Strategies to improve your english reading

1. SUKRAN SAYGI
Department of Basic English,
Middle East Technical University
susaygi@metu.edu.tr
The Nature of Reading
Motivation and Student
Perceptions

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“Citizens of modern societies must be
good readers to be successful. … The
advent of computer and the Internet
does nothing to change this fact about
reading. If anything, electronic
communication only increases the need
for effective reading skills and the
strategies as we cope with the large
quantities of information made
available to us” (Grabe, 2009: 5).

3. “Citizens of modern societies must be good
readers to be successful. … The advent of
computer and the Internet does nothing to
change this fact about reading. If anything,
electronic communication only increases
the need for effective reading skills and the
strategies as we cope with the large
quantities of information made available to
us” (Grabe, 2009: 5).
Inspiration for the study
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5.  a never ending enthusiasm to change things
to reach European standards
 a central university placement exam –
washback
 private and state universities
 state and anatolian high schools (foreign
language oriented)
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Some facts about Turkey

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7. The Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA), 2003
by Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD)
in 41 countries and Turkey
mathematics, science and reading tests
Turkey has the second lowest performance in
all tests among the OECD countries
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8. The Progress in International Reading
Literacy Study (PIRLS), 2001
othe reading achievement of primary
school fourth grade students: 449
Park, 2006:
home literacy environments of the 25
participant countries
o early home literacy activities, index of
parents’ attitudes toward reading and
number of books at home  Turkey
was in the lowest group
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9.  define the nature of motivation to read
in Turkish (L1) and in English (L2)
 to explore the relationship between the
students’ motivations to read and their
success in reading exams
 to gain an insight as to the educational
value students assign to reading
motivation in the classroom dynamics
Purpose of the study
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10.  Questionnaire Population and Setting
preparatory school of a private university
in Ankara, Turkey
pre-intermediate (N = 172)
upper-intermediate (N = 101)
 Student interviewees
students from the lower and upper third
groups depending on percentile scores
(N = 8)
Methodology
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11. Instruments
I . The questionnaire was adapted from Wang &
Guthrie’s Motivations for Reading Questionnaire
(2004) and Yamashita’s (2007) reading attitude
questionnaire.
II. semi-structured face-to-face interviews
 the formation of their motivation to read
 the effect of contextual surroundings (such as
teacher, materials) on their motivation
 their expectations about their future education in
their departments 11

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1. Nature of Reading Motivation (L1 and L2)
a. Principal Component Analysis
b. Correlations between L1 Reading Motivaton
Constructs and L2 Reading Motivation Constructs
Results & Discussion
Quantitative

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Factor Extracted Sample Item
Personal Reasons to
Read
I have favorite subjects that I like to read about
in English/Turkish.
Social Recognition I feel happy when someone recognizes my
reading ability in English/Turkish.
Anxiety I feel anxious if I don’t know all the words when I
read something in English/Turkish.
Comfort I don’t mind even if I cannot understand the
content entirely when I read something in
English/Turkish.
Value I can become more sophisticated if I read
materials in English/Turkish.
Information I can acquire broad knowledge if I read materials
in English/Turkish.
Principal Component Analysis

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L1 and L2
Constructs
Whole
Questionnaire
Population
Pre-
intermeadite
Upper-
intermediate
Anxiety . 203** .199** -
Reasons to
read
.206** .203** . 210*
Value .368** .446** .284**
Recognition .655** .633** .678**
Correlation Analyses
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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2. the relationship between motivation to read
and success in reading
a. Hierarchical Regression Analyses
Results
Quantitative

17. Question Result
relationship between L1 reading
motivation and L2 reading
achievement
No significant contribution was
observed.
the relationship between L2
reading motivation and L2 reading
achievement
L2 reading motivation factors
significantly predicted 8.1 % of
reading achievement.
Pre-intermediate Reading anxiety is a significant
predictor.
Upper-intermediate Comfort is a significant predictor.
habits and behaviors in L2 Time spent reading in English is a
significant predictor & a positive
significant correlation between the
students’ reading achievement and
their online text preferences17

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22. I. Personal Factors
value students put on reading
interest levels
background
II. Institutional Factors
syllabus
coursebook
teacher
exams22

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Barr & Dreeben, 1983

24. Reading motivation is a COURSE BOOK thing:
 “one size fits all mentality”
 the course book’s syllabus is the syllabus
 students like the reading texts in the
course book because they are short and
easy --- they are not accustomed to
dealing with long texts due to the
education system
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25.  the teacher
- the only motivator
- higher levels of student motivation
when they see that the teacher care about
their progress
Classroom Conditions
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26. having the freedom to choose motivates
students to become engaged in their reading
students are more interested in soft texts
than pen-and-paper texts
 more technology in class
What to do, then?
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27.  syllabus – needs analyis
 institutionalized syllabus
 course book selection
beyond the teacher’s control …
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28.  Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to
practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
 Mendi, H.B. (2009). The relationship between reading strategies, motivation
and reading test performance in foreign language learning. Unpublished
master’s thesis, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
 Park, H. (2008). Home literacy environments and children’s reading
performance: A comparative study of 25 countries. Educational Research and
Evaluation, 14 (6), 489-505.
 Wang, J. H. & Guthrie, J. T. (2004) Modeling the Effects of Intrinsic Motivation,
Extrinsic Motivation, Amount of Reading, and Past Reading Achievement on
Text Comprehension between U.S. and Chinese students. Reading Research
Quarterly, 39, (2) pp. 162-186.
 Yamashita, J. (2002). Influence of L1 reading on L2 reading: different
perspectives from the process and product of reading. Studies in Language
and Culture, 23 (2), 271-283.
 Yamashita, J. (2007). The relationship of reading attitudes between L1 and L2:
An investigation of adult EFL learners in Japan. TESOL Quarterly, 41 (1), 81-
105.
References
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29. for further information or your
comments
susaygi@metu.edu.tr
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THANK YOU …