The Importance of Reading to Academic Performance in English of Grade 10 Students in Tipas National High School (Grade 7-12)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Reading is significant to the learning of an individual. Learning starts with reading. Having the ability to read is a great tool in understanding everything in the world. Reading was defined in Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics that reading as looking into a written and starting to absorb the information from the written linguistic message. It is one of the educators' tools in teaching the English subject. Many studies which have been conducted in different schools say that effective reading is very important for the students to have a good academic performance. In this study, the importance of reading in honing the skills and abilities to improve the academic performance of the students will be explored.

METHODS

The researchers used the descriptive type of research to easily identify the importance of reading in the academic performance in English of the Grade 10 students. The respondents were 156 students selected from five sections of Grade 10 using simple random sampling. Weighted mean was used to analyze the data collected.

RESULTS

Most of the respondents agreed that reading is the key in broadening one's knowledge and improving one’s skills. The result of the survey questionnaire revealed that through reading, the respondents gained more information which is deemed helpful in their studies. This was represented by the weighted mean of 4.45. In addition, the study found out that skills such as communication skills, writing skills, critical thinking skills, and comprehensions skills are also developed through reading.

DISCUSSIONS

The results established the fact that reading is important to the academic performance of the students. It is a weapon for the students to learn especially in English that will lead to their academic success. The findings are similar to the study of Mustapha (2017) that a child's reading skills are important to their success in school as this will allow them to access the breadth of the curriculum and improve their communication and language skills. The present study did not discuss the ways on to improve the interest of students in reading which can be another research topic in the future.