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Most students in the KSA read only in school to meet the benchmarks for passing the grade level. The culture and environment of Saudi Arabian schools reduced the likelihood that students will read for enjoyment and personal growth. This work focuses on how reading aloud influences student´s understanding of reading and their level of reading engagement by creating a reading culture that gives students access to books, choice in reading, and time to read. The work included interviews, surveys, classroom observations, and researcher´s reflective journal. Findings suggest that reading aloud practices positively influences students reading for pleasure, students exhibit improved attitudes toward reading and more prolonged engagement with reading. Findings further suggest that providing students with access to books, choices about what they read, and time to read enhances their reading development in both the cognitive and non-cognitive realm.

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Dr. Amani Saad AlNajim is an assistant professor at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal university, a wife and a mother of four kids. Dr. Amani earned her PhD in 2016 and Masters in 2013 in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas Tech University, Texas and Bsc in Arabic Literature from King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, AlAhsa.

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