Reading Engagement and Academic Achievement

Reading theories have shown progress from behaviorism to constructivism. When students are equipped with contemporary reading theories, they can extract message effectively. Higher learning education calls for wide and critical reading. Learners may be expected to read two to three chapters within a week for a course. If they take five courses per semester, they will be expected to carry out a vast amount of reading. The reality on the ground in Ethiopia higher learning institutions, however, indicates that Ethiopian students are not good at their reading comprehension skills which may emanate from lack of reading engagement. Lack of reading engagement blocks students from being automatic and independent readers. Without the required reading engagement, it is unlikely to be effective reader and high academic achievers. Despite this claim, it is not common to see empirical findings which examine the relationship between reading engagement and academic achievement. Thus, this research was conducted to fill this gap.