Internet in the Digital Age Exposure, Reading Habits, and Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies

— This study delved into the internet in the digital age exposure, reading habits, and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies of the fifty (50) graduating Bachelor or Arts in English Language (AB-EL) students at the Visayas State University (VSU). Data were gathered using a survey questionnaire on the internet in the digital age exposure and reading habits adopted from Chauhan and Lal (2012), and another survey questionnaire adopted from Mokhtari and Reichard (2002) on the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Investigation (MARSI). This study used a descriptive survey research design. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. To determine relationships among variables, the Pearson chi-square method was used. Results showed that the reading habits of the students had shifted from paper-based reading to internet-based reading as students read online information than in newspapers. Results further showed that students' other online activities included looking at photos and chatting with friends which could also serve as factors in developing their reading habits. Facebook as the content usually clicked by the respondents was considered a tool for educational purposes that helped them access online information and news in the digital format. Reading materials related to the habits and interests of the students served as motivating factors in developing their reading habits. Moreover, there is a significant relationship between the contents usually clicked by the students when online and their techniques to develop their reading habits. This implies that the development of technology along with the internet in the digital age exposure helped develop the reading habits of the respondents. Thus, the study suggests that respondents make use of the application in the internet digital format to enhance their reading habits. On the other hand, among the respondents' metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, 66% of them got "high" score, 14% got "extremely high" score, 18% got "moderate", and only 2% got "extremely low" score. This implies that majority of the respondents were highly exposed to the different metacognitive reading strategies. Findings also revealed that among the 22 strategies indicated, the respondents "usually" and "sometimes" do these strategies. This means that the metacognitive reading strategies helped them evaluate and comprehend the text easily. Since majority of the students had a high percentage of the metacognitive awareness of the reading strategies, this study suggests that they continue to make use of these reading strategies for easier comprehension and foster knowledge acquisition toward reading proficiency. It is also advisable to come up with more reading strategies for smooth learning such as familiarization, memorization, and reading comprehension to improve one's level of intelligence.