Silent Reading Difficulties Experienced in English Language by Junior Secondary School Students in Anyigba Education Zone, Kogi State Nigeria.

This study was undertaken to find out the silent reading difficulties experienced in the English Language by JSS 1 students in Anyigba Education Zone of Kogi State, Nigeria. The Ex Post Facto Design was adopted for the study. A total of 134 JSS 1 Students drawn from three schools in Anyigba Education Zone constituted the sample. Two of the schools were public schools, one located in the urban area while the second one is in the rural area. The third school is a private school located in the urban area since there was none in the rural area. In each of the three schools, one intact class was randomly sampled. A teacher-made English Reading Comprehension Test (ERCT) and an English Vocabulary Test (EVT) were developed, validated and used for data collection. Observation techniques were also used to obtain data for silent reading problems. The mean score and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to answer the hypotheses at 0.05 significant levels. The major findings of the study were: The students understood what they read but have problems in reading in vocalization and sub-vocalization as well as finger-pointing, Students from the private school perform better in reading comprehension and vocabulary test than their counterparts in public schools. Some useful recommendations made were that reading courses be incorporated into the Junior Secondary School Curriculum instead of being couched as aspects of the English Language lessons. There should be collaboration between parents, the community and the school in the provision of reading empowerment for the child to help bridge the gap between those from low socio-economic background and those from high socio-economic background