A STUDY OF THE READING AND STUDY HABITS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS OF STD VII

Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways, in which
he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.
Aldous Huxely
It is an adage that individuals are not born with innate desire to perform any action in their environment.
According to philosophers human beings are like a clean slate. As soon as the child works mutually with his
milieu, the experiences leave ineradicable impressions on the mind of the child. The instruction received in
school enables the child to bring out the latent abilities that one has but it cannot create anything new.
Teaching and learning helps one to grow from within oneself more rapidly and effortlessly and one of
education"s dependable and reliable servants that help in the development is „habit". W. James thinks that
the nurturing of proper habits is the aim of edification. Habits according to him are the „Flywheels of
Society".
Hull who is of the pure behavouristic idea says that a habit is the blend of stimulus – response which is
reinforced by some reward or punishment. When one acts in a routine manner doing a particular action
daily it becomes a habit. Generally speaking there are good habits and bad habits. An individual requires to
put in tremendous effort to form good habits. The parents, siblings and relations play an important part in
the development of habits. These fine and superior habits come gradually and naturally they are easy to
retain whereas bad habits require no labour at all. In these circumstances good habits are to be preserved
and bad habits should be avoided. As the well known proverb says “Practiced in youth, accomplished in
age”.