Browsing by Author "Mngoma, Ntombifuthi Patricia."

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Reading habits and interests of parents and their influence on the reading habits and interests of their children in Umlazi Township
    (1997) Mngoma, Ntombifuthi Patricia.; Vermeulen, W.M.
    The study was prompted by the lack of a reading culture observed at schools in Umlazi area. An overview of the literature on Black family life and its possible influence on reading, pointed to various factors which could have a negative influence on Black pupils' reading, for example, poor home conditions, lack of parent models, oral culture and difficulties with regard to the language of available reading material. Home background was identified as a major factor in preparing children for leisure reading The respondents in the survey on reading interests and habits of pupils at three Umlazi schools, and their parents, represented a cross section of families, i.e. from unemployed to professional parents. Nearly half (47%) had an income of less than R 1 799,00 per month. The majority of the parents (66.7%) came from a rural background in which the oral culture is still predominant. Based on the research conducted for this study, it was concluded that parents, regardless of their cultural and socio-economic and geographical backgrounds were readers, providing their children with positive role models to copy. Parents stimulated the reading habit through pre-school story reading (52.5%) and story telling (77.5%), purchasing of reading material (61.7%), and encouragement of public library use (78.7%). The findings also indicated that factors such as TV watching, listening to the radio, lack of public libraries, inadequately trained teacher-librarians, and lack of encouragement from teachers to use the school library had a negative influence on pupils' reading habit. The results of the survey can however not be regarded as conclusive. With face-to-face contact with respondents and in-depth interviewing different results might be obtained.