Exploring attitudes of university ESL students towards reading English materials

Abstract

This study will look at the relationship between SPM English results, gender and location (rural/ urban) of the respondents and their reading attitudes of English materials as well as their perceived reading abilities. It is essential to study the factors that affect reading attitudes of students. Most studies on reading attitude in literature in Malaysia focuses on describing it in general terms, and not delve into the underlying factors that may affect it. This study hopes to look at the relationship between three dimensions, i.e. SPM English results, gender and location, and the reading attitudes of 200 undergraduates. Descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics will be used to analyse the data. It is hoped that this study will help inform teachers as well as curriculum developers of some the underlying constructs that contribute to reading attitudes of English materials.