Does Sustained Silent Reading Result in a Long-Term Reading Habit?

Abstract

 The goal of reading programs is to help students become lifetime readers, which guarantees their improvement in language and literacy long after they finish school. Cho and Krashen (2016) concluded that five conditions are necessary for this to happen: (1) A pleasant initial reading experience; (2) Time to read; (3) A place to read; (4) Self-selection of reading material; (5) No test, no workbook exercises and no rewards for reading. In this study, condition (1) was satisfied, but subjects did not establish a long-term reading habit, confirming that a pleasant initial reading experience is not enough. This conclusion was supported by subjects’ comments. 

Keywords

• Long-term reading habit,book access,pleasant reading experience,selfselected reading

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