My thesis explores the reading habits in English of a sample of Italian university students at the University of Pavia. First of all, an initial exploration of the complex and intricate process of reading is presented, illustrating readers’ skills and strategies regularly involved in text comprehension. Special attention is paid to the development of the reading process in a language other than the native one, discussing the most relevant theories in the field of foreign language reading and the most important models formulated by scholars. Secondly, the role of extensive reading in English is deeply analysed, focussing both on positive benefits for incidental learning and frequent language obstacles encountered by students. More specifically, to obtain further insights into Italian university students’ reading habits in English, a questionnaire was elaborated and posted on social networks with the aim of reaching as many participants as possible. It shows frequent English sources read by students and their reasons for regularly accessing certain material. To be more precise, it provides an overview of respondents’ frequency and length of reading, access to preferred types of texts, reasons, beliefs, and opinions towards reading in English. On the whole, learner-readers investigated in my study exhibit a scarce involvement in English reading activities, declaring they read English sources to quite a low extent and for short exposure time. Interestingly, participants’ results allow us not only to clearly identify the main reading practices that learner-readers tend to be engaged in but also to draw a marked distinction between undergraduate and postgraduate students’ reading habits. Patterns of reading habits in English appear to be quite diversified in the sample. Postgraduate students seem to be the student-readers who more frequently read English texts, showing regular access to academic books, specialised articles and university material in English. Finally, it is common among all students in the sample to share a positive attitude towards reading in English. The behaviours emerging from this survey reflect a general learning-oriented awareness of the acquisitional value of reading in English. This learning potential reported by the majority of university students can undoubtedly be viewed as a powerful basis to promote the creation of good future reading habits in English.
La mia tesi esplora le abitudini di lettura in inglese di un gruppo di studenti dell’Università di Pavia. Innanzitutto, viene presentata un’introduzione che riguarda il complesso processo della lettura e illustra le abilità e le strategie coinvolte abitualmente nella comprensione del testo. Un’attenzione particolare è dedicata allo sviluppo della lettura in una lingua diversa dalla propria, alle teorie che affrontano il tema della lettura in una lingua straniera e ai modelli più significativi elaborati dagli studiosi. In secondo luogo, il ruolo della “lettura estesa” in inglese è analizzato in profondità, concentrandosi sia sui benefici positivi per l’acquisizione implicita della lingua straniera sia sugli ostacoli linguistici incontrati frequentemente dagli apprendenti. Per conoscere meglio le abitudini di lettura in inglese degli studenti universitari, è stato postato un questionario sui social networks con l’obiettivo di raggiungere più partecipanti possibili. Il questionario ha permesso di raccogliere informazioni circa il materiale in inglese maggiormente letto, la frequenza e l’intensità di lettura degli studenti, i loro testi preferiti, le motivazioni alla lettura e le opinioni. Nel complesso, gli studenti-lettori presi in esame esibiscono uno scarso coinvolgimento nelle attività di lettura in inglese, dichiarando di leggere poche fonti e per tempi molto brevi. È interessante notare che i risultati non solo ci permettono di identificare chiaramente le pratiche di lettura in inglese più frequenti, ma anche di delineare, all’interno del gruppo studiato, una distinzione tra le abitudini di lettura degli studenti che frequentano le lauree triennali e quelle di coloro che sono iscritti a corsi di laurea magistrale. Questi ultimi sembrano leggere più spesso testi in lingua inglese, mostrando di accedere con regolarità a libri accademici, articoli specialistici e materiale universitario. Infine, è comune a tutti gli studenti condividere un’attitudine positiva nei confronti della lettura in inglese. I comportamenti che emergono dal mio studio riflettono una generale consapevolezza del valore della lettura in questa lingua straniera. Tale potenziale riportato dalla maggior parte degli studenti universitari può indubbiamente essere visto come una solida base per incoraggiare future buone abitudini di lettura in inglese.
Students' reading habits at the University of Pavia: A survey
SORESI, CHIARA
2020/2021
Abstract
My thesis explores the reading habits in English of a sample of Italian university students at the University of Pavia. First of all, an initial exploration of the complex and intricate process of reading is presented, illustrating readers’ skills and strategies regularly involved in text comprehension. Special attention is paid to the development of the reading process in a language other than the native one, discussing the most relevant theories in the field of foreign language reading and the most important models formulated by scholars. Secondly, the role of extensive reading in English is deeply analysed, focussing both on positive benefits for incidental learning and frequent language obstacles encountered by students. More specifically, to obtain further insights into Italian university students’ reading habits in English, a questionnaire was elaborated and posted on social networks with the aim of reaching as many participants as possible. It shows frequent English sources read by students and their reasons for regularly accessing certain material. To be more precise, it provides an overview of respondents’ frequency and length of reading, access to preferred types of texts, reasons, beliefs, and opinions towards reading in English. On the whole, learner-readers investigated in my study exhibit a scarce involvement in English reading activities, declaring they read English sources to quite a low extent and for short exposure time. Interestingly, participants’ results allow us not only to clearly identify the main reading practices that learner-readers tend to be engaged in but also to draw a marked distinction between undergraduate and postgraduate students’ reading habits. Patterns of reading habits in English appear to be quite diversified in the sample. Postgraduate students seem to be the student-readers who more frequently read English texts, showing regular access to academic books, specialised articles and university material in English. Finally, it is common among all students in the sample to share a positive attitude towards reading in English. The behaviours emerging from this survey reflect a general learning-oriented awareness of the acquisitional value of reading in English. This learning potential reported by the majority of university students can undoubtedly be viewed as a powerful basis to promote the creation of good future reading habits in English.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1526