Investigating Students' Reading Habit and Reading Interest in The West Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract: The act of reading is frequently linked to the application of language and cognitive functions. The core essence of the reading process lies in the usage of the reader's memories and personal experiences to facilitate the comprehension of the textual material. Thence, the objective of this study is to examine the reading habit and reading interest of students in West Aceh, Indonesia. This study used qualitative descriptive research design involving 7 universities with 83 respondents altogether. The instruments used were open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The data were collected through google from for later analyzed using interactive analysis. Meanwhile the interviews were recorded as a means of triangulation. The results reveal that most of the students like reading (90.8%) and they prefer Bahasa Indonesia (92.1%). Most of them obtained reading materials from book stores (54%). They found out that the reason to read is to increase knowledge (69.7%) and to seek information and knowledge (43.4%). Regarding the obstacles, most of them faced the fact that spending more time on social media and watching TV prevent them from reading (39.5%). The books read are varied from history and politics, literature and romance, religion and psychology, motivation and self-development, and economy and technology. The findings from this study could inform educational policymakers and curriculum developers in the West Aceh Coast and beyond that understanding students' reading habits and interests can help shape reading programs, library resources, and curriculum content to better engage students and promote literacy.