Motivation and Reading Achievement: Understanding the Needs and Motivation Processes of Adult Literacy Learners

Adult struggling readers are understudied and most evidence-based remedial approaches target youth. This thesis examined relationships among motivation constructs across typical and struggling adult readers. Age was also investigated as a moderator in these relationships. Participants included 198 adults in adult basic education and 138 undergraduate students. Examining the influence of self-efficacy on reading achievement, moderation analyses indicated there were stronger relationships for typical readers. Furthermore, stronger relationships were found for younger participants when moderated by age. Additional regression analyses identified positive relationships between two measures of intrinsic motivation and reading value. This relationship was replicated for avoidance and value. Though age was not uniformly sampled across ability grouping, age did not account for these effects. Despite difficulties with reading, adults still exhibited motivation to engage with texts with equal to greater levels of reading value. Value and intrinsic motivation may have unique developmental courses associated with longstanding reading challenges.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. Child and Youth Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department dc:contributor.department

Department of Child and Youth Studies

Grantor

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Tsujimoto, Kimberley

• adult literacy
• adults with low literacy skill
• intrinsic motivation
• self-efficacy
• reading value

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10464/6997

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/6997