Definition of Terms

This section includes the various terms used to refer to concepts pertinent to the
present study. The definitions for these terms, as used in this study, are included in this
section. Although they may be used differently in other contexts, the definitions of these
terms shall only include those mentioned in this section.

Reading comprehension-This concept is the amount of understanding a person

has after reading a particular text, and involves the ability to decipher what has been read
and to apply it logically to other situations (Gray & Rogers, 1956; Henk, 1988; Manzo &
Manzo, 1993).

Reading interest- Reading interest has been used to refer to reader perception in
regards to the degree to which a reader enjoys reading or considers it potentially exciting
or interesting (Thomas, 2001).

Reading purpose- This concept has been used to refer to the reasons a person
chooses to read. These have typically included recreation, understanding life,
understanding others, and understanding one’s self (Thomas, 2001).

Reading maturity- Reading maturity is a level of reading ability allowing the

reader to extract meaningful and relevant inferences from the text and apply these in
other situations and experiences (Gray & Rogers, 1956).

Reading Ability - The efficiency to draw meaning from the

printed page and interpret this information
appropriately (Grabe and Stoller, 2002:09)