An Investigation into the Relationship between L2 Reading Motivation and Reading Achievement

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between learners' motivation towards reading in a foreign language and their reading achievement on a chosen reading task. For this purpose, 114 freshman students enrolled in English Language Teaching department of a major state university in Turkey took part in the study. Data were collected through a scale on foreign language reading attitudes and motivation, and a reading comprehension test. The data gathered through these two instruments were subjected to statistical analyses. Based on these analyses, the question as to the types of reading motivation dominantly favoured by the learners, as well as whether there was a significant relationship between students' motivation and attitudes towards reading in English and their reading achievement were answered. The statistical analysis indicated that the learners were primarily motivated to read in English due to the linguistic utility of texts, followed by extrinsic utility value of reading, intrinsic value of reading and their own reading efficacy respectively. The study did not identify a significant correlation between students' reading motivation scores and reading achievement scores. Since situated reading motivation appeared to be a more probable indicator of reading achievement, a call for further research was made to explore reading achievement in relation to situational interest. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.