AN EXAMINATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING HABITS IN THEIR SPARE TIME AND THEIR READING ATTITUDES

Aynur BÜTÜN AYHAN (Ankara University, Turkey), Utku BEYAZIT (Near East University in Nicosia, North Cyprus), Şükran ŞİMŞEK (University of Ahi Evran, Turkey), and Yeşim Yurdakul (Ismail Iltemir Primary School in Antalya, Turkey), ID CLEaR2017-444;             Abstract: Reading skill, which is one of the basic language skills, is acquired in primary school period in Turkey. The primary school years is a period in which interest in and habit of reading are being shaped. Therefore, formation of positive attitudes towards reading is very critical in this period. Reading is also a skill of comprehension and one of the fundamental ways of knowledge acquisition. Beyond basic reading skills, childrens’ adaptation to their envrionment, the development of language and communication skills; improvement in cognitive and other developmental tasks, the ability to express oneself, the skill of critical thinking and academic achievement are simply practicable through the acquisition of reading habit. Once the child acquires the basic reading skill, the acquisition of the spare time reading habit is vital for the child to acquire reading habit as a lifelong activity. However, the advances in technology effect entartainment and learning styles of the children by replacing books with television, cell phones and computers. In order for children to acquire reading habit, they should be encouraged to make practice of reading and supported to attain concern and curiosity in reading, starting from early ages as soon as they start reading. Within this context, this study aims to examine the reading habits and reading attitudes of the primary school students. A descriptive research design is planned to employed in the study. The working group will comprise students attending to a primary school in Antalya, Turkey. In the study, “Individual Information Form”, developed by the authors, will be used for the collection of socio-demographic information of the students; a questionnaire prepared by the authors will be used to assess the reading habits of the students in their spare time and Reading Attitude Survey for 1-6^th Grade Students, developed by McKenna and Kear (1990) will be used to assess the students’ attitudes towards reading. The collected data will be analyzed by using SPSS 21. The findings will be discussed and in terms of the relevant literature and suggestions will be made to improve the reading habits and attitudes of the primary school students.

 Key words: Reading skill, reading habit, attitudes towards reading, primary school students