The Role Of Speaking Self-Sufficiency And Problematic Internet Use In Predicting Prospective Teachers’ Reading Habits

Abstract

The teaching profession is characterized by academic competence, interaction skills, the transfer of knowledge and skills to individuals, and conveying emotions and thoughts using appropriate language. It is a special profession that requires a common ground and interactions between children, parents, and school administrators, in short, all segments of the society. Therefore, among the questions that need to be answered is how a technology-oriented lifestyle affects teacher candidates’ speaking skills, which is a sensitive issue that should be emphasized in university education. Accordingly, this study aimed to describe the role of problematic internet use and speaking self-sufficiency in predicting prospective teachers’ reading habits. The study was designed in a relational survey model, and the sample consisted of prospective teachers of a foundation university in Gaziantep in the 2020-2021 academic year. An appropriate sampling method was used for the selection of the participants. The data were collected using a "Personal Information Form," and "Attitude Scale Towards the Teacher Candidates' Reading Habit," "The Scale of Pre-service Teachers' Self-sufficiency Perception of Speaking Skills," and "The Problematic Internet Usage Scale." Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The study results revealed that improving university students' speaking self-sufficiency increases positive attitudes towards reading habits. An increase in problematic internet use undermined speaking self-sufficiency but increased the attitudes towards reading habits.