The effect of reading motivation on reading comprehension among early adolescents in Iceland

• Main Authors: Hilmarsdóttir, Hafdís Guðrún, Birgisdóttir, Freyja, Gestsdóttir, Steinunn
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2018
• Subjects: reading motivation; reading comprehension; adolescents’ reading; gender differences; lestraráhugahvöt; lesskilningur; miðstig; kynjamunur; mælitæki; Reykjanes; Reykjavík; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/tuuom/article/view/2880

Previous studies indicate that reading motivation is critical for the attainment of various aspects of literacy. Consistently, a strong relationship has been shown to exist between poor reading motivation, reading avoidance and early failure in reading (Bozack & Salvaggio, 2013). Research also indicates a gender gap in reading motivation, with girls having significantly more motivation to read than boys at various age levels (Marinak & Gambrell, 2010; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). This difference has been proposed as one of the key factors contributing to the gender disparities in reading achievement that usually emerge in school later. As in many other cultures, reading comprehension among Icelandic youth has been steadily declining over the past years (Almar M. Halldórsson & Ragnar F. Ólafsson, 2016) with 21% of Icelandic students being incapable of comprehending or enjoying their reading (OECD, 2010). However, despite evidence supporting the importance of reading motivation for reading achievement, few studies have assessed reading motivation among Icelandic speaking children and its effects on later reading skills. The present study aimed to fill this gap in research by exploring the reading motivation of Icelandic-speaking girls and boys in 5th and 6th Grade and its predictive effect on their reading comprehension skills a year later. We also explored the validity and reliability of a recent Icelandic version of a measure of motivational orientation to read (Hamilton et al., 2013), but, until now, no such measures have existed for use among Icelandicspeaking children. Participants comprised a stratified sample of 400 5th Graders from 24 classes in 8 schools in the Reykjanes peninsula and the Reykjavík capital area. Among these, 179 were boys. The children were assessed on reading motivation in Grades 5 and 6, and their scores related to their reading comprehension skills in Grade 6. The reading motivational orientation questionnaire was used to measure the students’ reading motivation (Hamilton ...