The reading behavior of junior secondary students during school holidays in Botswana

Abstract

Reports of the poor reading culture of Batswana appear periodically in the popular media, especially the newspapers (see Baputaki, 2006; Hosia, 2007; Seboni & Swartland, 2009). These impressionistic reports speak of an alarming deterioration in the culture of reading in Botswana. In the sense in which it is employed, “poor reading culture” means lack of a reading habit among children, adolescents, and adults, both educated and illiterate. The label thus encompasses complete illiteracy, functional illiteracy, and aliteracy (Sisulu, 2004). Without supporting evidence, the poor reading culture label is difficult to justify for any population group in Botswana. Consequently, we, in this article, investigate the holiday reading behavior of some junior secondary school students in the country to ascertain the extent to which the label applies to them.