The Relationship Between Reading Interest and Academic Essay Writing Ability of Arabic Language Education Students in Cairo, Egypt
Keywords:
reading interest, academic writing, Arabic language education, Cairo universities, literacy developmentAbstract
This correlational study examines the relationship between reading interest and academic essay writing ability among Arabic language education undergraduate students at universities in Cairo, Egypt. As academic writing proficiency constitutes a critical competency for university success and professional development, understanding factors influencing writing ability becomes essential for educational improvement. Reading interest—encompassing frequency, breadth, and motivation for reading—has been theorized to support writing development through exposure to linguistic structures, rhetorical patterns, vocabulary enrichment, and content knowledge accumulation. Employing quantitative methodology, this research surveyed 280 Arabic language education students from three Cairo universities using validated reading interest inventories and assessed their academic essay writing through standardized rubrics evaluating organization, argumentation, language proficiency, and content development. Statistical analyses including Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and path analysis revealed significant positive relationships between reading interest dimensions and writing ability (r = .62, p < .001), with reading breadth and critical reading engagement emerging as strongest predictors explaining 47% of writing ability variance. Genre-specific reading patterns showed differential impacts, with academic and literary reading demonstrating stronger associations with essay quality than popular or social media reading. Findings support integrated literacy approaches emphasizing extensive reading programs, diverse text exposure, and explicit connections between reading and writing instruction in Arabic language teacher education, informing curriculum development and pedagogical practices fostering advanced literacy competencies.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ahmed Hassan, Siti Rahmayana
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