PROMOTING INTENSIVE READING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM RURAL BACKGROUND

Abstract

A classroom action research was conducted to promote the habit of intensive reading for the rural students at the undergraduate level. The aim of this research is to promote intensive reading habits for ESL students. The participants of this research were forty-five final year undergraduate students who majored in English Literature at Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women, Ramanathapuram. The data were collected from classroom observations, interviews and testing. During the process of this research, the participants were instructed to maintain a reading diary to note down the progress of their reading routine. In order to identify the positive traits gained through this reading habit, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to the participants. The observations and responses of the participants indicated that reading habit is of utmost importance as they were able to improve their vocabulary, level of comprehension and achieve academic success. The practice of reading that was given during the course of this research has actually cultivated the culture of reading among the students.