CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Reading is an
essential tool for lifelong learning. It is important for everyone to develop
the rudiments of reading and the culture of reading always so as to survive in
life. Reading according to Holte (1998) adds quality to life and provides
access to culture and cultural heritage. He pointed out that reading empowers
and emancipates citizens and bring people together. Okeke (2000) reaffirms that
the art of reading is a priceless instrument for everyone. It is one of the
most important activities of life through which we enter into the life and
experiences of others and extend our knowledge, scope of experience and
enjoyment. It has critical role to play in the overall development of an
individual and the nation at large. Reading experience can be obtained in the
library. The school library is a gateway to knowledge and will serve as a
starting point or road map to reading and the promotion to reading culture. The
library provides books and other resources which will help shape thoughts and
influence the actions of students throughout life with active supervision by an
experienced librarian.
Due to technological
development, reading habits are changing. In our society today, while
technology is slowly taking a steady control over individual lives, the reading
habit is fast vanishing into thin air (The Hindu, 2004). Students now lack the
skill of reading. Instead they spend more hours on the internet. Browsing the
net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMSs and chatting with
friends seem to be the order of the day, thereby making reading a book or any
other piece of written material in a quiet or peaceful corner of a library or
home become an archaic idea for most school children and adults (The Hindu,
2004). Obama (2008) in his speech pinpointed that children cannot achieve
unless they raise their expectations and turn off television sets. Shabi and
Udofia (2009) noted that active learning from books is better than passive
learning such as watching televisions and playing games.
Students are rarely
interested in reading for pleasure and enjoyment instead they read only to pass
examination. The declining interest in reading culture among our children
(especially those in primary and secondary schools) is a cause for alarm and a
challenge to all and something need to be done to alleviate this yawning
problem. Unfortunately, reading is not taught or included in school curriculum.
Reading is not a subject and cannot be taught separately as most other subjects
in the curriculum rather it is subsumed in every other subject and is regarded
as a tool facilitating many other types of learning. Nowadays, due to the rat
race syndrome, parents pay little or no attention to their children's reading
ability, parents themselves lack the skill and the culture of reading such that
some do not read to their kids.
Mefor (2010) urged
all Nigerians schools to launch a readership promotion campaign which will help
to inculcate the culture of reading in children. It is also important to start
early to inculcate the culture of reading early enough in a child. Also Olukemi
(2010) advised Nigerian youths to imbibe the reading culture in all their
endeavors. She lamented that lack of reading culture among youths nowadays has
greatly affected quality of graduates being produced by the nation's higher
institutions. It is against this background that this study tries to
investigate on the influence of internet on the reading culture of pupils in
homes and schools. Improving access to relevant information and promoting a
reading culture are prerequisites for strengthening literacy skills, widening
education and learning opportunities, and helping people to address the causes
of poverty (Makotsi, 2005).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Reading
is the springboard of any literacy programme. It does not only give learners an
active place, but also places them in the centre of pedagogy and the curriculum
(Corcoran and Evans, 1987). Reading is very powerful and indispensable
equipment for learning and acquisition of the varied skills and experiences
needed by man to develop a satisfactory personal life. It is important that
pupils/students should develop positive habits towards reading of books as a
life-long learning experience. Gradually, the advent of internet has led to the
development of various applications for games and chatting which has continue
to take students time leaving reading books as old fashioned. However, the
researcher is examining the impact of internet on the student’s reading
culture.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the impact of internet on the student’s reading culture.
2. To
examine the impact of internet on student’s academic achievement.
3. To
examine the advantages and disadvantages of internet on students academic performance.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the impact of internet on the student’s reading culture?
2. What
is the impact of internet on student’s academic achievement?
3. What
are the advantages and disadvantages of internet on students academic
performance?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO:
There is no significant relationship between internet and the student’s reading
culture
HA:
There is significant relationship between internet and the student’s reading
culture
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. The
results from this study will educate the administrators in the education sector
and the general public on the effect of internet and other related technologies
on the student’s reading culture in Nigeria.
2. This
research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the
effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby
constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study will cover the relationship between internet technology and student’s
reading culture.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the
researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information
and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time
constraint- The
researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work.
This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work