Favorite Magazines and Reading Topics Among Saudi Female College Students

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the magazines and topics that female college students like to read, and the topics that senior and junior high school reading textbooks contain. Findings of questionnaire-surveys with female college students at King Saud University revealed that 77% of the students read women’s magazines; 77% like to read about fashion and make-up; 66% read articles about movies, singers, and actors; 24% read poetry; 1-4% read religious, educational, literary, political, computer and internet, and historical articles. Analysis of the reading schoolbooks showed that 10% of the reading texts are devoted to Quranic verses and Prophet Mohammed’s Hadiths; 29% are about Islamic history; 13% focus on general topics, and 11% deal with classical literature. It can be concluded that female college students like to read magazines and topics that prevail in satellite T.V. broadcasting and social media such as Instagram. Both magazines and satellite T.V. shows marginalize young people’s local culture and distract them from vital social, and political issues. There is a discrepancy between the types of topics students read at school and those they like to read at home. Therefore, this study recommends that reading texts in the school textbooks be re-selected, re-constructed and re-designed in terms of layout, colors, pictures, paper quality, and choosing an attractive cover. It also recommends the utilization of online courses, blogs, mind-mapping software, mobile reading apps and audiobooks, digital reading, global topics and global culture, speed reading practice, and reading from multiple resources. High school and college students should be introduced to new books, magazines, and e-books. Extensive reading of serious topics should be started from the primary grades; reading texts should be diversified; developing students’ appreciation skills and visiting book fairs, public libraries, publishing houses, cultural centers should be emphasized as well.