1.0 Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Malaysia is a multiracial country. It consists of several races which makes Malaysia as a harmony and a united country. Among the main races in Malaysia are Malay, Chinese and Indian. There are also numerous indigenous people living in the Malaysia as well. When there are many races in a country, it is obvious that the country would have multilingual of languages. According to Khoo et.al (1991) as cited in Ernest & Chin (2006), communities in Malaysia speak various languages such as Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English. According to Amerruddin and Sarimah (2012), among the three main races in Malaysia which is Malay, Chinese and Indian, there are opinions saying that the performances of Chinese and Indian students are better than the Malay students in using the English language especially in spoken wise. In addition, as claimed by Sarimah and Ameruddin (2012), the Chinese and Indian uttered more words, have wider and more difficult vocabulary compared to Malay students. It can also be seen that Chinese and Indian are using English more frequent as opposed to Malay which majority uses Malay language as it is their first language as well as their mother tongue.
As stated by Joseff Asbeger (2000), English language can be enhanced through reading. Reading in this context means to all kinds of reading materials available; be it textbooks, novels, magazines, poetry or any reading materials. Reading in English language indirectly allows the readers to grasp wider vocabulary because mostly new words are encountered in the process of reading. This is very helpful in enhancing the English repertoire of the readers as perhaps at the beginning of the reading, the readers might need a dictionary to allow them to look up for the meaning of the words that they do not understand. But, as they read along and read more, they will find that they do not have to look up for the meaning anymore and they can just rely on the surrounding words, phrases or sentences as well as the context of the text and they will also find that the reading process will occur naturally. Thus, they would read more and through this, it is hoped that the Malay students can grasp English language with more firm.
It is true that this study is to find out the language preferences of Malay secondary school students in choosing their reading materials whether it is in Malay or English language and their reasons for the said preferences. The reason of choosing Malay secondary students is because as mentioned previously, there are opinions saying that Chinese and Indians secondary students perform better in English as opposed to Malay students”’ performance. In addition, as reading helps in enhancing English proficiency, therefore, this study aims to identify their reading preferences and if the results come out that Malay students prefer to read more in Malay, hence, further strategic initiatives should be developed in instilling the students to read more in English in order to improve the proficiency level of the students. Furthermore, it is stated in the Shift 2, Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025) where the shift emphasizes on to ensure that every child is proficient in Malay language and English language. According to the Malaysia Education Blueprint, based on the 2010 SPM English result, the score at a level which equivalent to a Cambridge 1119 credit or above shows that Bumiputera scored 23%, 42% is scored by Chinese, and another 35% is scored by Indian students. Based on the percentage, it can be said that Bumiputera is the lowest where the majority of the Bumiputera is the Malay. (lit review). If this is persistent, this could contribute more to the top five issues facing by Malaysian employers which is poor English proficiency among fresh graduates since the Blueprint stated that this issue has been consistently ranked as one of the top five since 2006.
It is more favourable if the students choose to read both as long as they read. The reading process itself has so many benefits for our brain functions. However, this study is in the context of ESL (English as Second Language), and that is why this study is seeking for the reasons for their choices of reading materials in these two languages which are either Malay languuage or English language.
1.2 Background of study
One of the aims as proposed by 10th Malaysian Planning is to strengthen the English proficiency to enhance the Malaysia”’s competitiveness. Thus, it is important for the Malays to be parallel as other races in Malaysia in term of ability to use English especially in spoken wise as most of the job prospects nowadays require the employees to be able to use English. This is actually a healthy competition. There are no shortcuts in order to be able to learn the second language as it is not our mother tongue. It is difficult if what is read cannot be understood and it will be more difficult if what is heard cannot be comprehended especially in the working life later.
Reading is one of the most challenging activities to engage in. The role of the students requires them to read a variety of reading materials and many types of texts to deal with the demands of academic tasks. Thus, by reading, the students will encounter wide range of vocabularies which help them in gaining all skills for learning a language which are reading, writing, speaking as well as listening. As stated by Zainal et.al, (1990), cited in Edina (2005), reading can help to develop more creative thinking which can lead to mental and spiritual development. Reading can also help the students to fill up their leisure time and make it as a hobby and hinder them from unhealthy activities.
In addition, when the students read especially in their second language, this indirectly helps them in enhancing their proficiency in their second language. In Malaysia, the second language is English language. Therefore, it helps the English users to be more fluent and accurate in using the language. Not only that, the students will also enhance their vocabulary as well as boost up their self confidence in using the second language. Besides, it is the global demand where English is used everywhere and English language has been up to a level where it is called as an international language. It is believed that knowing English language is also building up someone”’s survival skills. Therefore, hopefully more Malaysian especially the Malays will realize the importance and significance of learning this language and to learn it is not that difficult where we can cultivate the reading habit as the first stage.
1.3 Statement of Problem
Previous studies in Malaysia mostly involve the higher educational institutes. It is difficult to find studies that focus to one particular race to see which language they prefer for the selection of reading materials. This study is also to find out the reasons why they prefer to choose in the preferred language. Basically, it can be said that there are no information obtained on language preferences of Malay secondary school students in choosing reading materials and the personal reasons why they choose to read in the specific language.
1.4 Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate Malay secondary school students”’ language preferences whether it is Malay or English language in choosing reading materials. And, this study is conducted to identify the reasons why Malay secondary school students prefer to select and read more in preferred language which is either in Malay language or English language.
1.5 Research Objective
1.5.1 To identify Malay students”’ preference language in selecting reading materials.
1.5.2 To examine the reasons of why Malay students prefer to read in the preferred language.
1.5.3 To investigate if there are any predominant languages in reading based on types or genres of reading materials?
1.6 Research Question
1.6.1 What is the students”’ preference language in selecting reading materials?
1.6.2 Why do the students prefer to read in the preferred language?
1.6.3 Are there any predominant languages in reading based on types or genres of reading materials?
1.7 Significance of Study
The importance of this study is it provides information regarding the Malay secondary school students”’ preferences in choosing reading materials whether it is in Malay language or English language as a way to see their interest in English language. The benefit of this study is not only meant for the students to know their preferences and why they do not like or less likely to read in another stated language so that the teachers and parents know how to inculcate the students”’ interest especially in English reading materials. If the results proved that the students prefer to read more in Malay language, something should be done to cultivate the love towards reading in English language. Another significance of this study is to know whether exposure to English language helps in increasing students”’ vocabularies and capabilities in using English language.
1.8 Limitation
This study provides information on the preferences of Malay secondary school students in choosing reading materials and the reasons for choosing the said preferences. It provides the clarity as to why the students make those sorts of choices. However, there are several limitations in conducting this study which are limitation in number of students and the socioeconomic background of the students.
Firstly, the number of respondents that took part in this study is limited and small thus the result of the study could not represent the entire population of the Malay secondary students in Malaysia. It is nearly impossible to involve all schools to be the participants as a group of students can represent the population. Besides, the respondents were from the same school, thus, the result of this study cannot be generalized to other Malay secondary school students.
Secondly, the next limitation is the socioeconomic background of the students. Since this school is a daily school which the majority is the Malay students and they come from working class background, thus, most of the students do not practice English except for the school session or English class to be exact. Due to the fact that they are not practicing English outside of the school, thus, this might influence their choices of language. If this study is conducted to elite group of Malays or high prestige school, most probably the result differs from the result of this study.
In conclusion, through these limitations, it is hoped that these respondents can be the representative of the other Malay students with the same or lower socioeconomic background especially in the rural areas as well. Any answers and suggestions given by the respondents will be taken into account and will be included in the recommendation section.
1.9 Definition of Terms
1.9.1 Language
According to Oxford Dictionary (2007), language is a system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country or area. Language also used by humans as a system of sounds and words to communicate. It is also used for speaking and writing. Another meaning by Oxford is, it is a way of expressing ideas and feelings using movements, symbols and signs.
1.9.2 Preference
According to Oxford Dictionary (2007), preference is a greater interest in or desire for somebody or something. It is also a thing that is liked better or best.
1.9.3 Malay
According to Oxford Dictionary (2007), Malay is the language of the Malay people of Malaysia and Indonesia.
1.9.4 English
Based on Oxford Dictionary (2007), English is the language, originally of England and now spoken in many countries and used as a language of international communication throughout the world.
1.9.5 Specific Definition
In this study, language preferences refer to English language or Malay language which the students have greater interest in choosing their language when selecting their reading materials. These two languages are chosen because this study is meant to test on Malay Secondary School Students”’ Choices of Reading Materials and normally Malays will only have either Malay language or English language as their first language or second language and vice versa. Perhaps there are Malays who possess more than two languages but it is believed that usually Malays will only have these two languages. This is because if Malay language is their first mother tongue and even though English language is not being practiced at home, but still, Malay students learn English language at schools since kindergarten up to secondary school and that will be their second language.
1.9.6 Secondary school education in Malaysia
According to World Education News and Reviews (2000), Secondary School Education in Malaysia is divided into Lower Secondary Education and Upper Secondary School Education. Lower Secondary is from 13 years old to 15 years old which is from Form 1 to 3 while Upper Secondary is from Form 4 to 5 which the range of age is from 16 years old to 17 years old. Therefore, in this study, the students to be part of this study are from Form 1 to Form 5. The Reasons for the Said Preference in this study means that the students will need to state the reasons as to why they choose whether English or Malay languages in choosing reading materials.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses on the reading habits among secondary school students. It provides the information on the types of materials read and preferred by them and language preferred in selecting the reading materials. This chapter also will reveal the significance of a language whether there are any predominant languages in reading based on the types or genres of a reading material.
Besides that, this chapter will present on the amount of time spent by the students in reading and the factors that influence the reading habit which emphasizing on factors that encourage students to read as well as the factors that discourage students to read.
2.2 What is reading?
According to Oxford Dictionary (2007), reading is the activity of somebody who reads. As stated by Anderson et.al (1985) cited by Chiew & Poh (2014), reading is defined as a process of constructing meaning from written texts. Not only that, reading is also known for its many benefits which include sustaining an active mind, reducing stress as well as setting good examples for younger generations (Ralph, 2004). Meanwhile, according to Garcia (2011), reading texts in English reflects on one”’s proficiency in English because it involves the learning of new words and grammar structures.
As stated by Belinda (2013), reading, as opposed to speaking need to be learnt formally. It does not something that can be acquired, but, it is something to be learnt. Without it, the people would be illiterate. Not only that, reading greatly extending the knowledge of the world as well as the medium for self reflection. Reading helps the readers to actively use their brain function as reading is an active process. Reading can act as a problem solver when people are in doubt of something, reading will help to obtain the solution (Schoenbach, n,d). As stated by Holden (2004), extracted from Clark & Rumbold (2006), reading is an important gateway to personal development, and to social, economic and civic life. Clark & Rumbold also stated that by reading, it allows us to learn;
”’About other people, about history and social studies, the langue arts, science,
mathematics, and the other content subjects that must be mastered in school”’ (Lyon, 1997). As noted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2003), ”’people cannot be active or informed citizens unless they can read. Reading is a prerequisite for almost all cultural and social activities”’.
2.3 Types of materials read and preferred
As stated by Croston (2005), cited in Santhy & Marissa(2013), he claimed that many students enjoy reading popular magazines, horror story, mysterious and a few other topics when they are not in school surrounding. Not only that, the middle school students claimed that they enjoy reading comics. As for the genres of the books whether it is fiction or non- fiction, the usual chosen topics are fantasy, adventure, horror and humour which those are categorized into fiction. The study reveals that the girls who participated in the study enjoy reading magazines which related to teen issues and pop culture. Meanwhile, for the boys, they enjoy reading magazines as well and still the topic involves the teen issues but, they enjoy reading magazines which discusses more on sports.
Another study was conducted on Malaysia polytechnic students. This study is conducted by Annamalai & Muniandy (2013) where the results show that the polytechnic students have low interest in reading as they prefer more on technology activities. According to the finding, the polytechnic students tend to read newspaper everyday for at least a few times a week as compared to other kind of reading materials such as magazines, websites, novels, academic books, comic and journals. However, even so, reading activity is not being cultivated among them even to fill up their leisure time.
In many research conducted with regard to the reading materials preferences, it is showed that students prefer to read newspaper more than the other mentioned reading materials but these studies are conducted more to students like in polytechnics and universities. That is why; the aim of this study is to focus on Malay secondary school students as to get their preferences and their reasons of choosing the said reading materials.
2.4 Language preferences in selecting reading materials, role of language and predominant language in reading
When it comes to reading, perhaps there are some people which have their own language preferences since language plays a vital role in bringing the atmosphere in reading. Some people might prefer Malay language when it comes to love stories and perhaps he or she likes to read in English language when it comes to self- motivation kind of reading materials. That is why; the language also has its own influence in selecting language for reading materials. According to William (1986), people can select the language in their own language or others by choosing text they expect to understand, to enjoy or to learn from. As stated by Adrian (2012), reading in foreign language has not much difference compared to reading in the first language. What matter most is the interest instilled in reading so that the leisure time can be filled with activities that bring us to benefits.
A finding by Pandian (2000), 80.1% of university students are in the category of reluctant readers of English materials. Meanwhile, 76.9% is the students who are reluctant in reading Malay language reading materials. However, in Kaur & Thiyagarajah (1998), shows that 85.7% of the students read in English reading as they feel that by reading in the language, they can improve their level of English proficiency. It is assumed that the language preferences influence the students to read. On the other hand, those who might have language difficulty may feel discourage to read especially in second language. Therefore, this study will reveal on the students”’ opinion on how language plays significant role in selecting reading materials.
2.5 Reading habit among Malaysian
As cited by Chettri & Rout (2013), the activity of reading can be considered as habit is when the action is repeatedly carried out. In measurable term, as claimed by Wagner (2002), as cited in Chettri & Rout, reading habit is considered in terms of the amount of materials being read, the frequency of reading and the average time spent on the reading and this act can be cultivated. As stated by Kaur and Thiyagarajah (1999), as cited in Edina (2005), reading habits refer to regular tendencies in reading behaviour. Teh (2013) claimed that a study done by Prof. Ambigapathy Pandian from University Sains Malaysia (USM) shows that, in a paper by him in 2000, he surveyed that 80.1% of university students are ”’reluctant”’ readers in English- language materials. In other word, the percentage mentioned previously is because they have to read and not because of the leisure purpose of reading.
Inderjit (2013) also stated that there is a survey conducted by National Library and in the National Literacy Survey (1982), it is reported that Malaysians only read an average of one to two pages a year. However, when the National Literacy Survey is repeated in 1996, the reading habits improved to two books per year. Nevertheless, the survey again has been conducted in 2005 and the report is disappointing because the result shows the books read per year is still two books. It shows no improvement at all. Another study reported that Malaysian”’s habit reduce as they grew older. By the age of 50, only 20% of Malaysian would still continue to read books, a drop from 40% from those who are mid- twenties to thirties age group.
The poor reading habit among Malaysians are believed to be associated to their reluctance in reading since they were in schools. It is believed that the mindset of the education system in Malaysia which emphasizes on examination as measures of academic achievements (Pandian, 1997) cited in Edina (2005) as one of the factors. Thus, it is very important that this study is being implemented on school students to ensure that today”’s generation can set good example to the younger generations later.
2.6 The amount of time spent on reading
As cited in Edina (2005), Frank and Associates (1998), in the profile of Malaysian people, it is found that Malaysians usually spent half an hour reading news paper. Then, in the same study, it shows that the subjects spent two to four hours reading magazine. In addition, for the time spent on reading books, 38% them spent less than two hours a week, 21% spent about four to six hours per week and another 20% spent more than six hours in a week reading books.
However, it is believed that more of the students in Malaysia will spend their time on reading whenever they have tests or examinations. But, the reading activity is just for the sake to pass the examinations and that is because they have to do so.
2.7 Factors that influence reading habit
2.7.1 Factors that encourage reading
According to Edina (2005), the first factor that influences reading habit is the encouragement and the presence of the people around the individual. This is called social psychology. Those who are exposed to the surrounding of people who like to read like parents, siblings or friends, they tend to develop such positive attitude. Even the environment plays a huge role, as stated by Pandian (1997), home environment which has access to reading materials or reading sources will encourage an individual to read.
The second factor is, the reading is for the sake of academic purpose. This is the main reason for reading. They read for knowledge in order to accomplish their academic task and to achieve their academic excellence (Farbain & Farbain, 2001). Reading habits of Malaysians are very much affected by its education system. This is because, for Malaysian students, reading is associated with academic tasks and for the sake of examination purpose (Pandian, 1997).
The third factor is the choices of the language in selecting reading materials. It is not a matter if the language is English or Malay or any other languages. As long as the readers do not have difficulty in reading and understanding the language, they will have no problem in inculcating the reading habit. As opposed to those who have difficulty in a particular language, they might be discouraged to read in the foreign language as they might find the text boring.
2.7.2 Factors that discourage reading
As cited by David (2014), the first factor that discourages reading is the mindset of the students where they feel that they have no time to read. When this is their mindset, it means that they do not try to allocate some times for their reading and they tend to find excuses for not to read. It is suggested that if they can make a list of all these activities and the time spent on the activities.
The second factor is the students themselves do not enjoy reading English books. There are two assumptions made here. It is whether the language itself that makes the reader did not enjoy the reading activity and the second one is the stories are boring for the readers. It absolutely will discourage the reading process when you find it is difficult to understand the language and the moment that readers need to refer to the dictionary, this will upset them. However, this is the beginning that they need to encounter before they can be a good reader.
Based on the literature review mentioned above, previous studies have shown that language plays an important role for the students to choose the reading materials and the reasons will be sought later in the questionnaire.
3.0 Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This section will cover the process of the administration in this study. This chapter explains the research methodology which covers the research design, the population and sample, the instruments used, the methods of data collection as well as the proposed data analysis that are used to answer the research questions. The research design that is used in this study is non- experimental design as this study does not have control and treatment group. The population involves in this study is all forms of secondary school students and only Malay students will be selected. The sampling used in this study is cluster sampling procedure. Next, the instruments used in this study is through questionnaire. Then, the methods of data will be discussed and data analysis will be proposed in this chapter.
3.2 Research Methods
3.2.1 Research Design
The design used for this study is a non- experimental design. According to Piaw (2012), non- experimental design does not have any treatment or control group of respondents. Therefore, this kind of design would be much easier especially to get immediate responds or feedback from the respondent. As stated by Becker (n.d), there are some advantages and disadvantages in implementing non- experimental design.
One of the advantages of carrying out non- experimental design in a study is it is low- effort because the researcher who conducts the study will take shorter time just by distributing the survey or questionnaire. This kind of quantitative research does not require the researcher to administer them. The researcher just needs to distribute the questionnaire and pencils or pens. This only requires a short time as the researcher can collect the questionnaire right after the respondents answered it. This becomes a strong advantage when the researcher is lack of funding as well as if the numbers of variables in the study is very low. Besides, this kind of design does not need careful surveillance from the researcher as this kind of design does not require the respondents or the participants under the control of drugs or any other substances that may cause harm to the respondents because it is non- invasive design.
Next, the disadvantage in implementing non- experimental design is the data gathering is shallow. The meaning of shallow in data gathering in this context is post- data treatment is not allowed. By gathering data post- treatment, it can introduce new areas for the researches to consider. Non- experimental design is rarely be able to produce adequate amount of data.
3.2.2 Population and Sample
According to Oxford Dictionary (2007), population is a particular group of people living in a particular area. The participants will be selected among the students from SMK Seri Tasik. The participants are only limited for Malay students as this study is intended to study on Malay students only. No other ethnics or races are involved in this study. The students that are involved in this study is from Form 1 to Form 5 as the purpose of this study is to find out the Malay secondary school students”’ preferences in choosing language for reading materials. Thus, the study needs to incorporate all forms which are the lower and upper secondary school”’s students. There were six students as the representative from each form to answer the questionnaire provided which makes 30 students were participated. It means that six students from each form and there are five forms altogether which makes the number of students are 30.
The sample used in this study is cluster random sampling. This sampling is used because it is impossible to get all the data from all the Malay students in secondary schools in Malaysia. Thus, this group of students will be the representative of the whole population in Malaysia. As cited from Explorable.com (2009);
”’In cluster sampling, instead of selecting all the subjects from the entire population right off, the researcher takes several steps in gathering his sample population.”’
In this kind of sampling, each and every one of the students has the potential or equal chances of being selected to participate in this study. For this study, all forms are involved and all students from each form have the equal chance of being participants.
3.2.3 Instrument
The instrument used in this study is survey research. As stated by Piaw (2012), survey research is used to gather the views and opinions of people on certain issues. Survey research is popular because it possess several characteristics. Among the characteristics are it is easy to conduct, data can be easily and quickly collected, direct information and the results can be generalised. Survey research is conducted by using questionnaires and interviews where questions are given orally as well as through paper-pencil-format (Piaw,2012). Therefore, in this study, the instrument that is used is through questionnaire. The questionnaire is used in the survey research to collect direct information (Piaw, 2012). The questions are asked through paper- pencil- format.
3.3 Data Collection
After the subjects had been determined to be as the respondents for the study, the researcher will decide on a suitable day to arrange the time to administer the questionnaire. It is much better if the respondents can sit together and they will be administered simultaneously as to allow the researcher to monitor and facilitate the respondents if they have any doubts or questions to be asked from the researcher regarding the questionnaire. The respondents are given 10 to 20 minutes to answer the questions. For those who have completed the questionnaire earlier, they may leave as there are no other things that they should complete. The questionnaires that have been answered will be collected for the purpose of the next step which is the evaluation of data.
3.4 Proposed Data Analysis
After all the questionnaires have been collected and the interviews have been done, the data will be recorded for the data analysis process. All the data that has been collected will be analyzed using SPSS. The questionnaire will be analyzed one by one and will be converted into bar graph and pie chart. From the chart, some recommendations will be made if necessary.
4.0 Reference
Piaw, C. Y. (2012). Mastering Research Methods (2012 ed.). Malaysia, Malaysia: McGraw Hill.
Ameruddin, A. M., & Sarimah, S. (2012). COMPARING FORM FOUR MALAY AND CHINESE STUDENTS”’ SPOKEN ENGLISH. Retrieved from http://www.melta.org.my/ET/2012/amerrudin13.pdf
Arnstead, C. (n.d.). Influences on Students”’ Self-selected, Recreational Reading Material: Literature Review. School Libraries in Canada. Retrieved from https://dianedalenberg.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/infl-on-stud-self-selec-rec-rdg-mat-lit-reviw.pdf
Chiew, N. F., & Poh, N. K. (2012). Enhancing English Proficiency: A Conceptual Framework on Teaching Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/239526348_Enhancing_English_Proficiency_A_Conceptual_Framework_on_Teaching_Strategies
Clark, C., & Rumbold, K. (2006). Reading for Pleasure; A research overview. National Literacy Trust. Retrieved from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/0562/Reading_pleasure_2006.pdf
Edina, A. L. (2005). Survey of Reading Habits of Students in the Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Development (FCSHD) in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Retrieved from http://ir.unimas.my/4191/1/Survey%20on%20reading%20habits%20of%20students%20in%20the%20Faculty%20of%20Cognitive%20Sciences%20and%20Human%20Development%209FCSHD)%20in%20Universiti%20Malaysia%20Sarawak%20(UNIMAS).pdf
Hill, D. R. (2014). Reading: How to enjoy yourself and improve your English at the same time”’. Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading. Retrieved from http://www.macmillanreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/David_Hill_Article.pdf
Inderjit, S. (2013). READING TRENDS AND IMPROVING READING SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA. International Journal of Research In Social Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.ijsk.org/uploads/3/1/1/7/3117743/6_reading_skills.pdf
Lailawati, M. S. (2005). High/Low Context Communication: The Malaysian Malay Style.Proceedings of the 2005 Association for Business Communication Annual Convention 1 Copyright @ 2005 Association for Business Communication. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/241767974_HighLow_Context_Communication_The_Malaysian_Malay_Style
Scoenbach, R., Greenleaf, C., Cziko, C., & Hurwitz, L. (1999). What is Reading? An Excerpt from Reading for Understand. Retrieved from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/380/What_is_Reading_-_excerpt.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d
Subbarau, S., & Marissa, A. M. (2013). POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS”’ PREFERENCES IN CHOOSING THE READING MATERIALS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM. 2nd International Seminar on Quality and Affordable Education (ISQAE 2013). Retrieved from http://educ.utm.my/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/40.pdf
Adrian, T. (2005). Reading matters: What is reading? Retrieved from http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/reading/reading-matters/reading-matters-what-is-reading/154842.article
Becker, T. (n.d.). What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of Non-Experimental Design? Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/info_8078209_advantages-disadvantages-nonexperimental-design.html
Belinda. (2013, October 1). What is Reading? Retrieved from http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/what-is-reading
Christopher, T. B. (2010). Malaysia”’s Reading Habit. Retrieved from http://christopherteh.com/blog/2010/07/malaysians-reading-habit/
Cluster Sampling. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://explorable.com/cluster-sampling
Esbeger, J. (2000). Improve Your English through Reading. Retrieved from https://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/200003.htm
5.0 Appendices
Below are examples of questionnaire that will be used to collect data for this research. Some of these questions are taken from Edina (2005). This questionnaire will be made bilingual if necessary.
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UITM SHAH ALAM
QUESTIONNAIRE
Language Preferences of Malay Secondary School Students in Choosing Reading Materials (Malay / English language) and The Reasons for the Said Preferences
I am investigating the language preferences of Malay secondary school students in choosing reading materials which is either in Malay language or English language and the reasons for the said preferences. I would be very grateful if you could spend your precious time answering this questionnaire. Your answers will help me in gaining relevant information and completing my analysis. Please answer the following questions by providing short answers or tick (/) in the boxes provided. Thank you for your cooperation.
Gender: Male ( ) Female ( )
Age: __________
Form/Class: ____________
Section A
1) What type of reader can you categorized yourself?
Intensive reader ( ) Extensive reader ( )
2) Do you like to read any kind of reading materials?
Yes ( ) No ( )
3) Do you read during your free time?
Yes ( ) No ( )
4) Which one do you prefer to read?
Fiction ( ) Non- fiction ( )
5) Amount of time you spent for reading during free time in one sitting.
5 minutes ( ) 10 minutes ( )
15 minutes ( ) 20 minutes ( )
More than 20 minutes ( ) Please state the time: ____________
6) Amount of time spent in a week.
1 hour ( ) 3 hours ( )
5 hours ( ) 10 hours ( )
Please state the time: ____________
7) Which one do you prefer to read?
Academic reading materials ( )
Non- academic reading materials ( )
8) One type of reading material you usually read
Please state: ______________________
9) What language do you usually read in?
Malay ( ) English ( )
Others ( ) Please state: _______________
10) Preferred language in choosing reading materials
Malay ( ) English ( )
Others ( ) Please state:________________
11) Do you want to read more than you do now?
Yes ( ) No ( )
For the following questions, you will be asked to rate your top 3 answers. Please read through all of the choices and pick the three that best apply to you (rate your top three answers). Then put a 1 in the box next to your favorite answer, a 2 in the box next to your second favorite, and a 3 in the box next to your third favorite. Then, tick your preferable language based on your choices. Leave all of the other boxes blank.
12. My favorite types or genres of books are:
”’Biography (books about the lives of real people) Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Fantasy (books about magic, or imaginary places and creatures) Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Historical Fiction (made-up stories about made-up people in the past) Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Humor (funny books) Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Mystery (scary books or detective stories) Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Informative books (books that provide facts or information) Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Poetry Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Science Fiction (made-up stories about the future) Malay ( ) English ( )
13. My favorite kinds of things to read are:
”’Computer games and software Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Comic books Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Encyclopedias Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Magazines Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Newspapers Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Novels Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Picture books Malay ( ) English ( )
”’Web pages on the Internet Malay ( ) English ( )
Section B
Please provide short answers for the following questions.
1) Please list some of the reasons that encourage you to read.
i. _____________________________________________________
ii. _____________________________________________________
iii. _____________________________________________________
2) Please list some of the reasons that discourage you to read.
i. ______________________________________________________
ii. ______________________________________________________
iii. ______________________________________________________
3) Suggest some of the ways to improve your English language through reading.
i. _________________________________________________________
ii. _________________________________________________________
iii. _________________________________________________________
Thank you for your cooperation ”’