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An exploratory study to investigate the usefulness of an affective reading intervention in supporting adolescents' reading motivation and engagement

Background: There is increasing concern that as students move through to adolescence, motivation toward reading declines. When there is limited desire to read, less time is spent with text, which can eventually impact on literacy acquisition. A systematic synthesis of research which has measured outcomes relating to motivation and/or engagement as part of a reading intervention was conducted. Despite the wealth of literature surrounding adolescent literacy, only six studies met the inclusion criteria. The review highlighted a number of affective factors that may contribute to effective reading interventions. However, to date there has been no research on how Educational Psychologists (EPs) might work with students to address affective factors in reading. Methods/participants: An affective reading programme structured around a Motivational Interviewing (MI) based intervention was implemented with three Year 8 students in one high-school. Students were identified as having a primary reading difficulty and perceived to be disengaged or low in motivation toward reading. Five- 50-minute sessions were facilitated on a fortnightly basis by the researcher. Analysis/ findings: Quantitative outcomes from pre-, post- and three-month follow-up indicated positive outcomes for two of the three students in relation to motivation and engagement toward reading. However, for one student, quantitative data were not indicative of self-report improvements across motivation domains. Qualitative data on the other hand suggested that all three students perceived the intervention to have a range of benefits. Four super-ordinate themes emerged from thematic analysis of the qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews, suggesting a perceived increase in motivation and engagement toward reading, in addition to increased self-efficacy. The current findings identified key factors in addressing reading motivation with adolescent students. Conclusion/implications: The present study adds a valuable contribution to current theory and research within adolescent literacy. It raises awareness in acknowledging and addressing the needs and complexities of addressing motivation to read amongst reluctant readers. A structured dissemination strategy is discussed, along with some of the potential implications for EPs. Further, a discussion with regards to evidence-based and practice-based evidence in the context of this study is presented.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:740264
Date January 2016
CreatorsCockroft, Charlotte
ContributorsAtkinson, Catharine ; Woods, Kevin
PublisherUniversity of Manchester
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttps://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-exploratory-study-to-investigate-the-usefulness-of-an-affective-reading-intervention-in-supporting-adolescents-reading-motivation-and-engagement(16853195-a022-4731-bdd6-da3e2d678d02).html

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