Motivation to read and reading comprehension of Brazilian students
Abstract
Motivation to read and reading comprehension are important factors to assure the academic success of students, as well as to benefit their personal and professional fulfillment in the social sphere. The purpose of this study was to analyze the possible relationships between these educational variables. The sample consisted of 245 Brazilian students taking the 4th and 5th grades of the Elementary School in two public schools in Jundiaí, São Paulo. Data were collected by means of a Reading Motivation Scale (RMS), a Cloze test for reading comprehension and the final reading scores, made available by the school units.
Overall, when it comes to reading results show the prevalence of the most autonomous
types of motivation. However, they do not correlate significantly with regard to reading comprehension. Significant and negative correlations were found between Controlled EM, reading comprehension, and reading final grades. Significant and positive correlations also emerged between the Cloze test and reading final grades. Moreover, girls scored significantly higher in Intrinsic Motivation to read and Reading Comprehension. They also had higher final reading grades than boys. Data are discussed in terms of the need for a better diagnosis of learning difficulties as a basis for the implementation of the most adequate psycho-educational intervention for every single situation.
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