International Journal of Language Education Volume 8.
Number 4, 2024, pp.
ISSN: 2548-8457 (Prin.
2548-8465 (Onlin.
Doi: https://doi.
org/10.
26858/ijole.
Exploring Reading Interest and Reading Literacy of Indonesian Language in Elementary School Students: A Correlation Study Hardhika Wahyu Dewani Universitas Negeri Surabaya.
Indonesia Email: hardhika.
21012@mhs.
Wahyu Sukartiningsih Universitas Negeri Surabaya.
Indonesia Email: wahyusukartiningsih@unesa.
Hendratno Universitas Negeri Surabaya.
Indonesia Email: hendratno@unesa.
Suryanti Universitas Negeri Surabaya.
Indonesia Email: suryanti@unesa.
Received: 2 February 2023 Reviewed:25 August 2024-13 November 2024 Accepted: 16 November 2024 Published:30 December 2024 Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between reading interest and reading literacy skills of elementary school students.
This study used a correlational research method.
The subjects in this study were seventy-eight fourth grade elementary school students.
The sampling technique used is simple random sampling.
The data collection technique used in this study was through a questionnaire consisting of 14 multiple-choice questions and a reading literacy test consisting of 6 descriptive questions.
The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 26.
Based on the research results, the reading interest indicators that have a weak positive correlation with reading literacy are the desire to read, reading frequency and use of time for reading.
Meanwhile, the indicators of reading interest that have a significant positive correlation with reading literacy are reading motivation and attention when reading.
Overall, reading interest does not have a significant impact on reading literacy skills.
This study is expected to help teachers identify factors that have the potential to influence students' reading literacy skills.
Keywords: Reading interest.
reading literacy.
elementary school.
correlation study Vol.
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International Journal of Language Education Introduction Reading comprises receptive language skills, which are the reader's efforts to receive information, knowledge, and messages that the author wishes to communicate through written This skill is required during learning process when students want to enlarge their According to Senen et al.
reading can help individuals continue to grow, develop, and build character.
The ability to read and write is essential for interpersonal communication and for obtaining a wide range of life-saving information.
Furthermore, students need to develop as proficient readers because reading is essential to their performance in the classroom because it increases understanding and knowledge.
Reading can improve a person's understanding and knowledge, which benefits them as one of the country's change agents (Rintaningrum, 2.
In addition.
Good reading comprehension is one of the success criteria in achieving mathematics and science (Akbasli et al.
, 2016.
Koyuncu & Firat, 2.
In the 21st century, students need a variety of skills that include cognitive and metacognitive skills .
, creative, critical thinking, learning to lear.
, social and emotional skills .
, self-efficacy, collaboration and empath.
, and practical and physical skills .
using new information and communication technology device.
(GonzylezAapyrez & RamyrezAamontoya, 2.
Literacy is one of the 21st century abilities that must be learned.
The capacity to read, write, speak, count, or comprehend the meaning of reading or speech content that is related to a person's cognitive abilities is known as literacy (Sholeh et al.
, 2.
Reading literacy is an activity that involves higher-order thinking skills in comprehending deeper In other words, reading literacy is more than just understanding a reading passage, but also the ability to synthesize messages and use and evaluate information (Damaianti et al.
, 2.
Literacy is a functional skill that underpins academic, personal, professional, and public success (Rintaningrum et al.
, 2.
Reading literacy skills are important in order to be able to reflect on the various information obtained as a provision for students to participate in the field of science and technology, as well as for self-capacity development.
In addition, reading literacy is expected to build character, explore critical and creative thinking skills, and be able to foster positive student participation in communication and cooperation (Rahmah & Putri, 2.
addition, reading literacy is one of the main skills in academics to convert information into comprehension because most knowledge is obtained from books, monographs, and written One of the factors that influence the reading process is reading interest (Maden, 2.
Reading interest plays an important role in readerAos text processing (Hidi, 2001.
Septhin, et al.
In this case, it can raise readerAos motivations to understand the text in depth and has a positive effect on the readerAos memory in remembering information obtained from reading StudentsAo reading interest can make them more attached to the text and confident so when they get a question, students are able to connect it with what they have read previously (Hidi, 2.
However, in reality, studentsAo reading interest in Indonesia is low regarding the data reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) in 2006.
Indonesian peopleAos reading culture is at the lowest position of 52 countries in the East Asia In addition, based on a survey conducted by UNESCO in 2012.
Indonesian people have a very low reading interest of 0.
001 percent.
This means that in a thousand communities, there is only one community that has an interest in reading.
Vol.
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4, 2024
Dewani.
Sukartiningsih.
Hendratno, & Suryanti Based on research conducted by Kirby et al.
which examined the relationship between reading interest and reading skill with a sample of 117 elementary school students from the first to third grades, there was a weak relationship between reading interest and studentsAo reading skills in the early years of elementary school.
Similarly.
Fitria .
research undertaken on 47 students in grade Vi of junior high school found that there was a high correlation between reading interest and studentsAo reading comprehension.
However, research conducted by Rahayu et al.
on the correlation between reading interest and reading habits with studentsAo reading comprehension ability showed a significance value of 0.
> 0.
This proves that the reading interest variable does not correlate with the reading comprehension ability variable.
A number of contradictory study findings suggest that further investigation is required to ascertain the connection between reading interest and literacy.
The present study focused on revealing the nexus between reading interest and literacy in which the indicators of reading interest have not been employed.
Employing this objective, the present study intends to intensely describe the fourth-grade elementary studentsAo reading interest and literacy.
This study formulated research questions as follows: .
The level of reading interest and reading literacy of elementary school students, .
The relationship between the desire to read and reading literacy, .
The relationship between reading motivation and reading literacy, .
The relationship between reading frequency and reading literacy, .
The relationship between the use of time to read and reading literacy, .
The relationship between attention when reading and reading literacy, .
The relationship between reading interest and reading literacy.
Literature review Reading is a cognitive process in understanding thoughts and symbols presented in writing (Gedik & Akyol, 2.
The definition of reading literacy according to PISA is the ability to understand, use, evaluate, reflect and be interested in texts to achieve goals, build potential and knowledge, and to participate fully in society (Rahmah & Putri, 2.
In this study, the reading literacy indicators studied consisted of .
finding information related to text, .
identifying and explaining problems in the text, .
compiling inferences related to reading content, .
reflecting on reading content and linking to personal experience, .
evaluating the suitability of the title and reading content (OECD,2.
Reading literacy contributes significantly to mathematics and science achievement (Akbasli et al.
, 2016.
Koyuncu & Firat.
In addition, reading literacy is important because it can influence a person's way of thinking and acting (Rintaningrum, 2.
Interest in reading is the desire and drive from within to carry out reading activities accompanied by efforts to read (Mirnawati, 2.
In this study, the reading interest indicators studied consisted of .
desire to read, .
reading motivation, .
reading frequency, .
use of time to read, and .
attention when reading.
According to Hidi .
interest plays an important role in processing reading texts.
Interest has a positive and strong influence on readers' comprehension and memory.
Interest can not only be aroused through text features, but can be aroused by other aspects of a situation.
The reader's individual interest and situational interest .
roused by text segments, themes, and topic.
contribute to increased comprehension and Reading interest in reading comprehension plays an important role as a basis for achieving reading goals (Wigfield et al.
, 2.
In addition, students need to have an interest in reading when understanding texts, because it can motivate them to read for pleasure (Guthrie et Vol.
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International Journal of Language Education , 2.
The results of Becker et al .
study showed that students' reading interest in fourth grade had a positive and ongoing impact on their reading ability in sixth grade.
Students who consider reading as a fun activity tend to read more often and thus can develop their reading ability to be better.
However, research conducted by (Rahayu et al.
, 2.
on the correlation between reading interest and reading habits with studentsAo reading comprehension ability showed a significance value of 0.
> 0.
This proves that the reading interest variable does not correlate with the reading comprehension ability variable.
Research method Research design The research design used in this study is a quantitative design.
This study used a correlational research method.
Correlational research was quantitative research that used correlational statistical analysis to determine the relationship between two or more variables (Cresswell, 2.
This study examined the relationship between reading interest .
s the independent variable or X) and reading literacy .
s the dependent variable or Y).
Subject of the research This research was conducted in 3 elementary schools in Surabaya.
East Java.
The subjects of this study were 78 grade 4 students consisting of 23 students from Elementary School A, 29 students from Elementary School B, and 26 students from Elementary School C.
The subjects consisted of 39 boys .
%) and 39 girls .
%) who were chosen using simple random sampling Simple random sampling is a sampling technique where each member of the population has the same opportunity to be selected (Cresswell, 2.
Research instrument and validation of instrument Questionnaire and test were the instruments used to collect data in this study.
Before being used, questionnaires and tests need to be validated theoretically based on content and language to obtain results that are appropriate to the research context.
Theoretical validation was carried out by experts based on theoretical studies related to reading interest and reading literacy in order to test the instrument rationally.
The questionnaires and tests were validated by Indonesian language assessment experts.
Validation focused on language and content and the tests were tailored to the thinking abilities of fourth grade students.
After being validated by experts, revised according to the experts' suggestions and the instrument has been declared valid, the researcher then carries out an empirical validation test.
This trial aims to determine the level of difficulty, the discriminating power of the questions, the validity and reliability of the questions so that the test is suitable for use in research.
Researchers conducted a trial reading literacy test on other classes that had the same characteristics as the research subjects.
Data collection prosedures Data related to reading interest (X) was collected using a questionnaire, while data related to reading literacy (Y) was collected using a description test.
The items on the questionnaire consist of 14 closed-ended questions arranged based on a four-choice Likert scale with reading interest indicators covering .
desire to read, .
reading motivation, .
reading frequency, .
use of time to read, and .
attention when reading.
The questionnaire is in the form of sheets that are distributed directly to respondents and must be completed within 30 minutes.
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Hendratno, & Suryanti Reading literacy tests are designed according to research needs.
The test is in the form of a description consisting of 6 questions arranged based on reading literacy indicators which include: .
finding information related to text, .
identifying and explaining problems in the text, .
compiling inferences related to reading content, .
reflecting on reading content and linking to personal experience, .
evaluating the suitability of the title and reading content.
Scoring the reading literacy test referred to the developed rubric.
The reading literacy test is in the form of sheets that are distributed directly to students and must be completed within 60 minutes.
Data analysis The data obtained from the research respondents were exported to Microsoft Excel and were analyzed using SPSS 26 to analyze inferential statistics to answer the research questions.
Data normality test was examined using Kolmogrov-smirnov and the correlation test used Spearman.
Results Level of studentsAo reading interest and reading Reading interest The statements in the questionnaire are arranged based on reading interest indicators.
Reading interest indicators consist of desire to read, reading motivation, reading frequency, use of time to read, and attention when reading.
The summary results of the analysis of the student reading interest questionnaire are presented in the table below.
Table 1.
StudentsAo Reading Interest Questionnaire Results No.
Score
The desire to read
1,28
3,85
47,43
8,97
39,74
46,15
69,23
25,64
3,85
41,02
7,69
35,89
Reading motivation 14,10 58,97 57,69 11,54 28,20 8,97 66,67 19,23 3,85 17,95 24,36 Reading frequency 15,38 60,26 24,36 7,69 51,28 39,74 17,95 75,64 6,41 The use of time for reading 24,36 37,18 16,67 43,59 46,15 Attention when reading 10,26 15,38 69,23 Indicator 47,43 5,13 1,28 15,38 26,92 2,56 5,13 53,85 1,28 21,79 10,26 5,13 Based on table 1, the reading interest indicator consists of five indicators, namely the desire to read, motivation to read, frequency of reading, use of time to read and attention when In the desire to read indicator, 47.
43% of students read books because of their own Meanwhile, in the reading motivation indicator, only 26.
92% of students realize that reading is very important for them.
In the reading frequency indicator, there are 60.
26% of students who only read one book other than textbooks in a day.
In addition, only 21.
79% of Vol.
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International Journal of Language Education students use their free time to read.
Then, there are 5.
13% of students who focus their attention when reading.
In this study, students' reading interest was classified into high reading interest, moderate reading interest, and low reading interest.
Students were stated to have high reading interest if their questionnaire scores were in the range of 42 to 54.
This means that students have enthusiasm in reading.
At the moderate reading interest level, the reading interest questionnaire scores obtained by students were in the range of 28 to 41.
In other words, students were quite interested in reading.
Meanwhile, students were stated to have low reading interest if their questionnaire scores were in the range of 14 to 27.
This means that students have low interest in Low Intermediate High Figure 1.
Level of studentsAo reading interest The reading interest questionnaire was analyzed and summarized based on the questionnaire indicators, then the scores of each individual were accumulated.
Indicator 1 consists of four questions, indicator 2 consists of three questions, indicator 3 consists of three questions, indicator 4 consists of two questions, indicator 5 consists of two questions.
Based on the results of the questionnaire recapitulation, as many as .
%) 10 students showed a low level of reading interest, .
%) 62 students showed a medium or moderate level of reading interest, and .
%) 6 students showed a high level of reading interest.
Reading literacy Questions in the reading literacy test are arranged based on reading literacy indicators.
Reading literacy indicators consist of finding information related to the text, identifying and explaining problems in the text, compiling inferences related to reading content, reflecting on reading content and linking to personal experience, and evaluating the suitability of the title and reading content.
The summary results of the analysis of students' reading literacy tests are presented in the table below.
Table 2.
StudentsAo reading literacy Indicator Finding information related to text
Identifying and explaining problems in the text
Compiling inferences related to reading content
Correct answer
74,36
10,26
39,74
8,97
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Hendratno, & Suryanti Reflecting on reading content and linking to personal Evaluating the suitability of the title and reading content
12,82
12,82
Based on table 2, the reading literacy consist of five indicators, namely finding information related to the text, identifying and explaining the problems in the text, compiling inferences related to reading content, reflecting on reading content and linking to personal experience, and evaluating the suitability of the title and reading content.
The indicator of finding information related to the text in question number 1, there were 74.
36% of students who answered the question correctly.
While in question number 2, only 10.
26 students answered the question correctly.
Furthermore, in the indicator of identifying and explaining problems in the text, there were 39.
74% of students who answered the question correctly.
Meanwhile, in the indicator of compiling inferences related to reading content, only 8.
97% of students answered the question correctly.
In addition, in the indicator of reflecting on reading content and linking to personal experience, and evaluating the suitability of the title and contents of the reading, only 82% of students answered the question correctly.
In assessing students' reading literacy, literacy is grouped into high reading literacy, intermediate reading literacy, low reading literacy, and very low reading literacy.
The grouping is adjusted based on the data obtained.
Students are declared to have high reading literacy if their reading literacy test scores are in the range of 19 to 24.
At the intermediate reading literacy level if their reading literacy test scores are in the range of 13 to 18.
At the low reading literacy level, the reading literacy test scores obtained by students are in the range of 7 to 12.
While students are declared to have very low literacy if their reading literacy test scores are in the range of 1 to Figure 2 shows the level of students' reading literacy.
Very Low Low Intermediate Figure 2.
Level of students' reading literacy.
The reading literacy essay test was analyzed and summarized based on the test indicators, then each individual's score was accumulated.
Indicator 1 consists of two questions, indicator 2 consists of one question, indicator 3 consists of one question, indicator 4 consists of one question, indicator 5 consists of one question.
Based on the test recapitulation results, as many as .
%) 4 students showed a very low level of reading literacy, .
%) 48 students showed a low level of reading literacy, and .
%) 26 students showed a intermediate level of reading literacy.
The correlation between studentsAo desire to read and reading literacy The results of normality test undertaken using Kolmogrov-smirnov showed a significance level of 0.
02 on desire to read and 0.
00 on reading literacy, which meant that the data distribution was not normal.
In this case, the correlation test used Spearman test.
The correlation between studentsAo desire to read and reading literacy is presented in the table below.
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International Journal of Language Education Table 3.
Spearman's correlation questioner of studentsAo desire to read and reading literacy Desire Reading to read Desire to read Correlation 1,000 ,010 Sig.
-taile.
,928 Reading Correlation Sig.
-taile.
,010 ,928 1,000 Table 3 shows that there is an insignificant positive correlation between studentsAo desire to read indicator and reading literacy which has a significance of 0.
> 0.
The positive correlation means that the greater the desire of students to read, the greater the ability of reading This confirms that the studentsAo desire to read has a positive impact on the ability of students to read literacy, although it is not significant.
The correlation between reading motivation and reading literacy The normality test showed a significance level of 0.
00 on motivation to read and 0.
00 on reading literacy, which meant that the data distribution was not normal.
Thus, the correlation test used Spearman test.
The correlation between reading motivation and reading literacy is presented in the table below.
Table 4.
Spearman's correlation test of students' reading motivation and reading literacy Reading Reading Reading Correlation 1,000 ,269* Sig.
,017
Reading literacy Correlation Sig.
,269* 1,000 ,017 Based on table 4, it shows that there is a significant positive correlation in the reading motivation indicator with reading literacy which has a significance of 0.
<0.
This significant positive correlation means that the higher the students' reading motivation, the higher the students' reading literacy will be.
This means that reading motivation has a significant positive impact on reading literacy.
The correlation between reading frequency and reading literacy The results of normality test showed a significance level of 0.
00 for reading frequency Vol.
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Hendratno, & Suryanti 00 for reading literacy, which meant that the data distribution was not normal.
Therefore, the correlation test used Spearman.
The correlation between reading frequency and reading literacy is presented in the table below.
Table 5.
Spearman correlation test of reading frequency and studentsAo reading literacy Reading Reading Reading Correlation 1,000 ,044 Sig.
,699
Reading literacy Correlation Sig.
,044 1,000 ,699 Based on table 5, it shows that there is a positive correlation that is not significant in reading frequency with reading literacy which has a significance of 0.
<0.
In other words, the higher the frequency of reading students, the higher their reading literacy scores will This confirms that the frequency of reading students has a positive impact on students' reading literacy skills, although not significant.
The correlation between the use of time for reading and reading literacy The result of normality test obtained a significance level of 0.
00 for the use of time for reading and 0.
00 for reading literacy, indicating that the data distribution was not normal.
Thus, the correlation test used Spearman test.
The correlation between use of time for reading and reading literacy is presented in the table below.
Table 6.
Spearman correlation test of studentsAo use of time for reading and their reading literacy Use of time for Reading Use of time for Correlation 1,000 ,021 Sig.
,854
Reading Correlation Sig.
,021 1,000 ,854 Table 6 shows that there is a positive correlation that is not significant in the indicator of the use of time for reading with reading literacy which has a significance of 0.
<0.
This positive correlation means that the longer the time students use to read, the more their reading Vol.
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International Journal of Language Education literacy will increase.
This confirms that the use of time for reading has a positive impact on students' reading literacy even though it is not significant.
The correlation between attention when reading and reading literacy The normality test showed a significance level of 0.
00 for attention when reading and 00 for reading literacy, which meant that the data distribution was not normal.
Hence, the correlation test used Spearman.
The correlation between attention when reading and reading literacy is presented in the following table.
Table 7.
Spearman correlation test of students' attention when reading and reading literacy Attention Reading when reading Attention Correlation 1,000 ,241* when reading coefficient Sig.
,034
Reading Correlation Sig.
,241* 1,000 ,034 Table 7 shows that there is a significant positive correlation between attention while reading and reading literacy with a significance of 0.
<0.
This positive correlation means that the greater the attention while reading, the greater the students' reading literacy will This confirms that attention while reading has a significant positive impact on students' reading literacy.
The correlation between reading interest and reading literacy The normality test showed a significance level of 0.
20 for reading interest and 0.
00 for reading literacy, which indicated that the data distribution was not normal.
Thus, the correlation test used Spearman test.
The correlation between reading interest and reading literacy is presented in the table below.
Table 8.
Spearman correlation test of studentsAo reading interest and reading literacy Reading Reading Reading interest Correlation 1,000 ,123 Sig.
,282
Reading literacy Correlation Sig.
,123
,282
1,000
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Hendratno, & Suryanti Table 9 shows that reading interest and reading literacy have a weak positive correlation with a significance value of 0.
282 > 0.
This positive correlation means that the higher the students' reading interest, the higher their reading literacy will be.
This confirms that reading interest has a positive impact on students' reading literacy skills, although it is not significant.
Discussion According to this studyAos findings, the majority of elementary school students had medium levels of reading interest.
This indicated that efforts must be made to increase elementary school studentsAo reading interest.
In line with Khairuddin .
and Noortyani .
research findings, students' reading interests and habits are at a moderate level.
According to Marin & Bocos .
an important factor that influences students' interest in reading books is the personal example given by parents and teachers The results of this study also indicated that students typically perceived low reading Hal ini ditunjukkan melalui perolehan skor literasi membaca mayoritas siswa tergolong This exhibits the necessity to raise studentsAo reading literacy.
Some previous studies also revealed similar findings to this study where most of them obtained that studentsAo reading literacy was inadequate (Chintia et al.
, 2018.
LinnakylaA et al.
, 2.
Low student interest or engagement in reading became one of the factors contributing to low student reading literacy since studentsAo moods were affected by their interest in the reading material, which helped them concentrate when reading (Lustyantie & Aprilia, 2020.
Meldawati et al.
, 2.
In order to increase their comprehension, students who were highly interested in reading would be immersed in and thoroughly involved in reading activities (Lubis, 2.
Based on the results of several previous studies reading interest and reading literacy can be increased through providing interventions in learning.
The interventions are in the form of implementing reading strategies and learning models, as well as using learning media and teaching materials (Maulida et al.
Fisher et al.
Barus et al.
, 2021.
Kudemir & Bulut, 2018.
Kysper et al, 2018.
Hendratno et al.
, 2022.
Dewani et al.
, 2020.
Yusnia et al.
, 2.
Overall, our findings show that reading interest and reading literacy have a positive but insignificant correlation.
This means that reading literacy will increase along with increasing students' reading interest, although it does not have a significant impact.
Thus, in general, reading literacy can also be influenced by other factors so that reading interest is not the only factor that contributes to reading literacy.
In addition, this study examines the correlation between reading interest and reading literacy in more detail.
This study found that the indicators of reading frequency, desire to read and use of time for reading have a positive but insignificant correlation with reading literacy.
This means that reading frequency, desire to read, and use of time for reading do not have a significant effect on students' reading literacy.
However, this study also found that there were two indicators of reading interest that were positively and significantly correlated, namely reading motivation and attention when This showed that the higher the motivation to read and attention when reading, the higher the studentsAo reading literacy.
In the same line, studies conducted by Kudemir & Bulut .
which proved that there was a significant correlation between reading motivation and reading comprehension in elementary school students.
Similarly.
Lan &Yu .
also found that reading motivation played an important role in the achievement of reading literacy in formal On the other hand, the findings of McGeown et al.
showed that reading Vol.
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International Journal of Language Education motivation was also a predictor of studentsAo reading comprehension and summarizing skills.
addition to reading motivation, this study also found that the indicator of attention when reading was also positively and significantly correlated with reading literacy.
Similarly, a study undertaken by Yildiz & yNetinkaya .
proved that attention when reading had a significant effect on reading comprehension.
In this case, to improve reading skills, activities that increased attention were necessary.
Conclusion In this study, students' reading interest levels were classified into three groups, namely low, medium, and high.
According to this studyAos findings, the majority of elementary school students had medium levels of reading interest.
According to the studyAos findings and the discussion, reading motivation and attention when reading are two indicators that have a major influence on reading literacy.
This showed that the higher the motivation to read and attention when reading, the higher the studentsAo reading literacy.
Then, it was followed by reading desire, reading frequency, and use of time to read.
Therefore, teachers must motivate students to read by developing learning models, media and teaching materials that can motivate and focus students' attention while reading, because they can help improve students' reading literacy.
This study is only limited on examining the correlation of reading interest and reading literacy in elementary school students.
Therefore, in order to gain more knowledge related to the correlation of reading interest with reading literacy, future research should use wider scope of research setting, for instance, at the junior high school, senior high school, or college levels.
Declaration of conflicting interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in this work.
Funding acknowledgements The research received no external funding.
References