ENGLISH FRANCA Academic Journal of English Language and Education DOI: 10.29240/ef.v7i1.7012 - http://journal.iaincurup.ac.id/index.php/english/index eISSN: 2580-3689; pISSN: 2580-3670 Article info: http://journal.iaincurup.ac.id/index.php/english Received 24 December 2022; Received in revised form 10 April 2023; Accepted 10 May 2023 Published by Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Curup on behalf of ENGLISH FRANCA: Academic Journal of English Language and Education. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license A Closer Look on Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Comprehension Achievement toward Reading of Tertiary Level Eka Sartika Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Fatah, Palembang, Indonesia Corresponding Email: ekasartika_uin@radenfatah.ac.id Introduction A good reader makes a good student. The National Endowment for the Arts of USA (2007), it is provided that teenagers who read for pleasure significantly correlates to their academic achievement. Students who read voluntarily score better on reading and writing test than infrequent readers. Therefore, The outcome demonstrates that proficient readers get advantages in their personal, professional, and social lives, whereas less proficient readers are more likely to experience failure in all three areas. However, according to PISA that the importance of reading skill is still ignored by the Indonesians. It can be seen from PISA 2018 result (2019) made Indonesia in the 72nd rank of 78 countries that participated in the survey. There are only eight countries which have lower scores than Indonesia. Furthermore, Indonesia is also in the 45th rank out of 48 countries around the world which participated in PIRLS 2016 International Result in Reading (PIRLS, 2017). And no where to found in the report of PIRLS in 2023. From the Indonesian constitution no 20 year 2003 chapter III article 4 the government regulates the citizen to improve the reading culture through the education, as well as writing and math science. Therefore, the government provides library with books to encourage the reading interest, in order to widen the horizon and knowledge to brighten the nation (UU no 43 chapter I article 4, 2007). In contrast, the report of Human Development index 2021 Abstract. This study sought to determine (a) the current state of students' reading attitudes, reading habits, and comprehension achievement; (b) whether there was a significant relationship between these variables; (c) whether or not these variables contributed to students' reading comprehension achievement; and (d) which variable contributed the most to student learning. The data were gathered through giving out reading attitude and reading habit questionnaires, as well as having 313 students complete a reading comprehension test. Percentage analysis, Pearson Product Moment analysis, and Regression were used to examine the data. The results showed that 1.6% of students had a very positive attitude about reading, 95.9% of students had a positive attitude toward reading, and 2.5% of students had a negative attitude toward reading. In terms of reading habits, 23.1% of students had very good reading habits, 72.3% had good reading habits, and 4.6% had ordinary reading habits. Students' reading habits and attitudes about reading were significantly correlated (.365 with sig..000). Besides, there was no correlation between students' proficiency in reading comprehension and either their attitude toward reading or their reading habits. Only eighth semester students' reading attitudes and behaviors (.134 with sig..233) have a negligible correlation to their semester level. The reading attitudes of students only have a correlation with reading comprehension achievement in the fourth semester (.290 with sig..011). In overall, reading attitudes among students were 13.3% responsible for their reading behavior. Last but not least, a combination of reading attitudes and reading habits affected 8.6% of the fourth semester students' reading comprehension achievement. Keywords: reading attitude, reading habit, reading comprehension achievement http://u.lipi.go.id/1613357132 http://u.lipi.go.id/1614254143 http://journal.iaincurup.ac.id/index.php/english mailto:ekasartika_uin@radenfatah.ac.id Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 2 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Indonesia is in the rank of 114 out of 199 countries, far lower than Singapore (12), Brunei (51), and Malaysia (62). It is actually the fact that Indonesian government has to refer to these results so that the massage implied in the government regulation can be reached. Reading is an activity that people do to enrich their knowledge. It involves the cognitive component because it activates the thinking, evaluating and judging process in filtering the information. According to Palani (2012) “reading is a process of thinking, evaluating, judging, imagining, reasoning and problem solving.” Lone (2011) defines, “reading as the ability to recognize, and examine words or sentences and understand the information within.” He continues by saying that reading is a cognitive process that involves examining and analyzing the meaning of written or printed letters, phrases, or sentences in order to comprehend a written linguistic message. Reading is one of the necessary skills in foreign language acquisition. Being able to read especially reading English sources is important for students in learning the language. Many activities, inside or outside the school, require students – whether they like it or not – to be able to use the reading skill in their daily activities. Mikulecky and Jeffries (2007) argued “reading in English helps students learn to think in English and build their English vocabulary.” Furthermore, If students are more at ease with the language, they will be able to write in English more effectively. It implies that students can develop additional talents to help the teaching and learning process by having strong reading skills. The fact that Indonesians don't speak English natively makes the students reluctant to use it as a part of their daily activities. Other factors could also have caused it. Two of them are reading attitude and reading habit. Hussain (2006, p.41) revealed that raising pupils' academic achievement was a direct effect of raising study attitudes and habits. The findings of the research conducted by Majid and Tan (2007) which showed that reading attitudes contributed to the children’s language competence. They found that 62% of students spent their time reading books before they took the test or examination and this attitude affects affected their language competence. It means that more reading by the students prior to the test will improve their performance. In addition, Sani and Zain (2011) discovered a strong relationship between the respondents' attitude toward reading for language learning and their reading proficiency. It implies that the students' ability to read would be influenced by their good attitude toward reading. Good reading habit actually can be seen from the students’ visit to the library. Diem’s (2011) research found that the numbers of library visits to schools’ library were very low. To support Diem’s finding, the writer had another brief data analysis about the students reading habits in University. The brief observation showed that the library there would have many visitors only when the students of eighth semester were working on their theses. The writer did a brief interview with the students in the reading course at the start of the semester and found out that the students read only when they had assignments from their lecturers but not because they really wanted to read. This condition was assumed to be related to students’ attitude or interest in reading. Hence, this study would attempt to look into the student- teachers’ reading attitudes and reading habits of English Education Study Program in correlation to their reading achievement. Theoretical Framework Reading Comprehension Comprehension needs process in achieving it. It is strongly related to the readers’ prior knowledge. Tankersley (2005) states that “comprehension is a process, not a product”, Readers interpret what they read using the lenses of their motivation, expertise, cognitive capacity, and experience. Dore, et al. (2018) stated the regular development of children's theory of mind capabilities throughout childhood is closely correlated with the growth of their narrative processing ability. Children's reading comprehension can be predicted both simultaneously and over time by narrative processing and theory of mind. In addition, Sadoski Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 3 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) (2004) explains that understanding something, obtaining its significance, is what comprehension is all about. Comprehension is the reconstruction of the author's message; the author builds a message and encodes it in printed language, which the reader decodes and reconstructs.. One of the elements influencing attitudes toward reading is EFL reading ability (Uslu, 2020). Active thought is required for reading comprehension (Mikulecky & Jeffries, 2007). For understanding to occur, words must be decoded and linked to their meanings in the reader's memory. Klinger, Vaughn, and Boardman (2007) claim that arranging meaning while thinking about a word or passage to learn requires reading comprehension. The ability to synthesize one's own experiences, knowledge, language, and critical thinking abilities with the author's message is known as reading comprehension. Reading Attitudes Smith (1990) cited in Yamashita (2007) defines reading attitudes are states of mind, views, and emotions that influence how likely reading is. To put it another way, he asserts that a learner's attitude toward reading affects whether they approach or avoid a reading circumstance.Reading attitudes in this study are the students’ attitudes toward any activities related to reading. Those attitudes are comfort, intellectual values, practical values, anxiety and linguistic (Yamashita, 2007). The reading attitude is then defined as one's perception of or behavior toward reading-related activities. According to An individual's behaviors toward all objects and situations are influenced by their attitude, which is a state of emotional and mental readiness that is established via experiences. By evaluating students' attitudes, teachers are also able to assess overall changes in students' attitudes over time and to ascertain the impact of particular elements of the academic or classroom experience on students' attitudes. Isakson et al. (2016) noted that attitudes about reading can be either positive or negative and can be reinforced by either positive or negative past experiences. Reading attitude, according to Logan and Johnston (2009), is a significant component that influences students' reading achievement and in-class reading activities and decides whether or not they will become independent readers. Reading Habits The habit in reading is occasionally changing. Baron (2017) implies that the basic definition of what it means to read is shifting as a result of new contemporary technology. Even millennials admit that reading in print instead of online helps them focus their attention. However, they also think that print is dull. According to Wood and Nealthe (2007), habits are learnt propensities to replicate previous actions. They are brought on by context elements that have regularly shifted with earlier performances, such as the setting of the performance, the previous steps in a chain, and specific individuals. Habits, defined by Joseph (2010), are regular, repetitive activities. As stated by Zwiers (2004), habits more accurately describes the instinctive and unconscious processes involved in extrapolating meaning from text. In other words, habits can affect the mental experiences that people who can change their behavior continually perform. The tendency to perform an action repeatedly, consistently, effortlessly, and practically automatically is known as a habit. Hasan, et al. (2021) proved that reading habits and how they relate to reading proficiency in ESL classrooms, which may be useful, especially for ESL teachers, in figuring out how to address students' reading issues. As they create meaning, the habits cooperate and build upon one another (Villaume & Brabham, 2002).The process of habit can be occurred when someone get used to in one condition prolonged. Schacter et al. (2011) use the term of habituation for habit, they define habituation as a general process where a stimulus's response gradually diminishes after being exposed repeatedly or for an extended period of time. They use the example of someone who moved into a neighborhood close to a busy highway and initially heard the sound of the traffic but eventually became accustomed to it and forgot about it when they relocated to the suburbs. Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 4 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Reading Attitudes and Reading Habits The amount of time in reading influences one’s improvement in habits toward reading. Karim and Hasan (2007, p. 21), revealed that reading attitudes and reading habits had a substantial association. The ability to read well can be developed in students if reading is fostered from an early age. Parents, teachers, and peers all play a crucial role in encouraging reading habits and fostering positive reading attitudes in students. Also, it goes without saying that reading improves a child's academic and professional performance (Alsaeedi, et al., 2021). According to Ayhan et al. (2013), student' opinions toward reading habits were significantly affected by the frequency of book reading. Further their finding revealed that gender was effective on children’s attitudes on reading habit. When they analyzed the average scores, it was observed that girls’ average attitude scores on reading habit were higher than boys’ average scores. It is generally acknowledged that, in terms of student preference and accessibility, digital materials outperform printed books. Their scholastic success is closely related to how much they read, and reading can have a big impact on their future jobs (Baba & Affendi, 2020). Thus, by cultivating reading attitudes would improve the students’ reading habits. The Effect of Reading Attitudes to the students’ Reading Comprehension According to Wixon & Lipson, referenced in Kear (1990), students' attitudes about reading are one of the elements influencing reading performance. Altun, et al. (2022) mentioned reading is another action that includes motivation, effort, and attitudes. McKenna et al. (1995, 938) claim that because attitudes are partly formed on the basis of beliefs about the results of reading, it is only logical to assume that poorer readers, who have reason to anticipate frustrating results, will tend to have more negative attitudes than better readers. Students who have a positive attitude toward reading, according to Beers (2003), regard reading as a chance to develop a personal connection with a material. As readers, they desire to select their own books, get to know authors, visit the library, continue reading journals, and participate in small-group discussions. According to his research, children saw reading as a means of traveling to other places, experiencing different cultures, or conjuring up mental images of movies. In other words, kids who have a favorable attitude toward reading find reading to be a fun activity. The Importance of Students’ Reading Habits to Their Reading Comprehension Achievement Reading habit need continues process in order to create good reading habit. According to Roe and Ross (1990) Reading habit refers to a the individual's consistent critical reading as a result of viewing it as a pleasurable pastime and a way to satisfy a need. Additionally, a lot of academics have worked hard to identify the most effective strategy for enhancing kids' reading habits. In addition to being a habit that all students should develop, reading also greatly aids teachers in their efforts to improve their students' learning. According to Thanuskodi (2011), reading regularly has a significant and long-lasting impact on one's ability to advance both their own personal growth and the advancement of society as a whole. According to Krashen (1993), who was referenced by Strommen and Mates (2004), people who don't make reading for pleasure a habit may find it very challenging to read and write at a level that is sufficient to meet the expectations of the modern world. There are seven indicators or questions that specify reading habits, according to Ganoa and Gonzalez (2011, 59). They are attitude toward reading, reading frequency, number of books read, amount of time spent on academic and non-academic reading, as well as motivation in the home and in the classroom. It proved that students need to have good reading habits to be successful in their professional lives. Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 5 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Material and Method This study is a survey which investigates a correlation among student-teachers’ reading attitudes and reading habit toward their reading comprehension achievement of tertiary level and a correlation design was used. One dependent variable (the criteria variable) and two independent variables are present in this research. Independent variable (predictor variable) is used to predict the outcome. Reading attitudes and habits are independent variables while reading comprehension achievement is dependent variable. The populations of this research were The writer used questionnaires and test. Questionnaires were used to investigate or to find out students’ attitude and habit toward reading. There were two types of questionnaires: ones that asked about reading habits and attitudes. The reading proficiency of the students was assessed using an accomplishment test in reading comprehension. The Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure (MBRAM), created by Mikulecky in 1976, served as the foundation for the Reading and You Attitude Survey. The author used the updated version, developed by B. A. Murray at Auburn University in 2009 and cited in West (2010, p. 132–134). The Reading and You Attitude Survey has a total of 28 items, with an even balance of 14 positive and 14 negative statements. The writer used questionnaire taken from an article written by Janthong & Sripetpun in 2010 entitled “English Reading Comprehension and Reading Habit Improvement: use of Questioning Technique.” The title of the questionnaire is “Reading Habits and Self-directed Learning Questionnaire.” The Reading habits questionnaire contains 30 items survey. Students gave themselves a degree of agreement rating ranging from highly agreeing (5 points) to strongly disagreeing (1 points). There were 50 multiple-choice questions on the reading comprehension test. They are vocabulary-related details, primary ideas, inferences, cause and effect, references, sequences, and questions. The reliability of the valid items was investigated using the Alpha Cronbarch analysis in SPSS. The validity of the instruments was evaluated using the Pearson Product Moment (Correlation Matrix) in SPSS. For the reading attitude questionnaire, the total numbers of the questionnaire is 28 items. The result of Reading Attitude Questionnaire (RAQ) validity and reliability is that it can be said that all of the items of this questionnaire is valid because the result was 0.48 (>0.325) or critical values for r). This questionnaire was also reliable because the result was 0.912 (>0.70). A total of 30 questions were used in the trial run of the Reading Habit Questionnaire. One erroneous question, question No. 8, was discovered by the author after data analysis of the reading habit questionnaire. The writer decided to omit the invalid question, so the total number of the reading habit questionnaire was 29 items. The instruments to be used have been tried out and the results can be said that this questionnaire was valid because the result was 0.47 (>0.314 or critical values for r). This questionnaire was also reliable because the result was 0.905 (>0.70). The reading comprehension accomplishment test contained 50 numbers of questions. Results of the Reading Comprehension Achievement Test (RCAT)'s validity and reliability were valid because the result showed that 0.47 (>0.325 or critical values for r). This test was also reliable because the result referred to 0.94 (>0.70). The writer applied three techniques to analyze the data, namely Percentage analysis to have detail on the frequencies data analysis to answer the existing phenomena of each variable, Pearson Product Moment was used to measure the correlation of the three variables, and last the researcher used Regression see the influence of the variables that correlate to each other. Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 6 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Results and Discussion Result To get an idea of the characteristics of each variable, descriptive statistical analysis is used. In the following, a description of the data will be presented which includes the mean, median, and frequency descriptions for each variable. Table 1 All Measured Variables' Descriptive Statistics Variable Category Frequency (%) Mean SD N (313) Male (103) Female (210) N (313) Male (103) Female (210) N (313) Male (103) Female (210) Reading Attitudes Very Positive 5 (1.6%) - 5 (1.5%) 70.39 68.54 71.30 6.853 6.285 6.952 Positive 300 (95.9%) 9 (98.7%) 201 (97.3%) Negative 8 (2.5%) 4 (1.3%) 4 (1.2%) Very Negative - - - Reading Habits Very Good 72 (23.1%) 5 (1.6%) 10 (3%) 98.05 96.50 98.81 12.189 12.229 12.126 Good 226 (72.3%) 70 (89.6%) 156 (83%) Average 15 (4.6%) 28 (8.8%) 44 (14%) Poor - - - Very Poor - - - Reading Comp. Achievem ent Excellent - - - 30.41 30.25 30.45 8.324 7.929 8.658 Good - - - Average - - - Poor 313 (100%) 103 (100%) 10 (100%) Students’ Reading Attitudes The average score for reading attitudes among pupils, according to the author, was 70.39. The minimum and maximum reading attitudes scores for students were 54 and 93, respectively, with a standard deviation of 6.853. It can be said that 5 kids (1.6%) had very good attitudes toward reading, 300 (95.9%) students had positive reading attitudes, 8 (2.5%) students had negative reading attitudes, and none of them had very negative reading attitudes. From the Descriptive Analysis of Reading Attitudes, it shows that there were 39.3% 35.1% of students enjoy reading even when they are not required to do so for school, and those who are enthusiastic about a book will try to encourage their peers to read it. Additionally, according to their gender, male students had a mean reading attitude score of 68.54 and a standard deviation of 6.285. The lowest and maximum scores were 55 and 86, respectively. There were 99 (98.7%) male students with positive reading attitudes, and 4 (1.3%) male students with negative reading attitudes. Nobody had either a very positive or a very negative attitude about reading. The average reading attitude score for female students was 71.30. 6.952 was the standard deviation. Their reading attitudes ranged from a minimum score of 54 to a maximum score of 93. In terms of gender, there were 5 (1.5%) female students with very positive, 201 (97.3%) with positive, 4 (1.2%) with negative attitudes and none of them had very negative reading attitudes (See Table 1). Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 7 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Students’ Reading habit The average score (total) for reading habit was found to be 98.05, with a standard deviation of 12.189. The lowest and best scores were 68 and 143, respectively. Table 15 demonstrates that only 72 of the students had bad and extremely poor reading habits, while only 15 students (4.6%) had average reading habits. 226 of the pupils had good reading habits, which is the majority. Only 7% of the students appeared to consistently read the books that their teachers assigned before the deadline and requested extra books, according to the items measured, while 47.9% of the students attempted to acquire the books to read when they were told that they were excellent works of English literature. Male students received an average score of 96.50, while female students received an average score of 98.81. Male students' standard deviation was 12.229, while female students' was 12.126. Male students had to receive a minimum score of 68, while female students needed a score of 76. Male students may earn a maximum score of 126, while female students could earn a maximum score of 143. Only 5 (1.6%) male and 10 (3%) female pupils have excellent reading habits. Overall, there were 70 (89.6%) good readers among male students and 156 (83%) among female students. There were 44 (14%) female students and 28 (8.8%) male students with average reading habits. None of them read poorly or extremely poorly. Students’ Reading Comprehension Achievement The students' performance in reading comprehension received an average grade of 30.41. The entire class was made up of learners who had trouble understanding what they were reading. The reading comprehension achievement had a standard deviation of 8.324, ranging from a minimum score of 0 to a maximum score of 48. Male students had a mean score of 30.25 and a standard deviation of 7.929, while female students had a mean score of 30.45 and an 8.658. They neither demonstrated great, decent, or ordinary reading comprehension skills. They all fell into the low reading comprehension accomplishment category (103 male students and 210 female students), and their minimum and highest scores were both 0 and 48. The Correlational Analyses The Correlation among Independent Variables and Dependent Variable The correlation between students' attitudes about reading, reading behaviors, and reading comprehension ability was examined using Pearson Product Moment. The outcome is shown in table 2 that is provided. Table 2 Pearson Product Moment Correlation among Variables Measured (N = 313) Variables Reading Attitudes Reading Habits Reading Achievement Reading Attitudes r sig. 1.000 Reading Habits r sig. .365** .000 1.000 Reading Achievement r sig. .029 .612 .000 .995 1.000 The Correlation between students' attitudes toward reading and their reading habits The results show a.365 relationship between students' attitudes about reading and their reading practices, with a significant level of.000. It suggests that there wasn't much of a connection between the kids' attitudes toward reading and their reading activity. However, the link was significant because the p-value (.000) was below 0.05. Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 8 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) The Correlation between the Students’ Reading Attitudes and Students’ Reading Comprehension Achievement The outcome demonstrates a.029 association with a significance level of.612 between students' reading attitudes and their proficiency in reading comprehension. It denotes that there was only a very slender association between the pupils' attitudes about reading and their success in reading comprehension. Since the p-value (.612) was higher than 0.05, the correlation was not considered significant. The Correlation between the Students’ Reading Habits and their Reading Comprehension Achievement The two variables' correlation was found to be.000 with a significance level of.995. It suggests that there was only a very tenuous connection between the students' reading behavior and their reading comprehension ability. Additionally, the relationship lacked statistical significance (sig. 2 tailed =.995 or > 0.05). The Correlation between the Students’ Reading Attitudes, Reading habits and their Reading Comprehension Achievement based on their Semester Level The author used Pearson Product Moment to determine the corellation between students' attitudes toward reading, reading behavior, and reading comprehension achievement dependent on their semester level. The outcome is shown in table 3 that is provided. Table 3 Pearson Product Moment Correlation among Variables Measured based on the students’ semester level Semester N Variables Reading Attitudes Reading Habits Reading Achieveme nt Semester 2 74 Reading Attitudes r sig. 1.000 Reading Habits r .457** 1.000 sig. .000 Reading Achievement r -.002 -.116 1.000 sig. .984 .326 Semester 4 76 Reading Attitudes r sig. 1.000 Reading Habits r .448** 1.000 sig. .000 Reading Achievement r .290* .171 1.000 sig. .011 .140 Semester 6 82 Reading Attitudes r sig. 1.000 Reading Habits r .451** 1.000 sig. .000 Reading Achievement r -.094 -.043 1.000 sig. .403 .701 Semester 8 81 Reading Attitudes r sig. 1.000 Reading Habits r .134 1.000 sig. .233 Reading Achievement r -.037 .017 1.000 sig. .742 .882 Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 9 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) The Correlation between the second, fourth, sixth, and eight semester students’ reading attitudes, reading habits and their reading comprehension achievement The correlation between the second semester students' attitudes about reading and their reading practices was found to be.457 with a significance level of.000. It suggests that there was either a strong correlation between these two variables or a modest link between them in the second semester pupils. The second semester pupils' reading comprehension performance and attitudes were both -.002 with a significance level of.984. This suggests that there was minimal relationship between the second semester students' abilities in reading comprehension and their attitudes about reading. The second semester students' reading habits and reading comprehension skills were both poor, with a significance level of.326 and a correlation of -.116. The second semester students' reading attitudes and reading behaviors were shown to be correlated at a significant level of.000, or.448. It suggests that there was a moderate relationship between these two variables or that fourth-semester students' reading attitudes and reading behaviors were highly associated. The fourth semester students' achievement in reading comprehension and reading attitudes both scored.290 with a significance level of.011. It either suggests that there was minimal correlation between these two characteristics or that there was a significant link between the students' reading attitudes in the fourth semester and their reading comprehension achievement. The fourth semester students' achievement in reading comprehension was.171 with a significance level of.140. To put it another way, the fourth semester students' reading attitudes had little bearing on how well they did in reading comprehension. Table 9 revealed a correlation of.451 with a significance level of.000 between sixth- grade students' views toward reading and their reading habits. This suggests a mediocre correlation between the sixth-semester students' reading habits and attitudes toward reading. The sixth-semester students' reading attitudes and actions also had a significant correlation. With a significant level of.403, the connection between the sixth-semester students' reading attitudes and reading comprehension performance was adverse (-.094). In other words, there was only a very tenuous and unfavorable connection between the sixth-semester students' reading attitudes and their success in reading comprehension, or their reading attitudes were hardly related to that success. There was a negative correlation between the sixth semester students' reading habits and their success in reading comprehension, with a significant level of.701 being found. It means there was no measurable relationship between the sixth- semester students' reading habits and their proficiency in reading comprehension. It was found that there was a .134 correlation with a significant level of .233 between the eighth semester students' attitudes about reading and their reading behaviors. Which is to say, there was minimal link between the eighth-semester students' attitudes toward reading and their effectiveness with reading comprehension. There was a negative correlation between the eighth semester students' reading attitudes and their success in reading comprehension, with a significant level of.742. In other words, there was minimal link between the eighth-semester students' attitudes toward reading and their effectiveness with reading comprehension. The reading habits and reading comprehension abilities of the eighth semester students revealed a negative correlation of -.043 with a significant level of.701. It suggests that how well the pupils were able to understand what they were reading had little to do with their reading habits. The Regression Analyses The Contribution among Students’ Reading Attitudes and Reading Habits To find out the contribution among the students’ reading attitudes, reading habits, and their reading comprehension achievement, the writer used both simple and multiple Regression analysis to find out the result of each variable that correlate to each other. Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 10 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Table 4 The Regression analysis of the students’ Reading Attitudes and their Reading Habits based on their Semester Level N Independent Variable Dependent Variable r R2 F p< All Semester 313 Reading Attitudes Reading Habits .365 .133 47.724 .000 Semester 2 74 .457 .209 19.056 .000 Semester 4 76 .448 .201 18.628 .000 Semester 6 82 .451 .203 20.435 .000 Semester 4 76 R. Attitude & R. Habit R. Achievement .294a .086 3.447 .037 The Contribution of the Students’ Reading Attitudes on their Reading Habits from all semester The data in table 4 shows that the f value was 47.724 with significance value .000. It means that students’ reading attitudes contributed to their reading habits significantly. It was found that the correlation between students’ reading attitudes and reading habits was .365.It indicated that there was a low correlation between these variables. The R2 in which was .133 indicated that 13.3% of various score of students’ reading habits was affected by students’ reading attitudes and 86.7% might be affected by other factors. The Contribution of the Second, fourth, sixth semester Students’ Reading Attitudes on their Reading Habits It was discovered that there was a .457 association between second-semester students' attitudes about reading and their reading behaviors. It suggested that these variables had a moderate connection. According to the R value of .209, reading attitudes affected 20.9% of the various reading habits scores of students, while the other 79.1% of the scores were unaccounted for factors. With a sig. value of .000, the f value was 19.056. In the fourth semester students, the correlation between students’ reading attitudes and reading habits was .448. It indicated that there was a moderate correlation between these variables. The R2 in which was .201 indicated that 20.1% of various score of students’ reading habits was affected by students’ reading attitudes and the rest 79.9% was unexplained factors value. The f value was 18.628 with sig. value .000. Further on the sixth semester students, it is found that the correlation between students’ reading attitudes and reading habits was .451. It indicated that there was a moderate correlation between these variables. The R2 in which was .203 indicated that 20.3% of various score of students’ reading habits was affected by students’ reading attitudes and the rest 79.7% was unexplained factors value. The f value was 20.435 with sig. value .000. In other words, the second, fourth, and sixth semester students’ reading attitudes significantly contributed to their reading habit. The Contribution of the Fourth Semester Level Students’ Reading Attitudes and Reading Habits on their Reading Comprehension Achievement From table 4, it was found that the correlation of the fourth semester students’ reading attitudes along with reading habit on their reading comprehension achievement was .294. It indicated that there was a low correlation among these variables. The R square was .086 or it was similar to 8.6%. In other words, 8.6% from the students’ reading comprehension achievement was associated with or could be explained by reading attitudes and reading habits variables. Thus, the rest or 91.4% of reading comprehension achievement might be influenced or explained by other factors. The F value was 3.447 with significance value .037. Accordingly, regression analysis could be used on account of significant value (.037) was lower than p value (0.05). It could be concluded that students’ reading attitudes and their reading habits used in one time by the students showed some influence or contribution on their reading comprehension achievement. Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 11 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) Discussion The majority of the students at this university had positive attitudes toward reading (95.9%), as evidenced by the fact that most of them displayed their enthusiasm when they discovered good books and tried to encourage their friends to read them as well. They also liked to spend their free time reading books, even though their professors did not require them to do so. Many of the students (72.3%) had good reading habits, according to the students' reading habits. The survey's results revealed that people tried to read good English books when they were recommended to them. The students' results for reading comprehension, however, revealed that they all had low achievement. The findings of this investigation provided an explanation for the happenings at this university. The study's findings intrigued the writer because, despite the fact that most students acknowledged having favorable attitudes toward reading and many of them having strong reading habits, this attitude did not appear to be mirrored in their success in reading comprehension. The statements mentioned in the surveys could be the root of the problem. Although it didn't show up in the results of their reading comprehension achievement, it may signify how they felt about reading. The students' reading habits would logically improve the more the students displayed a favorable attitude about reading. In this manner, there would be a strong association between it and the kids' proficiency in reading comprehension. The students' reading attitudes and reading habits, however, did not significantly correlate with their success in reading comprehension. It was a clear indication that there was no guarantee that the students were being truthful when completing the questionnaires. It differs from Majid and Tan's (2007) assertion that reading attitudes influenced the students' language proficiency. The students' positive opinions regarding reading throughout her interviews, on the other hand, are consistent with what Seitz (2010, p. 40) discovered. However, she added, students’ attitudes were multi-faceted. Although students might have been provided with high interest and/or challenging activities, they might not remain engaged. The discrepancy of their response from the questionnaire distributed made the writer assumed perhaps that the students wanted to look good though they were asked to fill in the questionnaire honestly, and they did not seem to tell the truth about their attitude toward reading and the writer presumed that maybe the students misinterpreted the meanings implied in the questionnaire. In other words, they answered the questions from their own point of view. The students might think that by reading a little portion of books, they considered themselves to have a good habit toward reading. The poor achievement in students’ reading comprehension might have been influenced by the university scoring system which was different from the one used by the writer in the study. The students' proficiency in reading comprehension did not significantly correlate with their reading habits. This result does not match what Fitria (2013) discovered in her research. According to Fitria's (2013) research, students' reading habits were likely to have an impact on and decide their success, and that impact could be favorable on the development of their reading skills. The lack of a substantial relationship between students' reading habits and their reading comprehension in this study may be due to students' misconceptions about what constitutes a healthy reading habit. There was a substantial association between students' attitudes toward reading and their reading habits, according to the overall conclusion. According to the contribution, a student's attitude had an impact on 13.3% of their reading results across all categories. In this study, attitudes were found to be closely related to students' reading habits based on the significant link between reading attitudes and reading habits. According to Karim (2006, p. 21), there is a strong association between reading attitudes and reading habits. This finding is consistent with his findings. Based on their semester level, students' reading attitudes, reading routines, and reading comprehension success did not correlate with one another. The author came to the conclusion that other elements, such as students' learning preferences, motivation, and teachers' instructional strategy, contributed to students' success in reading comprehension. Hewit (2008, p. 18–56) identifies four key elements—strategy, style, motivation, and attitude— Eka Sartika, 2023 How Do Attitudes and Habits Contribute to Reading Comprehension Achievement? A Study at Tertiary Level Student-Teachers’ Attitudes, Habits, and Their Reading Comprehension Achievement 12 | V o l . 7 , N o . 1 , 2 0 2 3 ( 1 - 1 6 ) that might contribute to the success of the teaching and learning process. As Ahmadi (2017) stated assisting students' reading comprehension is mostly dependent on motivation. Reading comprehension performance and understanding are both aided by motivation. Akbari, et al. (2019) Comparing the L2 reading motivation construct to the reading motivation construct lacking the L2 reading attitude elements revealed that the L2 reading motivation was more successful in predicting the reading achievement of the learners. Next, the lower semester students (2nd, 4th, and 6th) reading attitudes and habits were significantly correlated with moderate correlation, while the higher semester students’ (8th) was insignificantly correlated. Necessarily, the higher their semester level was, the better their awareness in reading would be. Akbari, et al. (2017) highly recommend that L1 and L2 reading attitudes are closely associated, and L1 reading can influence L2 reading, suggesting important consequences for the educational system. The results could include a greater focus on L1 literacy and reading as well as a raised understanding of the importance of reading and its related components. Fatiloro, et al. (2017) believed for the purpose of expanding their vocabulary, students should read more articles and books. If a student needs to occasionally stay current, they should go to the library first. The writer believed that the students from the eighth semester were supposed to have better results on reading attitudes, habits as well as reading comprehension achievement since the students in the higher semester are going to prepare their theses soon enough. However, the writer assumed that it might be influenced by the numbers of assignments they had had in the higher semester. Related to the result from the lower semester students, the writer proposed that it might have been caused by the entrance test. The better the students’ intelligence was, the higher the competitiveness will be. The students from the lower semester might not have a lot of exposure yet from their social life. They were perhaps more willing to study and the writer also assumed that the students from the fourth semester probably had better input than the students from other semesters. The ease with which students can access the material supplied by the internet or other gadgets that have made it easier for students to increase their reading comprehension accomplishment may also be attributed to technological advancements. Conclusion Following are the conclusions. In general, (1) the higher the students' reading attitudes, the better their reading habits are, and (2) based on the students' lower semester levels (freshman, sophomore, junior), as well as their gender (females are better readers than men), it is interesting to conclude that the students' reading attitudes had a respective influence of 20.1% and 7.2% on their reading habits. (3) However, reading attitudes and habits alone do not ensure that kids will be successful in reading comprehension. In other words, teachers shouldn't base their assessment of their students' reading comprehension skills on their attitudes and reading habits. Acknowledgement The author would like to express her gratitude for all the support she received in the process of distributing the research instruments. Thanks to all the hard work that wholeheartedly put in the research. References Ahmadi, M. R. (2017). The Impact of Motivation on Reading Comprehension. International Journal of Research in English Education. 2(1). 1-7. http://ijreeonline.com/article-1-35- en.html Akbari, H., Ghonsooly, B., Ghazanfari, M., & Ghapanchi, Z. (2019). Enriching the construct structure of L2 reading motivation: Learners’ attitudes in focus. Reading Psychology, 40(4), 371-395. Akbari, H., Ghonsooly, B., Ghazanfari, M., & Shahriari, H. (2017). 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