Investigating Moroccan High School Students' Attitudes Towards Leisure Reading

Abstract

The present study investigated Moroccan high school students' attitudes towards leisure reading. The primary objective was to examine how students perceive and approach leisure reading in Moroccan high schools. Adolescent reading behaviour is a frequent focus of research. Hence, this study has helped fill the gap in research on adolescents' reading behaviour and attitudes in Morocco. Data for this study were collected through a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was administered to 97 randomly selected participants. After collecting the quantitative data, it was analysed using SPSS. The study's findings revealed that students hold highly positive hedonistic and utilitarian attitudes towards reading, suggesting that they recognise both its enjoyment and its practical value. Despite these favourable attitudes, most students do not actively seek opportunities to read by borrowing, renting, or purchasing books, largely because they have not developed a strong reading culture or love of reading. Reading for leisure is uncommon among most students, who primarily limit their reading to the textbooks prescribed in the school curriculum in Arabic and French. Furthermore, few students engage with novels or storybooks, relying instead almost exclusively on the required academic materials.