Exploration of the intervention of individual and contextual variables in the reading motivation of preadolescent students

Abstract

During the last decades, several studies have highlighted the relevance of reading motivation as a predictor of the development of reading competence and reading habits among children and adolescents. With the aim of providing a new perspective in the study of this construct in the Spanish educational context, a quantitative investigation is presented under an ex post facto exploratory design with 310 students of 4th, 5th and 6th grade of Primary Education and the following objectives: 1) to analyze the possible differences in the reading motivation index of pre-adolescent students based on their reading self-concept; 2) to explore the influence of the family as a literacy context on the students' level of reading motivation; 3) to explore the relationship between students' reading habits in their spare time and their level of reading motivation. The results show the presence of significant differences depending on the reading self-concept of the students, as well as their perception of the reading habit of their parents, with a higher reading motivation among those who consider themselves better readers and among those who perceive a stronger reading habit in his adult references. Likewise, significant differences are found depending on the variables associated with the reading habits of the students, which confirms the existence of an association between the level of reading motivation of the students and the frequency and quantity of reading they do in their spare time. From the results obtained, it is confirmed the importance of the family environment as a literacy context and the need to reinforce in the students a positive vision about the potential development of their reading skills.