The Effect of Reading Habits in Elementary School Students on Reading Behavior in Middle School Students

Because the educational significance of reading activities for growing children is so great, the importance of reading cannot be overemphasized. While the reading volume of elementary school students in Korea is very high, as they go up to middle school, the reading volume falls rapidly. This study examined a more effective way to resolve this middle school reduction in reading volume. Middle school freshmen were surveyed on their reading habits and preferences in the sixth grade of elementary school, after which the groups were divided into two groups based on their averages; groups with high/low reading habits and groups with high/low reading preferences). Participants also wrote reading reports for six weeks, kept a record of the days of the week they read for more than 20 minutes, and noted down the time they read in minutes. It was found that 75% of participants did not read one book a week when in the sixth grade of elementary school and it was confirmed that reading many books and liking to read were elements that had different dimensions. For example, about 35% of the participants said they liked books but rarely read them. It was also confirmed that the reading habits formed in elementary school were a strong variable that affected the number of days that and the reading time of middle school students rather than the reading preferences formed in elementary school. This study concluded that a subjective attitude toward reading and actually reading were completely different problems, which suggested that ‘habits’ could have a greater influence than ‘preferences’ when performing tasks to achieve goals.