How Reading Improves Students’ Concentration

Reading is an important activity that can support students’ academic and personal development. Besides improving vocabulary, comprehension, and general knowledge, reading requires students to focus their attention on words, sentences, ideas, and the meaning of a text. Because of this, regular reading can provide opportunities for students to practise maintaining their attention for a period of time.

Reading Requires Focus and Attention

When students read a book, they need to pay attention to the words and follow the ideas presented in the text. They cannot fully understand a story or informational text if they constantly lose focus. Reading therefore provides a natural opportunity for students to practise sustained attention.

Research has found a relationship between sustained attention and reading comprehension. For example, a study of adolescents examined sustained attention and reading comprehension and found significant differences in both areas between students with and without ADHD. This research demonstrates that attention is an important component of successful reading comprehension (see Solanto et al., 2012).

Reading Encourages Students to Stay Engaged

Reading can also encourage students to become actively involved in what they are learning. When students are interested in a story, they may want to know what happens next, understand the characters, or discover new information. This interest can encourage them to continue paying attention.

Research on shared reading has shown that children’s engagement includes attention, participation, and enjoyment. A 2023 study of preschool children found that interactive engagement during shared reading was associated with early literacy skills.

Teachers can support this engagement by asking students questions while reading. For example, teachers can ask, “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why do you think the character did that?” Questions encourage students to think about the text instead of simply looking at the words.

Reading Can Support Attention and Reduce Inattention

Regular reading, particularly reading for pleasure, may also be associated with better attention-related behaviour. A large longitudinal study involving 8,936 children found that children who reported reading for pleasure daily at age seven had lower levels of hyperactivity and inattention at age eleven. The researchers used statistical methods to account for a range of individual, social, family, and behavioural characteristics. However, the study shows an association rather than proving that reading alone caused the later differences.

This finding suggests that reading for enjoyment may be a useful part of a child's overall learning routine. When students choose books that match their interests and reading abilities, reading can become an enjoyable activity rather than simply a school task.

Reading Helps Students Process and Remember Information

Reading also requires students to connect new information with what they already know. During shared book reading, for example, children can discuss information, answer questions, and connect different ideas from the text. A 2024 study of children aged approximately five to seven found that discussion during shared book reading supported children's ability to integrate information from different parts of a story.

This type of reading activity requires students to listen, remember information, make connections, and respond. These processes can encourage students to stay mentally engaged with the material.

Conclusion

Reading is more than an activity for developing literacy skills. It requires students to direct and maintain their attention, understand information, make connections, and respond to what they read. Research has found important relationships between reading, engagement, attention, and children's behavioural development. Although reading should not be viewed as a guaranteed way to improve concentration on its own, making regular and enjoyable reading part of students' routines can provide valuable opportunities to practise focused attention.

For this reason, schools and families can encourage students to read regularly, choose interesting and suitable books, and discuss what they have read. With consistent practice, reading can become an enjoyable learning habit that supports students' literacy, engagement, and attention.

By : Ms Irma

References

1. Solanto, M. V., et al. (2012). The role of sustained attention and display medium in reading comprehension among adolescents with ADHD and without it. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33(5), 1561–1569. DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2012.08.021.

2. Lawson, G. M., et al. (2020). Longitudinal associations between reading for pleasure and child maladjustment: Results from a propensity score matching analysis. This study followed 8,936 children and examined reading for pleasure and later behavioural adjustment.

3. Meghan, M. et al. (2023). Measuring preschool children's engagement behaviors during classroom shared reading: Construct and concurrent validity of the shared reading engagement rating scale. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 64, 47–60. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.02.001.

4. Contributions of shared book reading to children's learning of new semantic facts through memory integration (2024). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 68, 99–111. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.04.005.

5. Noble, C., Sala, G., Peter, M., Lingwood, J., Rowland, C., Gobet, F., & Pine, J. (2019). The impact of shared book reading on children's language skills: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 28, 100290. DOI: 10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100290.