The Impact of Language and Environment on Primary Students’ Reading Preferences and Habits

Reading habits are behaviors that demonstrate preferences for reading, explain why one reads, and indicate how often one reads. The present study aims to investigate the primary students’ preferences and habits and the impact of language and environment in improving reading. A quantitative approach using survey questionnaire was utilized to conduct the study. The targeted sampling was used to collect the data which were 124 primary school students, 61 female and 63 male learners from one of the international primary schools in Sulaimani, Kurdistan region of Iraq. The participants were in grade 5 and grade 6. The data was analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. The findings showed that students are interested in reading activities in the English language, and they enjoy reading activities in the classroom. Reading could be an important factor to elevate the knowledge level of the learners if it could be implemented as a habit. Besides, it is essential that reading could be a culture and one of the daily activities for students so as to make it habitual among the primary students. These outcomes could be beneficial for teachers, educators, and policymakers by providing insights into students’ preferred reading languages and environments, enabling them to design more engaging reading programs and curricula. Understanding these preferences can help integrate reading more effectively into daily classroom activities, foster a reading culture, and ultimately improve literacy levels among primary school students.