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Studies have shown that there are many advantages in reading. Walia & Sinha (2014) state and belief
that reading is considered as a way of thinking, a real experience and a series of actions and it involves
complex skills such as to understand printed word like articles, skim for knowledges and information and
maybe to read intensively. With respect to reading habit, Kutay (2004) identifies that reading will
enhances and boost the thinking ability of a person by giving some new ideas. Next, reading also will
improves vocabulary and language which is important in daily life especially in communication. A study
by Owusu-Acheaw & Larson (2014) identifies that reading habits play an important role in determine the
academic achievement of students as both the reading and academic achievement are interconnected
and dependent on each other. Wan Dollah et al. (2017) also state the same things which is reading
habits are important in enhancing student’s academic performance.

However, Malaysians do not have the habit of reading compared to other countries. Based on The
World Education Report (1993), it states that compare to other countries, Malaysia had one of the
lowest literacy rates which is 78.4% while Indonesia is 81.6%, Thailand is 93%, Singapore is 100% and the
Philippines is 89.7%. Today, the Malaysia population have reach about 20 million and the Malaysian
literacy is 85%. Next, the literacy data from countries that are obtained from a surveys or national
censuses between 1995 to 2005 show that with a recorded of literacy rate which is 91.9%, Malaysia was
placed at 88th from 178 countries all around the world. Besides, a survey by Malaysian National Library
(2006) which data collected from 60,441 respondents found that literacy rate has decreased from 93%
to 92% in 1996. A survey by Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) found that a
huge number of university student are developing an unwillingness toward reading and they read very
little.

There are many type of reading material which students can choose. Regarding the reading materials
which students prefer, Owusu-Acheaw (2014) had done a research and found out that 62% out of 1000
students when they visit the library, they choose to read lecture note, 25% out of 1000 students prefer
to read textbook while another 3% and 10% out of 1000 students prefer to read novels and other
materials respectively. It is cleared that students prefer more academic reading material compare to
others. A study by (Kutay, 2014) found out that regarding the reading material that student prefer
outside school, 89.7% of the student read novels, 70.2% prefer magazine, 66.5% of student prefer to
read material on website while the rest prefer other materials. This study also shows that students
especially teenager highly preferred fictions compared to non-fiction because fictions are non-academic
book which student found that they are more enjoyable and fun to read.

As stated before, different students have their own interest on genre of books that they read. Especially
for the different gender, male students might interest in action and adventure genre but females might
be not. According to Higginbotham (1999), females were strong in Romance, Friendship, Animal stories,
Adventure and Historical Fiction but differ to males. They more to Sports and Science and non-fiction
book. Now days, students showed that they do not have interest in reading anymore due to the
influence of mass media, Palani (2012).

Husaini et al. (2012) in his study show that 63% of the respondents said that they enjoy reading while 8%
of the students disagree about enjoying reading. This study also finds that the highest percentage of
students which is 42% admit that they ready almost every day. These findings are regarding student’s
attitude towards reading. Kutay (2014) in his study show that female student had more positive attitude
toward reading compare to male students but both genders had positive attitude toward reading.
Gender difference is an important factor in determine reading habits. Based on a study by Baharuddin et
al. (2015), found that females student read more book and they spent more time in reading compare to
male students. This study also revealed that most of the student read about 10 to 20 pages of text in a
week and they also spent about 30 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes for reading.

Besides that, students who had good reading habits can also be well in their academic performance.
Ogbodo (2002), Bhan & Gupta (2010), and Singh (2011) have done a research on how the reading can
affects the academic performance of students. On the other hands, the higher secondary students were
examined about their study habits and academic achievement and Singh (2011) found out that boys and
girls have differ significantly in their study habits and also academic achievement. The students that
belongs to scheduled caste and non-scheduled caste group give results that sex did not give significant
impact on the study habits and academic achievement, Bhan and Gupta (2010).

Study have shown that different people have different level of satisfaction toward reading and there are
many factors that influences reading habit. In a closer context, Khoi (2016) in his study showed that the
students were required to rate the level of satisfaction regarding their reading time. The results are 33%
of the students feeling fine while about 31% of them feeling satisfied with their reading time. Next, the
percentage of the students who feel extremely satisfied with their reading time are 17% the rest of 20%
feel slightly satisfied or nothing at all. Regarding the student’s environment that influences reading
habits, a study by Dollah et al. (2017) found that 42.9% of students said that parents had allocated
reading material for learning purpose. Kutay (2014) also stated that 29.2% of the students read book
which had been recommended by their friend which have bigger percentage than their teachers.

Next, study have found that there is a statistically critical relationship between student's reading
attitudes and student’s reading behaviors. For example, Ley, Shaer, and Dismukes (1994) led a
longitudinal report using a reading attitudes scale to compare students’ reading attitudes with their
reading behaviors. The researchers likewise found that both the students' reading attitudes and their
frequency of intentional reading declined amid the 3 years investigation. These discoveries are
authenticated by McKenna and Kear (1990), whose outcome also reported a decrease in students'
reading attitudes as they advance through school. The research of students' attitudes toward reading
suggests that middle school is a pivotal time for students reading habits. These studies demonstrate that
teachers should support the use of trade books and should utilize materials that will appeal to their
students.

Finally, this study hopefully can increase the reading habits among students which it can give more
advantages to them in their study. Hence, Deavers (2000) confirms that since child we need to be taught
to read and developed to love books to give us interest in reading books and make it as our habits as we
grow older.