In the depths of the mind: The relationship of young readers’ reading motivation and reading strategies to reading comprehension

Abstract

The process of reading would not effectively take place without the motivation to read and the utilization of proper strategies that would aid comprehension. This research aims to gain insights on how reading motivation and reading strategies affect reading comprehension. Data were gathered through the use of two survey questionnaires and a 20-item multiple-choice test administered to 208 secondary students whose age range from 11 to 13 years old. Data were dealt using Pearson’s correlation, regression, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Interestingly, results show that there is a weak correlation between reading motivation and reading comprehension. Also, reading strategy is negatively correlated to reading comprehension. Among the categories of reading strategies, the most utilized are global and problem-solving strategies. Despite the weak correlation of reading motivation to reading comprehension, the majority of the respondents manifest a good self-concept as readers. With regard to reading strategies, students need to be made more aware of their use of varied reading strategies.

Keywords

• reading motivation
• reading strategies
• reading comprehension
• reading ability