was sought through the use of questionnaire and observation check list. Data was analysed using both descriptive (frequency counts, means and standard deviation) and inferential (t-test and ANOVA) statistics. The study findings indicated the existence of poor reading attitude among tertiary education students as the reading culture of majority of the students was the reading of their course materials only. To improve reading habits among tertiary students, recommendations provided include: sensitization of lecturers and students, giving tasks that require students to read beyond their course materials and presentation of greater sections of courses through individual and group presentation to enhance their development of good and critical reading skills and ensure improvement in their reading habits.

Creating Engaging Powerpoint Supplementary Materials for Twelfth-Grade Students: Enhancing Procedure Text Learning

“…Therefore, the researcher designed supplementary materials to support the students about learning writing, especially procedure text, in a form of PowerPoint that was in line with the students' needs. This presentation is regarded as a useful educational tool and a vital component of improving efficient teaching and learning due to the fact that PowerPoint allows users to include both audio and visual components in presentations (Agbevivi, 2018). The supplementary materials were designed based on the task-based framework by Willis, 1996 as the teacher suggested in the interview.…”

Pre-Reading Activities and Their Effects On English Reading Comprehension of ESL Basic School Pupils

“…It was further confirmed that 96 (97.4%) students mentioned that prereading activities activate their background knowledge about the topic of the text and as such helps them in learning more. This finding implies that pre-reading activities have positive effects on pupils' performance in reading comprehension (Asgar, 2016) and as a matter of fact, the more they read, the more they learn (Agbevivi, 2022). Pre-reading activities are thus, invaluable tools in reading comprehension classrooms.…”

“…Reading can entertain and amuse the reader, but most of all it enriches the reader with knowledge and experiences narrated. Agbevivi (2022) projects reading as the most vital skill for students; consequently, it is believed that the more one reads, the more one learns. Reading purely for leisure is fun but when reading skills and strategies are perfected at an early stage, it produces better and more comprehensive readers with purpose.…”

“…Therefore, an individual's ability to read is important to personal as well as national development. This is because reading different text types like newspapers, books, journals, magazines, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook messages, and other internal presentations helps in deriving pleasure and information (Agbevivi, 2022). Besides, reading is the tool that we use in finding knowledge and in assessing the already acquired knowledge.…”

Effect of Multimedia Utilization on Increasing Students Learning Outcomes

“…In this case a computer with multimedia support can present a display in the form of text that is not monotonous and is more interesting and more interactive. This display will make users more free to choose, filter, and understand the knowledge they want to know (Agbevivi, 2018;Osman et al, 2022).…”