Information on student reading ability and motivations
(Note: The following information refers to students reading of traditional texts, such as textbooks, books, or
journal articles.)
Aliteracy more than Illiteracy?
The NEAs To Read or Not To Read 2007 report states: “There is a general decline in reading among
teenage and adult Americans. Most alarming, both reading ability and the habit of regular reading have
greatly declined among college graduates...As Americans, especially younger Americans, read less, they
read less well. Because they read less well, they have lower levels of academic achievement.”
However, other evidence suggests that although college student can read at high levels (Kibby,
1993; Goodwin, 1996; Baer et al., 2006), they do not spend a considerable amount of time reading
their assignments, and frequently do not read a significant portion of their assignments at all
(Goodwin, 1996; Burchfield & Sappington, 2000; Phillips & Phillips, 2004; Arquette, 2010; Berry et
al., 2010).
Why don’t they read?
Students report time constraints (“being busy”), a belief that they do not need to complete the
readings to obtain a high grade in the course, and boring texts as some of the major reasons they do
not read (Goodwin, 1996; Phillips & Phillips, 2004). Students may perceive attending class and
studying class notes as more important to getting a good grade than reading texts (Berry et al.,
2010).
What might motivate students to read more?
Students say that having the instructor tell them specifically what is important to read, taking exam
questions from the readings, and reviewing the text before an exam would all help motivate them to
read more (Goodwin, 1996; Phillips & Phillips, 2004). Some research studies conducted on student
reading have indicated that being directly graded on reading assignments (i.e. a quiz on the reading
due for the day) and being assigned a specific amount of time to spend on reading (i.e. read for at
least 30 minutes) increase chances that students will read assigned texts (Goodwin, 1996; Berry et
al., 2010; Hilton et al., 2010).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------References
Arquette, C. (2010). Education Majors’ Text Book Reading Habits: How Much are they Reading? National Social Science
Journal. (35).
Baer, Cook, & Baldi (2006). The Literacy of America's College Student. American Institutes for Research and Pew
Charitable Trust. Washington, DC.
http://www.air.org/files/The20Literacy20of20Americas20College20Students_final20report.pdf
Berry, Cook, Hill, & Stevens. (2010). An Exploratory Analysis of Textbook Usage and Study Habits: Misperceptions and
Barriers to Success. College Teaching. (59).
Burchfield & Sappington. (2000). Compliance with Required Reading Assignments. Teaching of Psychology,. Vol. 27(1)
Goodwin, L. (1996). Aliteracy among college students: Why don’t they read? Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the
College Reading Association. Charleston, SC.
Hilton, J., Wilcox, B., Morrison, T. G., & Wiley, D. A. (2010). Effects of Various Methods of Assigning and Evaluating
Required Reading in One General Education Course. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 41(1), 7-28.
Phillips, B. J., & F. Phillips. 2007. Sink or skim: Textbook reading behaviors of introductory accounting students. Issues in
Accounting Education. 22(1):21–44
Kibby, M. W. (1993). What reading teachers should know about reading proficiency in The United States. Journal of
Reading, 37(1), 38.
National Endowment for the Arts (2007). To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence.