Students’ Attitude To Reading Of Literary Texts: A Case Study Of Akinyele Local Government Area Of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the attitudes of secondary school students towards reading literary texts in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State. The survey research design was used, and four public secondary schools were randomly selected. A total of 200 SSII students who were studying literature in English were randomly selected from these schools. The research instrument used was the Students' Attitude to Reading of Literary Texts Questionnaire (r=.79). Descriptive statistics such as frequency count, percentage scores, mean, and standard deviation, and inferential statistics such as t-test at the 0.05 level of significance were used to analyze the data. The study found that the students had a weighted mean of 2.74, which was greater than the threshold. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between male and female students in their attitudes towards text possession (t (197) = .180; p=.857>.05; Mean Difference = .19701) or their attitudes towards reading (t (196) = -.014; p=.989>.05; Mean Difference = -.01164). Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that teachers of literature-in-English should encourage students to develop a positive attitude towards reading literary texts. Teachers should adopt methods that will enhance students' positive attitudes towards reading literary texts, and students should be encouraged to read all recommended literary texts. Additionally, parents should purchase all recommended literary texts for their children and encourage them to develop a positive attitude towards reading these texts.