Pleasure reading behavior and attitude of non-academic ESL students: A replication study

Abstract

The present study replicated the methods and data analysis of Crawford Camiciottoli’s (2001) study on second language (L2) reading behavior of academic English-as-a-foreign-language students. Using the original study’s questionnaire, we investigated 60 advanced non-academic English-as-a-second language learners’ L2 reading frequency and attitude. Descriptive statistics and multiple regressions were applied for the analysis. Our study revealed differentiated findings, while partially confirming Crawford Camiciottoli’s results. In contrast to the original study, we found that the participants with positive attitudes towards reading tend to read more and that experience in the target-language culture and years of previous English study did not show statistically significant results on the participants’ reading habits and attitudes. On the other hand and in line with the original study, first language (L1) reading correlated with L2 reading habits, and lack of time was the most selected reasons for poor reading habits.