Dissertation
English language learners' motivation to engage in reading
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006174
Abstract
This paper is a combination of two articles intended to lead the reader through the author's journey of first finding a definition of motivation to engage and then conducting a qualitative study with adolescent English language learners in order to uncover patterns of motivation to engage with reading. Engagement and motivation are frequently used to describe characteristics needed for success in reading (Czikszentmihaly, 1997; Guthrie & Wigfield, 1999). However, it has been stated that motivation needs to precede engagement in reading (Johnson & Blair, 2003; Meltzer & Hamann, 2004). Educators want and need to understand what motivates students to engage with reading since engagement with reading and reading achievement are positively correlated (Guthrie, 2004; Guthrie & Wigfield, 1999; Meltzer & Hamann, 2004). Furthermore, the motivation of our English language learners is crucial as we see their enrollments increase in US schools (Klinger, Artiles, & Barletta, 2006). This paper discusses the concepts of engagement, motivation, motivation to engage, and what we need to do next for English language learners. In the qualitative study, sixth grade English language learners' (ELLs) motivation to engage in reading was examined in order to explore the following questions: (1) What activities, people, and/or topics will motivate ELLs to engage in reading, and (2) Why is it difficult for ELLs to find motivation to engage in reading in English, especially when they are already able to read in their native language? To answer these questions, observational and interview data were collected from ELLs from November of 2008 through May of 2009. Analysis of this data revealed three main elements found to motivate ELLs to engage in reading: (1) the assigned task, (2) family and grades, and (3) the teacher and read alouds. This paper will explore the results of this research, as well as apply the findings and illuminate the implications for teaching and motivating English language learners to engage in reading.
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Details
- Title
- English language learners' motivation to engage in reading
- Creators
- Jennifer Lynn Robinson
- Contributors
- Mary F. Roe (Chair)Joy Lynn Egbert (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of Teaching and LearningThomas Lee Salsbury (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of Teaching and Learning
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Teaching and Learning
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 84
- Identifiers
- 99901055121801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation