The Relationship Between Situated Reading Motivation and Perception of the Learning Environment for Adolescent Students

Abstract

Reading motivation has been a focus of research to address the lack of reading proficiency in secondary classrooms, and an understudied area within this broad field of research is the effects of the learning environment on student reading motivation. The current study investigates the effect of 9th–12th grade students' perceptions of the learning environment on their daily, self-reported reading motivation in four different content areas: English (N = 53), social science (N = 50), math (N = 55), and science (N = 52). Using a regression analysis, we examined the impact of four aspects of the learning environment on student reading motivation. In all four content areas, only one learning environment variable significantly predicted reading motivation: investigation (the emphasis of inquiry skills and their use in problem-solving). This finding suggests that regardless of content area, incorporating investigation is one way to foster students' engagement and motivation to read.