The reading beliefs of Muslim students

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study is to describe the dominant reading beliefs among Muslim students and to examine the significance of the difference in the reading beliefs when analysed by gender. Thirty- two (32) Muslim students in a public elementary school are asked to accomplish the survey questionnaire developed by Kara Soteriou (2007) to elicit information regarding their reading beliefs. These students are selected using convenience sampling technique. Mean and t-test are the statistical tools used in the data analysis. Results show that Muslim students strongly believe that it is important to think about what they want from the book that it is important to predict what will happen while reading a story, and that books can have different meanings to different readers. Moreover, female students expressed significantly stronger belief than male students did, that books can have different meaning to different readers. In all other items in the questionnaires, male and female students expressed similar levels of beliefs, that is, Muslim students, regardless of sex, generally expressed similar beliefs about reading school–related materials such as textbooks or any other library books. The findings of the study hold implications for the reading teachers to capitalize on the dominant reading beliefs when planning reading instructions.

Keywords: Reading beliefs, Muslim students.