Pre-Service Teachers' Reading Tendencies: Implications for Promoting Reading

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Turkish pre-service teachers' reading tendencies. It specifically focused on to identify pre-service teachers' reading backgrounds and also to put forward the relationships between the tendencies of them and their gender as well as program. Participants were 114 female and 72 male undergraduate students from a state university in Turkey; the data collection instrument was a self-report questionnaire that assessed reading tendencies of pre-service teachers. The results indicated that students' reading activities outside the school primarily consist of materials other than books. The difference between students' gender and genres of books they like to read most was at the significant level. In general, the results demonstrated that Turkish pre-service teachers were not satisfied with their current amount of time they allot for reading. Data obtained in this study were discussed in relation to promoting reading.