Abstract

The ability to read is recognized as one of the most important skills that a person can have. It is difficult to discover any ability in the school, in the home, in business, or in any field of endeavor today that does not require reading. According to Pearson (2018), research and studies prove that reading makes a huge difference to student's performance. Through reading, one can ponder the mysteries off the world, explore accumulated knowledge, and contemplate the unknown. One off the most controversial phenomena experienced in our time is the lack of interest off students in reading books. Reading habit is an essential and important aspect for creating the litterate society in this world. At present, because of the influence of mass media, people tend not to show much interest in reading books, magazines, journals, etc., therefore, there is an urgent need to develop the reading habit among individuals. Im the news from the Manila Bulletin last January 2018, the Department of Education had a partnership with the United States government, through the US Embassy in the Philippines United States Agency for International Development (USAid) in helping improve the reading skills of the Filipino students. It is cited by National Book Development Board (NBDB) that data is showing that only 16 percent of Filipino students read books in a regular basis. Despite of the different reading programs offered such as the "Lectio Divina" which occurs every Monday that allow students to read the Bible, while the English department encourages students to read through the Skill builders, Addendum, journals, literary pieces from textbooks, the English week and Scholastic's book fair to promote books to student, the student of Holy Family Academy are still having low scores in the Association of Benedictine Schools Achievement Test (ABSAT) examination in the category Reading Comprehension. Hence, the researchers plan to center the study on the reading skills and preferences of the students of Holy Family Academy.