When Children Read Because They Want To, Not Because They Have To

As interest in reading research spiked in the 1980s, the bulk of activity focused on the cognitive aspects of reading, such as word recognition and comprehension. In the 1990s however, there was a general recognition that the affective elements of reading were equally important. Motivation, in particular, was designated as being as integral to reading instruction as skill building. In poll after poll, teachers voiced the notion that motivating students was their top priority.

To build motivation, one must first be able to define it. Leading researcher, J.T. Guthrie (2001), defines highly motivated readers as those who "generate their own literacy learning opportunities, and, in so doing, they begin to determine their own destiny as literacy learners."

From this perspective, motivation can be seen as part of the engagement process. According to researchers such as Gambrell, Wigfield, Guthrie, Alvermann, and Baker, reading motivation is the prime component of engagement. An engaged reader is one who reads for different purposes, builds knowledge to construct new learnings, and participates in meaningful social interactions around reading. "Engaged readers seek to understand; they enjoy learning and they believe in their reading abilities." (Guthrie, 2001)

Being an engaged reader is strongly correlated with reading achievement. In fact, engagement in reading can compensate for low achievement due to socioeconomic status or parents' educational level. Children who become engaged readers can overcome the disadvantages of risk.

What makes a child an engaged reader? The answer is not straightforward, for when it comes to motivation, it is not an either/or construct. It is not a question of being either motivated or unmotivated: motivation is multifaceted. This means that within every individual, some motivational factors will prove stronger than others.

One of the chief components of reading motivation is thought to be self-efficacy, a term first defined by Bandura (1997). Self-efficacy, the ability of a person to judge his own capabilities in regard to a task, seems to play a major role in whether or not a child takes on a reading challenge. If a child has high self-efficacy, he sees a reading challenge as just that-something he can master if he works diligently. In fact, researchers have documented that children's and adolescent's beliefs about their ability to accomplish a task relate to and predict achievement performance in both math and literacy.

Interest in reading is likewise a key component of engagement. Children who are interested in materials can comprehend them better than children with similar skills but lower interest. Even when materials are difficult for children to comprehend, interest value is an important factor in reading success. Related to the interest value of a reading task are two other factors: attainment value and utility value. Attainment value refers to the perceived importance of the task, and utility value is the perceived usefulness of the reading task.