Abstract
English has become the global lingua franca, facilitating communication across diverse nations. The reason for Filipinos to proficiently acquire and utilize English lies in its pivotal role in the nation's future development. This study investigated the reading interest and grammatical competence of first-year education students in one of the private schools in North Cotabato, Philippines. Employing a descriptive-correlational research design, the investigation delineates the respondents' demographic profile, encompassing parents’ highest educational attainment and reading material preferences, both print and digital. Furthermore, it scrutinized disparities in reading interest and grammatical competence among students based on demographic profiles and explores the interplay between reading interest and grammatical competence. Findings highlights a noteworthy proclivity among first-year education students toward reading and a high level of grammatical competence. Particularly, mothers’ highest educational attainment and access to printed materials exhibit significant correlations with reading interest and grammatical competence, particularly in verb tenses and subject-verb agreement. These findings underscore for ongoing teacher development initiatives aimed at fostering innovative pedagogical approaches that invigorate students' enthusiasm for English language acquisition and literary engagement.
