Changing the Reading Attitude of Young Children through Facebook

It is widely recognized that positive reading attitude affects reading performances (1). As such, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of a reading program that leverage on social networking tool Facebook on reading attitude. Reading attitude is affected by personal beliefs, social beliefs and reading experiences (2). In this study, pupils in the treatment group were required to post book reports onto Facebook which provided them with peers support and social purpose for reading and sharing their reading experiences with peers. Pre- and post- test were administered using Elementary Reading Attitudes Survey (ERAS) before and after the implementation of Facebook reading program. The result of the study shows that the treatment group developed a more positive attitude towards reading of Chinese story books than control group. This study is developed base on McKenna's model (2). Reading attitude is defined by Mckenna as "a system of feelings related to reading which causes the learner to approach or avoid a reading situation". McKenna also pointed out that as children mature, and as more and more leisure options compete with reading, positive attitudes toward reading will gradually worsen. This is a common situation that many teachers are facing now, as children's attention are frequently diverted to other activities, such as playing computer games than reading. Base on McKenna's theory, we predicted that socialization and interaction of reading experiences among pupils could have a strong impact on their reading attitude. Therefore, reading program in school which aims to cultivate positive reading attitude could include more social elements to create a greater impact. As more and more pupils are creating social networking site Facebook to communicate online, we see the advantage of using it to promote sharing and interactions. Hence, the functions and impact of online community were further explored to study its suitability to be included in a reading program that aims to improve the reading attitude of pupils.