Abstract:
Reading is indispensable to gain the maturity of Human’s knowledge and this
makes one perfect in Knowledge. In particular, the habits of reading as a major
factor influence the level of knowledge in students. It is of paramount importance
to the students of a university. Because, the habit of reading plays a major role in
the progress of the community, academicals achievements of the students, and
intellectualism. Accordingly, the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka has a main
library and faculty libraries to encourage the reading habits of the students, and a
huge number of books are purchased by the University every year. Further, to
enhance the reading habits of the students, the university is also conducting
awareness programmes, distributing free Wi-Fi, and hosting exhibitions. However,
the fact that students' reading habits and use of available resources to its full
potential have not reached an acceptable level was identified as a point of opinion
among the researchers. In this background, a study was carried out to find the
situation of reading habits of the third-year students of the Faculty of Islamic
Studies and Arabic Language at the university and the factors that prevent the
reading. Data were obtained with distributing a questionnaire from 184 students as
a study sample out of 372 students who continued their studies in the academic
year 2019/2020. Furthermore, an interview was held with the involvement of ten
selected participants. The data were analyzed with the help of SPSS 24.0 software
and the results were explained through the graphs. In addition to these, secondary
data were such as books, thesis, magazines, and web pages were used. According
to the survey, students' reading habits were found to be in an acceptable level and
the increased workload was perceived to be a barrier to the task of reading and the
impact of the headrace is noticeable among the female students. This is due to the
heavy home tutorials provided by the lecturers and the burden of household chores
married female students faced.
