1
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 202 3
e-ISSN: 2737-632x
Pgs 1-15
*Magister, University of
Guayaquil, https://orcid.org/0009-
0009-3643-4146
** Magister, Universidad de
Guayaquil, https://orcid.org/0000-
0001-7307-3284
Received: June, 2021
Approved: October, 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31876/ri
e.v6i4.235
http://www.revista-
iberoamericana.org/index.
php/es
How to cite:
Chuchuca, F., Chuchuca, I.
(2023) The Reading Habit
in University Education
. Revista Iberoamericana De
educación, 7(2)
The Reading Habit in University
Education
El Hábito Lector En La Formación Universitaria
O hábito de leitura no ensino universitário
Fernando Chuchuca Basantes**
Iván Chuchuca Basantes*
Abstract
This research was conducted in the university system, with the
objective of determining the existence of the reading habit in a
segment of its students and how this frequent behavior affects their
academic performance. To fulfill this purpose, the population was
focused on the seventh semester of the Language and Linguistics
career at the University of Guayaquil, to know from their texts the
existence of the reading habit and if the documents read have
contributed in their learning and academic performance. The
research was framed in the non-experimental qualitative paradigm,
with a correlational, transversal, simple descriptive,
phenomenological and hermeneutic approach, because it allowed us
to encapsulate the opinions of the students at a specific moment, and
with this information to analyze and interpret their reading behaviors,
and the subsequent connotations.
Key words:
: reading habits, teacher training.
Abstract
Esta investigación se realizó en el sistema universitario, con el
objetivo de precisar la existencia del hábito lector en un segmento de
sus estudiantes y como esta conducta frecuente incide en su
rendimiento académico. Para cumplir con este propósito, se focalizó
la población en el séptimo semestre de la carrera de Lengua y
Lingüística de la Universidad de Guayaquil, para conocer desde sus
textos la existencia del hábito lector y si los documentos leídos, han
contribuido en sus aprendizaje y rendimiento académico. La
investigación se encuadró en el paradigma cualitativo de corte no
experimental, con enfoque correlacional, transversal, descriptivo
simple, fenomenológico y hermenéutico, porque nos permitió
encapsular las opiniones de los estudiantes en un momento
2
2
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
2
específico, y con esta información analizar e interpretar sus
conductas lectoras, y las connotaciones ulteriores.
Palabras clave
: hábito lector, formación docente
Resumo
Esta investigação foi realizada no sistema universitário, com o
objectivo de determinar a existência do hábito de leitura num
segmento dos seus estudantes e como este comportamento frequente
afecta o seu desempenho académico. Para cumprir este objectivo, a
população centrou-se no sétimo semestre do curso de Língua e
Linguística da Universidade de Guayaquil, a fim de saber a partir dos
seus textos a existência do hábito de leitura e se os documentos lidos
contribuíram para a sua aprendizagem e desempenho académico. A
investigação foi enquadrada no paradigma qualitativo não
experimental, com uma abordagem correlacional, transversal,
descritiva simples, fenomenológica e hermenêutica, porque nos
permitiu encapsular as opiniões dos estudantes num momento
específico, e com esta informação analisar e interpretar o seu
comportamento de leitura, e as conotações subsequentes.
Palavras-chave: :
hábito de leitura, formação de professors
INTRODUCTION
This research is originated, by the reading discontinuity of seventh
semester students, during the development of the course of Ethics and
Values, in Cycle I of the academic period 2021-2022 (May-
September) under the virtual modality with the use of the Moodle
platform and the PACIE Methodology, technological structure that
facilitates the entry of various resources such as videos, slides,
articles pdf., and when interacting with them in simultaneous
dialogues and thematic forums to develop their discursive
competences on the disciplinary conceptual frameworks in
cooperative and participative analysis, the lack of reader commitment
is perceived, because they do not have the necessary time to review
the documentation that is uploaded to the platform, Few are the
students who participate with logical, coherent and critical criteria,
because they undoubtedly read the documents suggested for each
activity, and others limited themselves to listen to their classmates to
try to infer their concepts from the presentations, besides in their
discursive narratives the absence of pertinent arguments and the
presence of a limited lexicon is detected, which is opposed to the
level of formation they are studying.
3
3
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
3
Reading constitutes one of the fundamental axes of the curriculum,
since it is considered "one of the most important, undisputed and
indisputable learning that schooling provides" (Cassany, Luna &
Sanz, 2008, p. 193), and this learning, which is located in the
elementary sub-level of Basic Education, lays the foundations of the
student's entire reading system.
Therefore, "this consideration is not arbitrary, but is based on the
conception of reading as one of the main learning tools, which also
favors the development of higher order cognitive skills: inferring,
relating, reflecting and developing critical thinking, among others".
(UNESCO, 2016: 16) cited by Márquez, A. (2017) p:12.
The learning of the disciplinary contents of the university curriculum
goes through the reading of documents in different formats, and the
student's need to access information for learning purposes,
strengthens the reading habit, and to the extent that their motivation
towards the text and reading progresses, their intellectual level
increases and their knowledge prospers; to confirm these arguments
I incorporate a quote from Jorge Luis Borges, (1978), famous
Argentine writer and philosopher, who in a speech addressed to the
students of the University of Belgrade expressed, "Of all the
instruments created by man, the book is the most amazing instrument
because it is an extension of memory and imagination" with updated
knowledge that contributes to their personal growth, consequently
progressive reading strengthens the literal, comprehensive and
critical process of university students, and at the same time optimizes
learning.
The importance of reading, as a cardinal element of the learning
process, is vindicated in the intervention of Federico García Lorca,
distinguished Spanish poet of the Generation of 27, who when
inaugurating a library in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, his hometown
expressed: "Many times a people sleeps like the water of a pond on a
windless day, and a book or books can shake it and disturb it and
teach it new horizons of improvement and harmony" (1931) quoted
by Marquina, J. (2019), an act that took place 92 years ago, and that
in a very subtle way, determines the hierarchy of reading in the
development of the peoples, because its pages move us to other
planetary contexts under the watery and inquisitive knowledge of the
people. (2019), an act that took place 92 years ago, and that in a very
subtle way, determines the hierarchy of reading in the development
of the peoples, because its pages take us to other planetary contexts
under the author's keen optics, which allow us to creatively visualize
the new scenarios for today's society.
4
4
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
4
In the same way, Vargas Llosa, in his speech of gratitude for having
received the Nobel Prize for Literature stated: "We would be worse
than we are without the good books we read, more conformist, less
restless and insubmissive and the critical spirit, the engine of
progress, would not even exist" (2010) quoted by Márquez, A. (2017)
p: 3; concepts that highlight the role of reading in the process of
citizen training in the school system and professional training in the
university system, periods in which the reader acquires notions of his
commitments and practical responsibilities as a member of the social
dynamics that is reproduced in educational institutions not only with
instrumental activities, but also participatory, analytical, critical and
transformational.
In another segment of his speech the Granada poet García Lorca
stated "If I were hungry and helpless in the street I would not ask for
bread; I would ask for half a loaf of bread and a book", (1931) cited
by Marquina, J. (2019), and concludes his exposition, with a segment
of François Mauriac's phrase "Tell me what you read and I will tell
you who you are; because in the construction of his life project, each
human being with reading is cementing step by step, his cultural
identity, the phrase is completed with the text, "that is true, but I will
know you better if you tell me what you reread". García, F. (1931)
quoted by Marquina, J. (2019).
If reading offers some advantages over other academic activities, it
is necessary that university students in general and those who are
training to become educators, in particular, shorten the distances they
need to travel to consolidate their reading habit, as an academic input
that will contribute with better analytical and critical skills in the
exercise of their future profession.
Reading constitutes one of the fundamental axes of the curriculum,
since it is considered "one of the most important, undisputed and
indisputable learning provided by schooling" (Cassany, Luna &
Sanz, 2008, p. 193) Cited by Márquez Jiménez, A. 2017, p.11.
This continuous activity develops a conscious competence and will
motivate him to broaden his cultural horizons and become interested
in new texts in a constant practice, the reader must also understand
that reading is not valued by the amount of books the individual
reads, but by the way they influence him.
Knowing how to read is one of the essential factors in the integral
formation of people, and the higher the levels of development in oral
and written expression, spelling and intellectual skills to make value
judgments, arguments, points of view and modes of action, the
greater the coverage of the interpretation of the contextual world that
5
5
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
5
surrounds them in terms of the transformation of themselves and the
solution they can propose for the social problems of their
environment.
The attitude and preference for reading of a future educator could
help us to better understand his or her predisposition towards school
content texts, to promote reading education for students, beyond the
mechanical and instrumental, to the motivations he or she promotes
in students, to the priority he or she gives to the reading hobby as an
educational purpose and the way in which he or she can function as
a model reader.
Since the practice of reading is considered an essential factor in the
functioning of the school system, which has not been consolidated at
the university level due to the absence of an educational policy that
strengthens it, and the lack of motivation of the teams responsible for
promoting this competence, it is necessary and important that
university teachers take up the challenge and, from any discipline,
promote this important habit as a transversal axis throughout the
university career.
Consequently, we can conclude that the purpose of this research is to
know how many of this group of students, who are preparing to
become educators, are fond of reading, and to what extent the
practice of this cognitive skill benefits their learning processes, in
their university career related to teaching.
Of reading in university contexts, several studies and researches have
been conducted in the region, the following are cited. "Reading habits
in university students", by Alterio & Pérez (2004); "University
students and reading", by Gilardoni (2013); "The importance of the
habit of reading, reaction and thinking", by Flores (2016);
Representations, habits and difficulties in composing written text in
university students: An exploratory study" by Alvarez & Fabregat
(2017); and "The application of a program to improve reading speed
and comprehension in university students" by Barboza & Ventura
(2017), among others, cited by Perez V, Baute M, Espinoza, (2018).
Research that gives validity and timeliness to the reading habit,
regardless of the context in which it is applied.
These studies, which are not the only ones, show the importance of
reading as a basic cognitive skill, for the decoding and interpretation
of texts, important for learning in the processes of professional
training; If the specialty of their career is teaching, it will force the
teacher to consolidate their habit of reading, to motivate their
students by example, there must be in the educator a commitment to
6
6
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
6
social responsibility, a teacher who does not read, could not
encourage others to read.
"Reading is key in the university context, an important element in
academic and scientific activities, as a means of access to information
and knowledge, and as an essential element for the acquisition of
professional skills". Pérez, V, Baute M, Espinoza, (2018), because
several are the classroom activities, which are executed with
readings; they can be readings of a poster, a flipchart, a slide, a pdf
file, texts of some technological application, or other digital
resources.
On April 23, 1995, the UNESCO General Conference declared
World Book and Copyright Day, a celebration to promote the
enjoyment of books and reading. Every year, celebrations are held
around the world to raise awareness of the magical power of books,
a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations
and different cultures.
Recalling this classic date, April 23, 2021, UNESCO Director-
General Audrey Azoulay said, "The power of books must be fully
harnessed. We must ensure access to them so that all people find
refuge in reading and can thus dream, learn and reflect." But do not
forget that without books there are no reading habits.
The first category of this study is habit, which is defined by the Royal
Spanish Academy as "a special way of proceeding or behaving,
acquired by repetition of the same or similar acts, or originated by
instinctive tendencies" (http://rae.es/rae.html).
Habit means the frequent repetition of an act, the same that is
consolidated by constancy, by performing an activity through some
personal motivation; the term reader means a person who reads or
likes reading, therefore, by reading habit is understood the act of
carrying out a periodic reading activity, and by that way process with
the texts information and with it sustain new knowledge.
"Habits are acquired and obtained by the free exercise of the acts that
each one performs, they suppose the free decision of each person in
acts that he/she executes in a conscious way" Pérez, V, Baute M,
Espinoza, (2018), but these acts demand motivation.
Martínez, Pupo, Mora and Torres (2010), state that when the habit of
reading is encouraged, it is contributing "to the students' possession
of the logical strength to educate themselves throughout their lives,
the interest to know constantly, the enrichment of their intellect, the
expansion of their vocabulary and the possibility of improving their
human relations and their attitude towards life". Cited by Del Valle,
MJ. 2012
7
7
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
7
The habit of reading is associated with reading competence, because
if a person can read, it will be easier for him/her to acquire the habit.
"Reading competence contributes to the achievement of learning in
different areas" (Gil, 2011); proof of this is "the significant
correlation between reading comprehension and school grades that
has been found in several studies" cited by Gil in 2009 , who states
that a prerequisite for school success is the mastery of reading skills.
Research has been conducted whose results confirm this: students
who read more obtain better results in school tests, (Ministry of
Education, Culture and Sports of Spain, 2001) Cited by Del Valle,
MJ, (2012).
By recognizing that reading is a key element in the learning process,
its free practice, regulated by teachers, opens a wide scenario of
information that can be transformed into knowledge, consequently,
the reading habit is an essential and necessary teaching tool during
the learning process and beyond.
In all these studies we can observe how reading for academic
purposes acquires great relevance, but we cannot discard recreational
or voluntary reading, that which is done freely during leisure time,
outside of academic activities and by choice of material, since it is
precisely this type of reading that defines people as readers.
Therefore, it is essential to anchor the pleasure of reading outside the
strictly academic sphere. Reading for pleasure is an effective tool and
should be available to all students regardless of their educational
stage.
According to Petit (1999) socioeconomic conditions are a factor that
condition the individual, but do not determine his or her formation as
a reader, since readers have been found who have been formed in
hostile situations, and come from families with a high socioeconomic
level, causing a lack of interest in reading. The schools, the family,
the desire to improve and enrich knowledge are part of the resources
in the formation of a reading habit.
Valentín Martínez, B. E. (2019) in the reading habits of future
teachers of Initial Education , expresses that, reading is one of the
fundamental resources to have access to new knowledge. Several
studies have found that university students read books and other
materials with specific objectives; but not for pleasure, which forces
us to consider the development of this factor in students.
The second category of analysis of this study is related to teacher
training, understood in the university context as third level or
undergraduate degrees, which grant degrees in education, with
various specialties or mentions, this training enables the professional
8
8
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
8
to practice teaching, for which he/she must pass a curriculum with
disciplines related to the theories, procedures and techniques of
teaching and learning, in addition to the knowledge of the specialty
or mention.
This reference highlights the correlation between reading
competence, recognized as a cognitive ability of human beings to
decode, understand, interpret and make value judgments, and
academic performance. Comprehension allows them to grasp the
meanings, understand the text read, and reading competence helps
them to interpret the text from their personal experiences and
stimulates their critical thinking, to issue opinions, reflect on a topic,
and acquire knowledge; capacities and competencies necessary,
when we face an evaluation of learning, to correctly decode the
questions and answer satisfactorily, many fail because they do not
read the questions well, and respond with concepts not requested.
At the university level, as pointed out by Moyano (2014) and Carlino,
(2013), also have better development in their discipline and a better
insertion in academic life of students who declare themselves readers.
The reading habit is, therefore, one of the factors that to a greater
extent is related to obtaining better grades, also in higher education,
and it is voluntary and recreational reading that presents a direct
correlation with the development of stable reading habits. (Elche;
Sánchez-García; Yubero, 2019; Frágüela-Vale; Pose-Porto; Varela-
Garrote, 2016; Lee, 2014). This quote establishes the direct
relationship between habit and academic performance. There are
some studies on the appropriate way to train the educator in order for
him to be effective in teaching: how he does it, with whom he does
it, what is his purpose, what methodology he uses, what are the
working tools involved in the training processes, and among them,
reading stands out as a key element in the ASP.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This qualitative study, of phenomenological and transversal cut, was
planned to know the existence of the reading habit in university
students and the pragmatic value of this constructive tool in the
multidisciplinary formative process, because reading is an
interactive, strategic and metacognitive process that favors textual
deconstruction and the academic information received in multiple
formats from all disciplines, to organize and consolidate learning.
To collect empirical information during the fieldwork, quantitative
and qualitative data were requested from the students of the seventh
semester of the Bachelor's Degree in English Language and
9
9
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
9
Linguistics, parallel 7-1, morning session, one of the careers in the
process of closing, of the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and
Educational Sciences, of the University of Guayaquil, CI 2021-2022.
The population consisted of 39 students, aged between 23 and 32
years, of whom 32 were females, equivalent to 82% of the
population, and 7 males, representing 18%; a sample was not
selected, but was applied to the entire parallel under the modality of
census.
The survey technique was used, with a questionnaire of 10 questions,
each with a rating scale according to the Likert model, which presents
a range of five response options so that the informants can choose,
according to their subjective criteria, the response that is closest to
their contextual reality.
The survey instrument was sent and received by institutional mail,
the files were downloaded for the respective tabulation, the data
obtained were processed with the guidelines of descriptive statistics,
because they condense and describe the information obtained. The
final results were synthesized in a double-entry table to have a global
vision of the processed answers, the empirical data were ordered by
their characteristics and affinity and interpreted by their conceptual
value, to address the conclusions of the research.
Once the information was collected by institutional e-mail, we
proceeded to tabulate the results of the thirty-nine students who were
part of the group of informants of this research work, the results are
condensed in percentage, whose indicators inform us that reading is
part of teacher training, they answered about their relationship with
reading and the reading habit, although there were scattered
responses, most of the results showed that in the absence of the
reading habit in students, teachers are the ones called to encourage it.
RESULTS
The double-entry table presented below gathers in a simplified way
all the information collected from the informants, in a single visual
structure, because we have grouped all the questions and their
answers in five levels, with the purpose of facilitating the
interpretation of these data.
10
10
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
10
Table 1. Value scale
NO.
5
4
3
2
1
1
Every day or
almost every
day
F=8 / P=21%.
A few times a
month
F=13 /
P=33%.
Sometimes in
the quarter
F=7 / P=18%.
Sometime
during the
year
F=9 / P=23%.
Never
F=2 / P=5%.
2
Entertainment
F=15 / 38%
Improve the
cultural level
- Improve the
cultural level
- Improve the
cultural level
- Improve the
cultural level
F=3 / 8%
Studies
F=6 / 15%
Job
F=1 / 2.5%
Consultation
F=14 / 36%
3
16 to 20 books
F=3 / 8%
11 to 15
books
F=8 / 20%
5 to 10 books
F=9 / 23%
2 to 4 books
F=16 / 41%
A book
F=3 / 8%
4
Always
F=4 /10%
Almost
always
F=14 / 36%
Sometimes
F=14 / 36%
Almost never
F=5 / 13%
Never
F=2 / 5%
5
Always
F=13 / 33%
Almost
always
F=6 / 15%
Sometimes
F=15 / 38%
Almost never
F=4 / 10%
Never
1-3%
6
Suggested by
the teacher
F=19 / 49%
Suggested by
your
colleagues
F=8 /
P=20%.
Suggested by
your friends
F=9 / 23%
Suggested by
your relatives
F=3 / 8%
On its own
initiative
7
Totally agree
F=14 / 36%
Moderate
agreement
F=13 / 33%
Neither agree
nor disagree
F=10 / 26%
Disagree
F=2 / 5%
Strongly
disagree
0
8
Reading
stimulated
reasoning and
memory.
F=8 / P=20%.
Developed
critical
thinking and
confidence in
speaking.
F=10 / 26%
Reading helps
in the
comprehension
of texts.
F=5 / 14%
Reading
improves
people's
grammar,
vocabulary
and writing
skills.
F=9 / 22%
Reading helps to
explore new
worlds and
improves
people's
imagination.
F=7 / 18%
9
Always
F=13 / 33%
Almost
always
F=15 / 38%
Sometimes
F=6 / 15%
Almost never
F=5 / 13%
Never
0%
10
11
11
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
11
Totally agree
F=16 / 41%
Moderate
agreement
F=14 / 36%
Neither agree
nor disagree
F=7 / 18%
Disagree
F=2 / 5%
Strongly
disagree
0%
Source: Research data.
Prepared by: Fernando Chuchuca Basantes.
We recovered some criteria from this research; based on the results
that were tabulated, which confirm that the selected population has
not developed reading habits during their university career, if we
consider that the habit is related to the voluntary and frequent
repetition of one or several actions that we human beings perform in
the diverse social contexts in which we relate, including the reading
practices in the educational levels, because in them, the students
fulfill dissimilar activities that are incorporated to the formative
process by the exigency of their studies, but that are directly related
to the reading of documents and texts in all the disciplines.
From the consolidated results we can clearly extract the following
reading, that only 54% of the population read of their own free will,
that 51% of the population read for reasons of studies and academic
consultations, that 72% of the population read from 1 to 10 books, a
very limited number of texts, in relation to the level of studies they
pursue; 49% of the books read were suggested by their professors and
43% of them responded that they were suggested by their friends and
classmates; only 48% of the population considers that their
professors instilled in them the habit of reading; 46% of the students
affirmed that the books read were all linked to the learning contents
of the disciplines, which characterizes the reading for study; 69% of
the population affirmed that reading has benefited their teacher
training process; 77% of the population affirmed that reading has
benefited the process of teacher training, 77% of the population
stated that daily reading facilitated disciplinary learning, 77% of the
population affirmed that the time dedicated to reading was sufficient
to pass the disciplines, data that confirm the relationship and
incidence of the reading habit in university academic formation, in
spite of a passive student behavior in front of the text, which must be
optimized by the teaching work to achieve an acceptable mood
predisposition that allows students to obtain greater inferential
benefit from the documents they read, independently of the objective
of their reading.
These analyzed data show that more than 60% of the university
population studied do not have or practice the reading habit, because
despite the fact that reading is a constructive and important element
in the learning process, many have reached the university system
12
12
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
12
without these practices and the Higher Education Institutions have
not been able to change this reality either.
The answers provided by the informants lead us to conclude that they
recognize the importance of the habit of reading and the systematic
contribution of books in teacher training, because of the benefits of
reading per se, it provides benefits to those who practice it constantly,
especially if it is being developed in the field of teaching, one has to
learn to teach, by being involved in a reading environment, the
teacher will gain understanding of texts, improve his grammatical
practice, enrich his vocabulary, improve his writing, and facilitate
communication with his students.
It is worth noting as a referential aspect that several students,
although they answered that they read daily, in another question they
stated that they read only one hour a day, this can be explained as a
need to study, and possibly they want to give an image of readers,
even if it is not completely true.
It is necessary to promote a constant and regular reading of texts of
academic and scientific literature and universal literature to
strengthen culture and creativity, because a reading without motives
and passion is a dead reading, teachers must sow those motives in our
students so that the content to be inferred is gratifying, one of the
factors that influence is the organization of time and the suggested
topics.
The study readings necessary at any level of schooling are the most
usual processes for the population studied, but they are not the
activities that generate the greatest satisfaction, however, they are
fulfilled, therefore it is necessary to creatively find environments that
allow anchoring the taste for reading, few students are unaware of the
strengths of reading and it is necessary to bring them closer to texts
to establish a harmonious relationship with it and in this way we can
invigorate the reading habit.
The reading habit is, therefore, one of the factors that to a greater
extent is related to obtaining better grades at any level of study, the
same scenario in higher education. In this sense, each text is the social
and historical invention of a human group and adopts different forms
at each time and place, which also evolve at the same time as the
community.
By obtaining the reading habit the individual will feel more prepared
for any discussion, and will totally improve their living conditions,
because they become a cultured person with a diversity of
knowledge, a person who is educated to be a teacher must have the
habit of reading, understanding and analyzing texts, thus
13
13
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
13
consolidating their cultural level, and configuring a quality teaching
profile, but also assumes that the teaching they give when they
become professional teachers must be effective and efficient, thus
contributing to society in a direct and conscious way, thus creating a
loop in which the teacher transmits his knowledge and encourages
his students to practice reading, and thus when his students obtain the
benefits of reading and create their reading habit, they will transmit
to their student generations what they have obtained successively
creating the conscience for reading, which will be transmitted from
generation to generation.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study show that reading and the reading habit is a
pending task for professors and the university system, but at the same
time it should motivate the actors in the university education process
to reflect on their commitment to stimulate interest in it, due to its
enormous importance in the development of the curriculum.
The value of reading and the benefits provided by the reading habit
in teacher training have been highlighted, but the data analyzed show
a low reading habit in a group of university students a few months
away from finishing their university career, which is a problem that
the institution must solve for the other levels that are still pursuing
their higher education, in order to sow in them the pleasure of
reading, regardless of their aptitudes, cognitive level, motivations or
social interests that are conjugated in the classroom.
It is difficult to think that teachers and future teachers have a distant
relationship with reading, when it should be the opposite, because all
educational activity revolves around the information and knowledge
that is condensed in textbooks, in this context it will be much more
complex to ask these people to generate reading environments for
third parties; and more difficult to try to spread enthusiasm and
passion for something that does not grow in practice.
It is necessary to consider as a training objective, that future teachers
first acquire these reading habits from the university classrooms, to
simultaneously promote this reading habit in their future students, in
this way they can promote motivations and interests for reading as an
anthropological activity, build spaces and times to share them,
exchange physical or digital texts, and reconstruct the reading
experience in spaces of reflection and analysis, as a fundamental
device of their training process.
It is urgent to think then about the reformulation of the curriculum
that prioritizes the development of the reading habit in the training of
14
14
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
14
future teachers, especially in the teaching methodology and in the use
of the various resources available at the university, such as virtual
libraries, which allow downloading texts that can be read from any
device, as well as guiding the specialized search of topics related to
reading. As well as the creation of other spaces that allow them to
participate in reading contests, oratory, narrative writing, articles,
papers, book chapters; events that promote reading circles for the
exchange of opinions, the generation of debates on current issues, the
enjoyment of classic, modern and postmodern literature, the use of
university social networks for the exchange of reading experiences.
It is also essential that the design of academic planning considers
training activities for university teachers for the selection of literary
and scientific styles for the promotion of reading, the creation of
integrated activities that promote reading from a transversal axis of
the subjects that make up the cycles of study, which strengthen the
perception of students on the interest that the teacher-training faculty
gives to the promotion of reading.
The creation of spaces for the dissemination of students' research
work in academic and literary events organized by the teacher-
training faculty will allow students to see reading not only from an
academic perspective but also as a recreational and pleasurable
activity.
Green areas, parks, and areas surrounding the university campus
should consider reading spaces, appropriate to the diverse
circumstances of students, which allow them to develop a sense of
belonging to the teaching profession, but also contribute to personal,
psychological, cultural and emotional development; and in the
professional field, to improve emotional health.
The consideration of all these aspects constitutes a holistic vision so
that teacher training programs in all specialties contribute to the
development and strengthening of the reading habit in order to anchor
this component in the professional profile of the future teacher.
REFERENCES
Alterio & Pérez (2004); Hábitos de lectura en estudiantes
universitarios".
Barboza-Palomino, M. and Ventura-León, J.L. (2017): Application
of a program to improve reading speed and comprehension in
university students, investigaciones Sobre Lectura, 8, 49-59.
15
15
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación, Vol - 7 No. 2, April - June 2023
The reading habit in university education
15
Carlino, Paula (2005). Writing, reading, and learning in college. Una
introducción a la alfabetización académica. Buenos Aires:
Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Del Valle, María José, (2012). Variables that affect the acquisition of
reading habits of students.
Elche María, Sánchez-García Sandra, Yubero Santiago, 2019,
Educación XXI, Lectura, ocio y rendimiento académico en
estudiantes universitarios del área socioeducativa.
Fraguela-Vale, R., H. Pose-Porto, and L. Varela-Garrote. "Tiempos
Escolares Y Lectura." Ocnos. Revista De Estudios Sobre
Lectura, vol. 15, no. 2, November 2016, pp. 67-76,
doi:10.18239/ocnos_2016.15.2.1099.
Flores Guerrero, David La importancia e impacto de la lectura,
redacción y pensamiento crítico en la educación superior Zona
Próxima, núm. 24, January-June, 2016, pp. 128-135.
Gilardoni Claudia, 2013. "College students and reading".
Representations, habits and difficulties of written text composition in
university students: an exploratory study" by Álvarez &
Fabregat (2017);
Gil Flores Javier, (2011); Hábitos lectores y competencias básicas en
el alumnado de educación secundaria obligatoria. University of
Seville.
Giudice, Jacqueline; Godoy, Marcelo; Moyano, Estela Inés. Reading
and writing practices in the framework of psychology teaching.
Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa, vol. 21, no. 69,
April-June, 2016,
Márquez Jiménez, Alejandro, 2017. On reading, reading habit and
educational system.
Pérez Payrol Virginia Bárbara, Baute Rosales, Mireya. Luque
Espinoza de los Monteros Margarita. June 2018. The habit of
reading: an unpostponable need in the student of educational
sciences,
Petit (1999) Nuevos acercamientos de los jóvenes a la lectura.
Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Rentería, P. (2004). Nuevos acercamientos a los jóvenes y la lectura.
Fondo de cultura económica, Mexico. Formación de Docentes.
Valentín Martínez, B. E. (2019) the reading habits of future Early
Childhood Education teachers.