What motivational strategies can teachers use to encourage reading in an L2 for pleasure?

Extensive reading (ER)as a pedagogical method is gaining ground as an effective way to increase foreign language input. There are an abundance of articles on the positive effects of ER on reading motivation but less widely reported in the literature are articles on the dynamic changes in motivation EFL learners experience during an ER course and the demotivating factors that obstruct learners from gaining success in a course. How to identify these factors and from this knowledge be in a better position to engage all learners in ER is in the interest of this author. This paper will look at the evidence of the benefits of ER on language proficiency and reading motivation and discuss the motivational strategies identified in engaging learners in extensive reading programs

"Writing makes us professional" : second language writing in Argentinian teacher education

In Argentina, the context of this chapter, research on second language (L2) writing in initial English language teacher education (IELTE) has examined pre-service teachers’ writing through case studies, corpusbased analysis, quasi-experiments and mixed methods. The focus has been on linguistic development evidenced in writing through individual and collaborative tasks informed by genre analysis and grammar. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of studies on pre-service teachers’ perceptions on their motivation and identity in relation to L2 writing. Teacher educators and pre-service teachers may wonder about the impact of writing in IELTE and teaching as a profession. In this interest in impact, it is believed that motivation and identity exert a significant influence on pre-service teachers’ writing practices; thus, it is vital for teacher educators to understand the interplay between writing, motivation, identity and pre-service teachers’ investment in their professional identity. In this chapter, we first review studies on L2 writing in Argentinian IELTE. Secondly, we conceptualize identity, motivation, investment and the role of feedback in order to promote the inclusion of such key constructs among researchers in language teacher education in Argentina. Thirdly, we present our small-scale study carried out at an online IELTE program – the research methodology, findings and discussion in light of our research questions and theoretical background. Our study lends support to the need to include notions of motivation and identity in studies on L2 writing in IELTE programs in Argentina

EFL LEARNERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE ACTIVE READING SOFTWARE AS A LEARNING TOOL TO ENHANCE READING COMPREHENSION

The present study endeavored to explore EFL students' perceptions regarding the acceptance and intervention of ARS in enhancing reading comprehension ability at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia. The study engaged 30 male undergraduates of English major B.A program. For data collection, the study utilized a qualitative technique using semi-structured interviews and the interview questions were constructed based on the principles of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis (1989). Active Reading Software (ARS) was employed as a technological tool for teaching reading comprehension. The treatment group received intervention from ARS for the duration of four weeks in the computer lab. Qualitative data obtained from the students' interviews were evaluated by means of thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) framework. The results of the thematic analysis pointed out five major themes considered to be the factors that influenced participants’ perceptions towards ARS as a learning tool for improving reading comprehension at the tertiary level. Findings of the present study offer essential implications for language instructors and educational institutions providing technology-integrated courses. Understanding the factors influencing the learners’ perceptions towards the adoption of technological tools in learning is significant for its success. Article visualizations

The relationship between students’ reading motivation and reading comprehension

Reading motivation has been viewed as a multifaceted construct with multiple constituents. Our investigation of motivational multiplicity expanded on previous literature by including motivation constructs (interest, perceived control, collaboration, involvement, and efficacy), text genres, specific versus general contexts, and the self-versus other evidence sources about motivation. We expected that this multiplicity would influence the identification of reading comprehension growth predictors. Reading motivation is one of the most important factors, receives the special focus in foreign language teaching. This paper is going to investigate the relationship between reading motivation and reading comprehension. This lack of good reading motivation skill is exacerbated by the central role of reading motivation in higher education success and also students usually have problem in reading comprehension in this trend sice their motivation. Motivation is vital in reading activities, the findings indicated that reading motivation had a significantly positive effect on the English reading comprehension. Keywords: Reading motivation, Types of motivation, Reading comprehension, Types of reading.

Motivating Poetry in the Adult ESL Classroom

Current research into motivation in second language acquisition, including Dörnyei (2005, 2009, 2015), offers compelling evidence that adult language learners who develop and habitually strengthen a vision of their future, linguistically capable selves using concrete, sensory imagery are more likely to sustain the necessary motivation to achieve their personal language-learning goals. My thesis proposes that poetry writing can be an effective medium for language learners to build facility in developing concrete, sensory imagery (tactile, visual, kinesthetic, olfactory, and auditory), including creating a motivating vision of their future, linguistically capable selves. Because poetry can directly support and build learner motivation, it offers advantages over specialized motivational training programs that require extra training and stand outside the regular curriculum of the adult ESL classroom. Poetry writing should accordingly be regarded as a valuable instructional resource in adult ESL education. My thesis field project, “The Motivational Writing Project”, is an e-book for instructors of ESL at adult schools and community colleges, especially TESOL instructors with minimal or no background in poetry. The e-book includes a sequence of poetry writing warmups, frames, and prompts for High-Beginning to Advanced adult language learners to write about their present, past, and future using concrete, sensory language. These sequenced exercises gradually build adult language learners’ facility in writing using concrete, sensory imagery, culminating in the creation of a vivid, motivating vision of their future selves as capable communicators in English. The poetry writing exercises are designed to be consistent with current research findings in language learning and motivation, as well as with community college ESL writing standards

The Impact of EFL Algerian University Students’ Attitudes on Literary Texts Reading Motivation: The Case of Second Year English Students at Setif 2 University

Motivating EFL students to read in English has captured the attention of different researchers in the field of foreign language learning for decades. The present study aims chiefly at probing into the attitudes held towards reading English literary texts by second-year Algerian EFL learners at the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Setif2. It seeks to study the learners’ attitudes towards reading English literary texts and their impact on their reading motivation. It also fetches the factors controlling EFL learners’ motivation in reading English literary texts. Moreover, it tackles sensible concern often encountered in literary text teaching: is there a correlation between learners’ attitudes and reading motivation? To this end, Data were collected through a perception questionnaire that was handed to a randomly selected sample of 150 students. The data analyses were descriptive. Results demonstrated that the students have low reading motivation due to their negative attitudes towards reading English literary texts. Based on these findings, it is suggested that literature teachers should incorporate the most convenient methods and techniques to meet EFL learners’ reading needs and interests. Thus, technology and new media should pave its way into the literature classes

다독의 게임화가 제2언어 읽기 동기, 독서량, 독서 시간에 미치는 영향

학위논문 (석사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 사범대학 외국어교육과, 2018. 2. So, Youngsoon.Previous studies on extensive reading programs have highlighted the significant improvements in various linguistic and motivational aspects of the language learner, primarily with their first language (L1) texts. However, for second language (L2) reading, in English as Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, several studies have highlighted the difficulties of motivating students to finish the extensive reading programs with their own self-directed motivations. The research remains unclear on how the design features of extensive reading programs influence changes on specific components of motivation among EFL students. Additionally, recent research on gamification in education has revealed significant influences on student motivation and engagement. This study looks at the impact that certain key design elements from the gamification field can have on specific motivational and behavioral outcomes. In this ten-week study, thirty-seven, second to fifth grade, Korean EFL students participated in either an extensive reading (ER) program or a gamified extensive reading (GER) program (Day & Bamford, 1998Kapp, 2012). Pre- and post-tests measures of motivation were collected from both groups and investigated for changes based on condition. In addition to their self-reported changes in motivation, actual reading amounts and time spent on reading were also analyzed for significant differences between the two conditions. Results show that adding the basic gamification design elements had a significant positive effect on increasing students overall motivation, self-efficacy, and two extrinsic motivation subcomponents (recognition and competition) to read in English. Changes in intrinsic motivation were not statistically significant for both conditions. However, students in the gamification group started to show subtle increases in intrinsic motivations for reading English, along with several of its subcomponents (curiosity, challenge and involvement), after eight-weeks of exposure to gamification. Students in the gamification (GER) condition also read significantly more as well as spent more time reading than the traditional extensive reading (ER) group. On the contrary, the students in the ER condition showed a decrease in self-efficacy that was significant, and read significantly less with less time spent in reading. Delayed post-test survey results were also collected in an attempt to get additional insight into this trend. Survey results reveal that students in the GER condition rated themselves as having a greater appreciation for books after the program and did not want to stop attending the program.CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Statement of the Problem 2 1.2. Research Questions 6 1.3. Organization of the Thesis 7 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 9 2.1. Motivations in Reading 9 2.1.1. Expectancy Value Theory 10 2.1.2. Self-Determination Theory 10 2.1.3. Measuring Motivations to Read 17 2.2. Extensive Reading (ER) Programs on Motivations to Read 19 2.3. Gamification Design Features on Motivation 27 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 38 3.1. Participants 38 3.2. Measures 40 3.2.1. Motivations for Reading in a Foreign Language (MRFLQ) 40 3.2.2. Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR) 44 3.2.3. Reading Logs 45 3.2.4. Delayed Post-Test Survey 46 3.3. Material 47 3.3.1. Level-Matched Books and Diverse Topics 47 3.3.2. Social Reading Activity / Comprehension Check 48 3.3.3. Gamification Design Features 49 3.4. Procedure 52 3.5. Data Collection 55 3.6. Data Analysis 56 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 57 4.1. Pre-existing Group Differences 57 4.1.1. Grades, Proficiency, and Motivations 58 4.2. RQ1: Changes in Motivations by Groups 60 4.2.1. Extensive Reading (ER) Effects on Motivation 61 4.2.2. Gamified Extensive Reading (GER) Effects on Motivation 63 4.3. RQ2: Changes in Reading Amount and Time 69 4.3.1. Extensive Reading (ER) on Reading Amount and Time 69 4.3.2. Gamified ER (GER) on Reading Amount and Time 70 4.3.3. Comparing ER and GER Reading Amount and Time 70 4.4. Delayed Post-Test Survey Responses 76 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION 80 5.1. Major Findings and Pedagogical Implications 81 5.2. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research 84 5.2.1. Participants 84 5.2.2. Measures 85 5.2.3. Materials 86 5.2.4. Data Analysis 87 REFERENCES 89 APPENDICES 109 국 문 초 록 126Maste

Motivation in the EFL classroom: enhancing reading to Secondary Education students through ICTs

Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Professor/a d'Educació Secundària Obligatòria i Batxillerat, Formació Professional i Ensenyaments d'Idiomes. Codi SAP419. Curs: 2020/2021One of the most persistent problems that secondary education teachers face in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom is students’ lack of motivation. However, motivation is essential since it “provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process’’ (Dörnyei, 1998:117). For this reason, abundant research has focused on the influence of motivation in learners’ acquisition of a second language (L2) or Foreign Language (FL) throughout the last few decades. In a technological era that has changed the way we teach and learn, the beneficial effects of incorporating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to boost students’ motivation have also been widely recognised by several studies. Nonetheless, these have scarcely explored the relationship between ICTs and students’ motivation in specific skills, and even less in the case of reading. Bearing this in mind, this paper addresses this issue by firstly analysing the effects of ICTs combined with reading strategies on EFL students’ motivation; and secondly, by determining whether an increase in such motivation is directly beneficial for students’ reading comprehension. A control and an experimental group filled in an initial motivation for reading questionnaire and were later exposed to two different reading lessons within the same Didactic Unit (DU), one being motivational and the other corresponding to the regular teacher’s methodology. The results obtained in a reading evaluation, a self-evaluation and the motivation for reading post-questionnaire will allow us to compare both groups’ reading motivation and grades in the reading evaluation, thus checking to what extent ICTs influence their reading motivation and if a higher motivation has a direct correlation with a better reading comprehensio