ERIC Number: EJ1149767
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jul
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2202-9478
EISSN: N/A
A Literacy Exercise: An Extracurricular Reading Program as an Intervention to Enrich Student Reading Habits in Qatar
Nasser, Ramzi
International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, v1 n1 p61-71 Jul 2013
This paper evaluates an extracurricular reading activity in Qatari schools. The paper presents a two-month extracurricular reading program designed for fourth grade students. The methodology used triangulation of the data to analyze, in detail, the students' primary perceptions towards reading, teacher self-efficacy, teacher instructional behavior and home literacy measures. The program was implemented in four randomly selected schools. The reading program was announced to each school, and students in the four schools were asked whether they wished to enroll contingent upon receiving parental consent. There were 248 students in the treatment group (students enrolled in the English and Arabic reading program), and 176 students were recruited for the control group (not enrolled in the reading program). The main design was a randomized subjects pretest-posttest control group design and analytical split-plot analysis of variance (ANOVA) design. The findings of this study suggested that students in the reading program demonstrated greater interest in reading than those who did not enroll in the reading program, even when factoring out the effects of parents and home environments. The extracurricular program was significant to the extent that it has improved students' reading habits. An increase in breadth and depth of such programs shall increase language literacy and numeracy in schools and can improve the school culture towards a more student-teacher interactions and engaging activities.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Reading Programs, Extracurricular Activities, Reading Habits, Grade 4, Elementary School Students, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Pretests Posttests, Student Interests, Recreational Reading, Program Effectiveness, Reading Attitudes, Questionnaires, Observation, Parent Influence, Family Environment, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Qatar
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A