Reading Attitude and Motivation of AUF-Is Freshmen
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Transcript of Reading Attitude and Motivation of AUF-Is Freshmen
PHILIPPINE NORMAL UNIVERSITYTaft Ave, Manila
THE READING MOTIVATION AND ATTITUDE OF HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN
Renante Dingal
I. INTRODUCTION
The agonizing truth is that most readers learn to read without ever gaining a desire to read or understanding what is read (Routman, 1988, p.17).
This statement uttered more than two decades ago still reverberates with truth
when examined against the backdrop of our present predicament. Many parents and
teachers lament the fact that our children no longer have that desire to read which saw
their parents through most of their academic and professional life. Part of the blame
usually goes to the fact that nowadays a child’s time is now spent more on activities
other than reading. He would rather go to the malls, or play computer games, or watch
television.
ATTITUDE
According to Tunnell, Calder, Justen, and Phaup (1991), reading attitude is a
system of feelings related to reading which causes the learner to approach or avoid a
reading situation. Attitudes toward reading assume an important role in the reading
process. Teachers need to develop and maintain young children's positive reading
attitudes, especially during initial reading instruction. Preschool children's reading
experiences tend to shape their reading attitudes (Mason, 1967) and vice versa.
Ransbury (1973) found that children with positive reading attitudes were good readers,
whereas those children with negative reading attitudes were poor readers. In
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Brumbaugh's (1940) study, kindergarten children with negative attitudes toward reading
could pass reading readiness tests but were not able to read. Inappropriate reading
experiences or the mental stress of being pressured to read before they are ready can
produce lasting and negative reading attitudes in children.
No one can deny the importance of reading as a foundation for functioning in
school and as a member of society. Wang (2000) claims that children’s literacy
development determines their future successes in reading and writing. Given the critical
importance of reading in today’s society, a positive attitude toward reading must be
developed at a young age. Children’s understanding of the purposes for learning to read
and developing a positive attitude toward reading are fundamentals to their attitudes as
adults. There is no dispute among professionals regarding the fact that reading among
adolescents declines sharply as a child ages (Vacca & Alvermann, 1998).
In her research on reading attitudes in L1 and L2 and their influence on L2
extensive reading, Yamashita (2004) found ample support for the transfer of affective
domain of reading (attitudes) from L1 to L2. But L2 proficiency does not affect this
transfer in the way in which the linguistic threshold hypothesis would predict if this
hypothesis were applied to the affective domain.
Sperling & Head (2002) addressed the development of reading attitudes and
their relationship to reading skills. Forty-one prekindergarten and kindergarten learners
in 1 of 3 cohorts were assessed 2 or 4 times during the course of a year. Findings
indicated a slight decrease in reading attitudes during the kindergarten year. Expected
increases in skills were generally indicated with pronounced increases in sight word
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recognition during the kindergarten year, after other skills had been mastered.
Decreases in some skills were evident after summer recess.
Between 1993 and 1995 a longitudinal study of student reading attitudes was
conducted in 30 schools (20 elementary, 10 middle) using the Elementary Reading
Attitude Survey (ERAS). Study results include: in general, students’ attitudes were
favorable about reading; in both elementary and middle schools, females had more
positive attitudes toward reading, with recreational reading attitudes more positive than
academic/school reading attitudes; and schools varied tremendously in their pattern of
reading attitude scores. The variation between schools suggests that activities at the
school, teacher quality, and school environment probably affect those differences
(Fitzgibbons, 1997).
Almost everyone can probably recall having been told on more than one
occasion by a teacher, "I don't care if you like it or not; I know it will be good for you to
learn this and someday you'll thank me." There's no way to know, of course. But one
might wonder how often the appreciation has been expressed. In any case, the idea
that learning in school need be painful is at best anachronistic and at worst damaging to
the future learning experiences of students. The affective feeling rather than the
cognitive product of learning will more often than not determine those experiences
(Estes, 1975).
Young children must know that reading provides an opportunity to gain
information and enjoyment. The attitudes young children develop [sic] during these early
years will have lasting effects on their later reading. They may learn to read but may
reject any reading experiences. Thus, while young children must learn to interpret the
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written language, they must also develop a desire to read and appreciate what they
read (Saracho, 1985). Understanding the role of attitudes in developing readers is
important for two principal reasons. First, attitudes may affect the level of ability
ultimately attained by a given student through its influence on such factors as
engagement and practice. Second, even for the fluent reader, poor attitude may
occasion a choice not to read when other options exist, a condition now generally
known as aliteracy (McKenna, Kear, & Ellsworth, 1995).
MOTIVATION
According to Guthrie and Wigfield (1997), motivation is defined in terms of
“beliefs, values, needs and goals that individuals have.” Thus, the closer that literacy
activities and tasks match these values, needs, and goals, the greater the likelihood that
students will expend effort and sustain interest in them. When some students judge
reading and literacy activities to be unrewarding, too difficult, or not worth the effort
because they are peripheral to their interests and needs, they can become nonreaders
(Strommen & Mates, 2004) or aliterate adolescents (Alvermann, 2003) who are capable
of reading but choose not to do so. Achievement motivation has long been an important
area in educational research. While students with positive learning motivation are found
to have positive cognitive, social, and psychological development, most previous
studies in Western countries have reported a decline in students' motivation as they
progress through higher grades.
Research suggests that students’ motivation can affect their performance in
different achievement areas, including reading. Ample and unimpeachable evidence
exists which proves that students who are highly motivated were more persistent in their
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school work and chose challenging tasks compared to their counterparts who are less
motivated. It is not surprising to learn therefore that some schools have adopted some
programs specifically aimed at positively influencing their students’ motivation for
reading. At the Angeles University Foundation-Integrated Schools, a particular program
called DEAR (for Drop Everything and Read) is designed to foster love of reading
among their students.
Mucherah and Yoder (2008) found out that students who had high self-efficacy in
their reading, read challenging material, and read for aesthetic enjoyment did better on
the standardized test called ISTEP+ test in reading. Moreover, they also found that
students who read mostly for social reasons did poorly on the ISTEP+ test.
In her research on grade differences in reading motivation among Hong Kong
primary and secondary students, Lau (2009) found out that as far as the scores on the
four reading motivation constructs were concerned, students scored most highly on
intrinsic motivation, followed by self-efficacy, extrinsic motivation, and social motivation.
Significant grade differences were found in all reading motivation constructs whereas
only a few grade by gender and grade by school-average interactions were found.
In this study the researcher attempted to measure the students’ attitude toward
reading and their motivation for reading and looking at the relationship students’ reading
attitude has with their motivation for reading.
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II. METHODOLOGY
RESPONDENTS
The respondents of this study were 39 freshmen students (age ranged from 11 to
14) of Angeles University Foundation – Integrated Schools representing one whole
class. Below is the summary in table form of the respondents:
TABLE 1. Distribution of the Respondents as to Sex
Sex Freq Percentage
Male 12 30.77Female 27 69.23Total 39 100.00
TABLE 2. Distribution of the Respondents as to Age
Age Freq Percentage
11 2 2.56 12 17 43.59 13 19 48.73 14 1 2.59Total 39 100.00
INSTRUMENTS
To measure the respondents’ attitude toward reading, the researcher made use
of a survey questionnaire designed by McKenna and Kear (1990). It was developed
based on the view that attitudes are mainly affective and that attitudes and beliefs
are causally related. McKenna and Kear's instrument (The Elementary Reading Attitude
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Survey, ERAS) was designed to measure the affective aspects of children's reading
attitudes in two dimensions: their attitudes towards recreational reading and their
attitudes towards school-based academic reading (McKenna & Kear, 1990). Admitting
that the ERAS is not a perfect tool for measuring reading attitude, the authors noted that
the survey can provide quantitative estimates of two important aspects of children’s
attitude toward reading. Like global measures of achievement, however, they can do
little in themselves to identify the causes of poor attitude or to suggest instructional
techniques likely to improve it. On the other hand, the instrument can be used to (a)
make possible initial conjecture about the attitudes of specific students, (b) provide a
convenient group profile of a class (or a larger unit), or (c) serves as a means of
monitoring the attitudinal impact of instructional programs.
For the purpose of the study, the researcher considered the respondents’ attitude
toward recreational reading, or the first ten items of ERAS only. Academic reading
would not have made sense correlating it with reading motivation as this kind of reading
is usually imposed on the students and therefore, not entirely voluntary. Recreational
reading, on the other hand, is more likely voluntary, making it ideal as a variable for the
study. But just the same, their score in the academic reading were determined. (See
table 3).
To measure the respondents’ motivation for reading, the researcher used the
Motivation for Reading Questionnaire, a 53-item survey developed by Wigfield and
Guthrie (1995) at the University of Maryland to assess 11 different aspects of students’
motivation for reading. The MRQ items are rated along a 4-step Likert continuum (e.g.,
1 = very different from me to 4 = a lot like me). The 11 aspects are: Reading Efficacy is
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belief that one can be successful at reading. Reading Challenge is the willingness to
take on difficult reading material. Reading Work Avoidance is the desire to avoid
reading activity. Reading Curiosity is the desire to read topics of interest. Reading
Involvement is the enjoyment received from reading. Importance of Reading is the value
placed on reading. Reading for Recognition is the pleasure of receiving a tangible form
of recognition for success in reading. Reading for Grades is the desire for positive
school evaluations by teacher. Competition in Reading is the desire to outperform
others in reading. Social Reasons for Reading is the sharing meaning gained from
reading with others. Compliance is reading to meet others’ expectations (Watkins &
Coffey, 2004).
After scoring the value of the respondents’ attitude toward reading, the
researcher determined the correlation of recreational reading and all the 11 aspects of
Guthrie and Wigfield’s motivation for reading.
STATISTICAL TREATMENT
As a correlation study, the researcher used the Pearson product-moment or
Pearson r correlation. The scores were tallied and computed to come up with the values
for p, r, and t to show the relationship between the variables and the strength of this
relationship was determined using the following descriptive interpretation:
0.00 – 0.20 - Slight relationship
0.21 – 0.40 - Low relationship
0.41 – 0.60 - Moderate relationship
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0.61 – 0.80 - High relationship
0.81 – 1.00 - Very high relationship
The interpretation of a correlation coefficient depends on the context and
purposes. A correlation of 0.9 may be very low if one is verifying a physical law using
high-quality instruments, but may be regarded as very high in the social sciences where
there may be a greater contribution from complicating factors.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Below are the scores of the respondents in the two instruments administered by
the researcher:
TABLE 3. Respondents score in the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
Code Rec Acad RST
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Note:
Names of the respondents were substituted for a code for confidentiality.Legend:
Rec stands for Recreational,
Acad stands for Academic
RST stands for Raw Score Total
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1 18 21 392 15 20 353 29 32 614 21 36 575 28 30 586 26 31 577 30 33 638 31 31 629 29 35 6410 31 32 6311 13 18 3112 36 28 6413 32 29 6114 32 31 6315 35 36 7116 34 34 6817 27 24 5118 29 29 5819 27 30 5720 31 30 6121 32 29 6122 28 29 5723 28 35 6324 31 32 6325 33 27 6026 27 27 5427 24 26 5028 27 28 5529 31 32 6330 34 33 6731 32 37 6932 33 32 65
33 32 30 62
34 33 34 67
35 29 28 57
36 30 31 61
37 20 26 46
38 30 24 54
39 27 29 56
TOTAL 1115 1159 2274
Mean score 27.875 28.975 56.85
TABLE 4. Respondents’ Score in the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire
Code A B C D E F G H I J K Total1 4 11 15 16 6 6 10 7 6 14 14 1092 4 8 12 9 3 5 9 6 7 11 9 833 9 14 17 19 5 9 16 14 10 12 13 1384 7 16 20 17 5 8 10 7 10 11 13 1245 10 17 20 18 6 10 15 16 11 18 16 1576 6 17 16 22 4 7 20 14 12 22 14 1547 12 18 23 13 8 9 20 18 16 17 13 1678 9 18 19 21 8 6 16 15 13 18 14 1579 9 17 22 19 5 7 16 13 12 15 17 152
10 8 16 18 21 7 10 16 13 12 18 17 15611 10 12 13 14 7 13 14 13 9 13 8 12612 8 17 22 22 8 9 18 16 13 15 18 16613 11 14 19 23 6 9 17 17 12 17 19 16414 8 17 19 19 8 9 17 16 15 16 15 15915 10 19 21 23 8 5 22 19 14 21 16 17816 10 10 12 16 7 5 15 15 14 19 12 13517 9 13 9 10 7 8 13 9 10 8 14 11018 7 18 18 20 3 12 10 9 7 15 13 13219 10 18 23 23 6 12 21 18 12 23 18 18420 8 16 17 19 8 6 13 12 7 16 16 13821 8 16 21 19 5 7 18 14 13 19 16 15622 10 14 19 21 4 9 10 12 10 15 14 13823 10 17 21 21 8 10 19 16 11 17 15 16524 8 13 16 14 6 7 14 12 11 15 12 12825 8 17 17 21 5 9 15 14 8 14 11 13926 7 12 20 20 6 13 12 7 10 17 6 13027 7 12 13 11 8 9 12 12 8 11 14 11728 6 12 18 17 8 6 12 12 12 16 14 13329 6 12 16 15 6 11 13 12 9 18 11 12930 9 16 17 14 6 8 15 13 11 20 13 14231 10 17 21 20 7 4 9 14 7 17 14 14032 10 18 22 22 8 5 13 17 13 24 17 16933 9 18 23 19 8 6 19 19 15 22 17 17534 8 16 19 23 7 8 19 16 14 22 18 17035 8 19 20 19 3 6 9 12 11 16 13 13636 8 18 19 20 7 8 17 12 13 11 11 14437 8 11 15 14 5 16 11 7 6 13 9 115
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38 11 18 17 22 4 10 19 14 14 15 16 16039 9 15 23 20 6 7 12 14 10 18 13 147
TOTAL 329 597 712 716 242 324 576 516 428 639 543 5622Mean 8.225 14.93 17.8 17.9 6.05 8.1 14.4 12.9 10.7 15.98 13.58 140.6
Note: Names of the respondents were substituted for a code for confidentiality.Legend:
A - Reading EfficacyB - Reading ChallengeC - Reading CuriosityD - Reading InvolvementE - Importance of Reading F - Reading Work AvoidanceG - Competition in ReadingH - Recognition for ReadingI - Reading for GradesJ - Social Reasons for ReadingK - Compliance
TABLE 5. Correlates of the Respondents’ Recreational Reading and Motivation For Reading
ASPECTS p t r
Reading Efficacy 0.0085 2.78 0.416
Reading Challenge 0.000199 0.5619
Reading Curiosity 0.005204 2.97 0.4394
Reading Involvement 0.000622 3.74 0.5233
Importance of Reading 0.056 1.98 0.308
Reading Work Avoidance 0.07 -1.84 -0.3000
Competition in Reading 0.003 3.13 0.4572
Recognition for Reading 0.001 4.92 0.6300
Reading for Grades 0.002 4.10 0.5600
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Social Reasons for Reading 0.001 3.48 0.5000
Compliance 0.007 3.68 0.5179
α = 0.05
As explained on page 8, the statistics used for the data was the Pearson r
correlation. Of the variables presented above, of significance is the relationship between
the respondents’ recreational reading and reading for recognition, with an r value of
0.63 which means there is a high positive relationship. Therefore, we can assume
based on this value that the higher the respondents’ inclination toward recreational
reading, the higher their pleasure of receiving a tangible form of recognition for success
in reading becomes.
Other variables that show significant relationship are the respondents’
recreational reading and their willingness to take on difficult reading materials. The more
the respondents are inclined to read for recreation, the more they are willing to be given
difficult materials to read. On the same level, the respondents’ inclination toward
recreational reading is positively related to their desire for positive school evaluations by
their teacher.
Also worth noting is the negative r value between the respondents’ recreational
reading and their reading for work avoidance at -0.3000. Although the figure suggests a
low relationship, its being negative is taken to mean the higher the respondents’
inclination toward recreational reading, the lower is their inclination toward avoiding
reading activities.
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Ironically, the respondents’ view of the importance of reading does not
significantly affect their inclination toward recreational reading, as shown by the
computed r value of only 0.308. The value that the respondents place on reading does
not greatly affect their recreational reading.
The rest of the aspects have only low to moderate relationship with the
respondents’ predisposition toward recreational reading.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The study was conducted using the freshmen students of Angeles University
Foundation – Integrated Schools. It attempted to determine the relationship between the
respondents’ attitude toward reading and their motivation for reading using ERAS and
MRQ, respectively. For the purpose of the study, the researcher disregarded the
respondents’ second half of the ERAS which is concerned with academic reading and
focused only on its first half which concerns recreational reading. A total of 39
respondents (12 boys and 27 girls) aged 11-14 years old were surveyed.
With the data at hand, the Pearson product-moment correlation was used to
determine the relationship and a descriptive interpretation of the values computed to
determine the strength of the relationship between the variables.
The study revealed that:
there is a strong relationship existing between the respondents’ recreational
reading and their desire to earn praises from their teachers;
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there is a moderately strong relationship existing between the respondents’
recreational reading and their willingness to be given difficult reading
materials;
there is a moderately strong relationship existing between the respondents’
recreational reading and their desire to get good grades in school.
V. IMPLICATION FOR TEACHING
It is imperative that teachers become aware what motivates their students to read
and how their students feel toward reading. When children have a positive attitude
toward reading, it helps them greatly in their literacy development. Children's experience
in reading, children's confidence in reading, parents' attitudes toward reading, and
teachers' ways of teaching contribute to children's attitudes toward reading. A large
amount of access to books is important in children's literacy improvement, but without
the support, guidance, and encouragement of teachers and parents, children may not
acquire a positive attitude toward reading and may get very little from the books that
they read. Through the support, guidance, and encouragement of teachers and parents,
children can experience success and enjoy reading, and children can build their
confidence in reading. By using portfolios as means of evaluation, children and teachers
can be liberated from the tedious and laborious standardized tests. Children and
teachers can concentrate on the development of children's literacy, and children may
increase their motivation in reading and form a positive attitude toward reading. Children
may relate reading to their lives and get many valuable things from it, from which
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children will be motivated and may form the habit of reading. Children can succeed in
reading in the future after they acquire a positive attitude toward reading.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alvermann, D.E.(2003). Seeing themselves as capable and engaged readers:Adolescents and re/mediated instruction. Retrieved October 20, 2006, fromhttp://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/readers.pdf
Brumbaugh, F. (1940). Reading expectancy. Elementary English Review, 17, 153-155.
Estes, T. (1975 March). Attitude toward reading: Alternatives in assessment. A paper presented at the Annual Reading Conference at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA.
Fitzgibbons, S. (1997 July). Attitudes of youth toward reading before and after a motivational project. A paper presented at the Annual Conference of International Association of School Librarianship held in conjunction with the Association of Teacher-Librarianship n Vancouver, BritishColumbia, Canada.
Guthrie, J.T., & Wigfield, A. (1997). Reading engagement: A rationale for theory and teaching. In J.T. Guthrie & A. Wigfield (Eds.), Reading engagement: Motivating readers through integrated instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Lau, K. (2009). Grade differences in reading motivation of Hong Kong primary andsecondary students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 713-733.doi: 10.1348/000709909X460042
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McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool forteachers. The Reading Teacher, 43, 626-639.
McKenna, M. C., Kear, D. J., & Ellsworth, R. A. (1995). Children’s attitudes toward reading: A national survey. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(4), 934.
Mason, G. E. (1967). Preschoolers' concepts of reading. The Reading Teacher, 21,(2), 130- 132.
Mucherah, W. & Yoder, A. (2008). Motivation in reading and middle school students’ performance on standardized testing in reading. Reading Psychology, 29, 214-235. doi: 10.1080/02702710801982159
Ransbury, M. K. (1973). An assessment of reading attitudes. Journal of Reading, 17, 25-28.
Routman, R. (1988). Transitions from literature to literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Tunnell, M., Calder, J., Justen III. J, & Phaup, E. (1991). Attitudes of young readers. Reading Improvement, 28(4), 237-243.
Saracho, O. N. (1985). Young children's attitudes toward reading. EducationalResearch Quarterly, 9(4), 19-27.
Sperling, R. & Head, D. (2004). Reading Attitudes and Literacy Skills inPrekindergarten and Kindergarten Children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(4), 233-236.
Strommen, L.T., & Mates, B.F. (2004). Learning to love reading: Interviews with olderchildren and teens. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48, 188–200.
Wang, Y. (2000). Children’s attitude toward reading and their literacy development.Journal of Instructional Psychology, 27(2), 120-125.
Watkins. M. W. & Coffey, D. Y. (2004). Reading motivation: Multidimensional andindeterminate. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(1), 110-118. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.96.1.110
Wigfield, A. & Guthrie, J. (1997). Relations of children’s motivation for reading to theamount and breadth of their reading. Journal of Educational Psychology,89(3),420-432.
Vacca, R. & Alvermann, D. (1998, October). The crisis in adolescent literacy: Is it real or imagined? In National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, 4-9.
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