Abstract

This research investigated the extent of students' engagement with the reading of prescribed literature in English texts in selected senior secondary schools in Ondo City, Nigeria. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 10 public senior secondary schools. From each of the 10 public secondary schools the researchers randomly sampled 50 students making a total of 500 participants. The instrument used was Extent of Students' Engagement with the Reading of Prescribed Literature-in-English Texts Questionnaire (r=0.82). Data were analysed with descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that majority (61.5%) of the students had low engagement with the reading of prescribed texts. High cost of literature texts, lack of uniformity in texts prescribed by WAEC and NECO, students' poor reading habits, lack of interest, lack of encouragement by parents, peer group influence and non-availability of well-equipped library were factors that limited student's engagement with the reading of prescribed Literature-in-English texts. The teacher, the school, and the parents should have strong collaboration to provide more opportunities for students to maximize their engagement with the reading of prescribed literature in English texts.