THE IMPACT OF CINEMA ON STUDENT READING HABIT

Abstract

This study examines impact of cinema on students’ reading habit. It wants to know how many films the students watch per month, where, what types and why. Especially their opinions about Nigerian films are sought. Also their opinions and views on different ongoing film related debates in Bangladesh are enquired. The debate topics included here are: allowing silver bird cinema in Genesis cinema halls, student vs. cinema, reading culture vs. visual culture, use of non-standard students in cinema, obscenity and cultural aggression. All these have been done to understand the present mind-set of these young audiences about cinema’s possible impact on society. It is a qualitative research and data have been gathered through in-depth interviews. Finally from gathered information general discussion about the students’ film viewing habit was done.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

Reading in language is a compendium of vibrant scholastic ability. A reader is a scholar who has undergone literacy program on the synthetic, semantic, phonological, stylistic and socio-linguistic structure of a language. Oyeleye and Olateju (2003). Some scholars see reading as the light that illuminates the path of the individual through other school activities, and a tool for effective participation in all aspects of human life Etuk.(2006) while others like Maduabuchic (2006) believe that reading is the gateway to the mastery of all school subjects, and a sure road to formal learning. There is no doubt that reading opens up every frontier of knowledge, and exposes learners to various encounters with words. As a process, it requires a lot of energy, concentration and time so that one is able to understand the content of what is read. Krashen (2004) views reading as the only way, through which we become good readers, develop a good writing style, acquire more vocabulary, build up good speaking skills, advance in grammatical competence, and improve tremendously in spelling. The above is corroborated by Oladunjoye (2005) in his definition of reading as an interactive process in which readers comprehend, interpret and respond to texts according to what they already know. In the first three decades of Nigerian Independence, cinema was not popularly celebrated as we have it today. Then, the common thing was to find people reading the indigenous novels like D.O Fagunwa’s collections Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale, Igbo Olodumare etc.,(the former was translated to English by Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka as A forest of Thousand Demons In addition to this, photo plays with the indigenous title Atoka, pioneered by the likes of Hubert Ogunde (the doyen of Nigerian Theatre) emerged and filled the leisure of men and women in the youth and young adulthood. According to Haynes (1979) cinema production started in the late 80s out of a desperate desire by producers to remain in the motion picture business The cinema came on board in Nigeria, not only in reaction to and rejection of alien cultural domination but also to reinstate Nigeria’s own cultural heritage and re-orientate her own people suffering from colonial mentality (Haynes, 1979; pg. 13). The film industry is currently the most popular means of entertainment in Nigeria with cinema taking the lead. This is because most students tend to watch cinema during their leisure period and even the time they suppose to read their books. Watching cinema has also been seen as a way of meeting the insatiable appetite of fun lovers who are either too impoverished to go to the cinema or simply fagged out, after a hectic day’s work.

Ferri further noted that it has been very alarming that students get most of their attribute through cinema. According to Taiwo (2004), though the cinema are used to entertain, to educate and to gain exposure to ideas that may never be encountered in other areas, it has now become a threat to the well-being of children especially on the aspect of their behavior and academic performance. Popoola (2008) in his study impact of cinema on student reading habit maintained that cinema significantly affect the reading habit of student. Thus cinema in this context was seen as a distraction during reading. Distraction through cinema during reading has become a common daily occurrence among students across the nation. Many scholars have focused on the effect of distraction on learning/academic achievement among students while studies found some negative effect of distraction on learning and academic achievement. On a general level, distraction may affect reading because, according to the capacity theory, attention can be divided when the brain is exposed to two separate tasks that both require attention (Tina & Melinda, 2007). However, when this happened, one of both tasks either reading or watching cinema is diminished. Since cinema is seen as a distraction most especially when they are supposed to focus on their academics, it is important to find out what impact thus cinema programs has on the student reading and academic performance. This purpose of this study was to examine the joint associations and effects of time watched, time spent, number watched, type watched, parents’ reaction and watch reason on the reading habit students.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Reading generally is an activity that requires skill developed through special training. This implies that it can only be enjoyed when there is no distraction; the cinema has gradually become highly celebrated in everywhere. It is now discovered that most students, in spite of their academic tight schedule still engage going to cinema in place of reading. This study was therefore, designed to find the impact of cinema on student reading habit.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study to examine the impact of cinema on student reading habit

Specifically, the study intend to;

1. Examine the effect of cinema on student reading habit
2. Ascertain the relationship between cinema and student reading habit
3. Ascertain negative effect on academic performance of student

• RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;

H₀:  there is no negative effect of cinema on student reading habit

H₁: there is negative effect of cinema on student reading habit

H₀²: there is no significant relationship between cinema and student reading habit

H₂: there is a significant relationship between cinema and student reading habit.

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of benefit to the federal ministry Education, teachers and students. This study will help to know the negative effect of cinema on student reading habit. The study will also be of great benefit to the researchers who intends to embark on research on similar topics as it will serve as a guide. Finally, the study will be of great importance to academia’s, lecturers, teachers, students and the general public.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study covers the impact of cinema on student reading habit. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;

The researcher attending lectures, doing assignment, preparing for semester exam and also writing project was the major challenge, thereby limit the study.  The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher have to combine other academic activities also limit the study.  The money to photocopy and download information from internet contributes in the limitation of the work.

• DEFINITION OF TERMS

CINEMA: Cinema or motion picture, is the art of moving images; a visual medium that tells stories and exposes reality. Created in the dusk of the 19th century, cinema is the world’s most recent art form. It is also, by far, the world’s most complex, collaborative, and costly artistic expression.

READING: The common noun reading may refer to: Reading (process), the cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning obtaining information from devices.

HABIT: An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary: the habit of looking both ways before crossing the street

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