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TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 1
Reading Interest and Achievement Motivation: A Study in an EFL Context
Ninuk Lustyantie
Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
ninuk.lustyantie@unj.ac.id (Corresponding author)
Fitria Aprilia
Universitas Bina Darma. Palembang, Indonesia
fitria_aprilia@binadarma.ac.id
Bio-profiles:
Ninuk Lustyantie is an Associate Professor at Universitas Negeri Jakarta. She completed her
Undergraduate Degree in French Language and Literature and a Master’s Degree in the field of
Educational Research and Evaluation. The Doctoral Degree in Language Education was pursued
at Universitas Negeri Jakarta; this was followed by the Sandwich Doctoral Program at Université
Paris 8, Paris-France. Currently, she is the Coordinator of the Doctoral Program of the
Postgraduate Applied Linguistics Study Program, Universitas Negeri Jakarta. Her research
interests include TEFL strategies, enhancement of language skills and reading strategies.
Born in Palembang on April 16, 1991, Fitria Aprilia completed her Undergraduate Degree and
Master’s Degree in English Education, both from Universitas Sriwijaya in 2012 and 2014,
respectively. Her Doctoral Degree in Applied Linguistics was completed at Universitas Negeri
Jakarta. Remarkably, she is an awardee of the 2016 LPDP Indonesian Domestic Lecturer
Excellence Scholarship (BUDI-DN). Currently, she serves as a permanent lecturer at the Faculty
of Teacher Training, Education, and Language (FKIPB), English Literature Study Program at
Universitas Bina Darma, Palembang. Her research interests include SLA, teacher professional
development, and reading strategies.
Abstract
This study aims to determine the direct effect of reading interest and achievement motivation
toward comprehension. A quantitative approach with a path analysis method was used to assess
2020 TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 | ISSN 2094-3938
TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 2
reading interest and achievement motivation towards understanding English text. Furthermore,
the instruments used were questionnaires of reading interest and achievement motivation. EFL
Reading comprehension tests of English text were distributed to 60 students of the English Lit-
erature Undergraduate Program. Also, the data were analyzed using path analysis technique and
multiple regression analysis. The results showed a positive direct effect of (1) reading interest
in English texts comprehension by 21.2%, and (2) achievement motivation towards reading
st
comprehension by 7.6%. This study recommends that the 21 -century literacy learning process,
both informal or non-formal educational institutions, needs to be more relevant and supportive
for the growth and increase of reading interest and achievement motivation. Therefore, it will
st
develop 21 -century competencies, especially in literacy learning and reading comprehension
of English texts.
Keywords: Reading Interest, Achievement Motivation, L2 and EFL, EFL Reading Comprehension
of English Texts
1. Introduction
As a language skill, reading in the sense of understanding is quite difficult for students to master.
Furthermore, it is about pronouncing the symbols or letters in writing and understanding the con-
cept and meaning. Reading is a complex activity that does involve not only physical but also psy-
chological factors. Although currently, the use of electronic devices has become advanced and
st
widespread, their function is still unable to replace written language. In this modern 21 century,
information dissemination through written means cannot be abandoned. Based on this phenome-
non, reading skill is increasingly seen as very important. Furthermore, it determines both perfor-
mance in other subject areas, such as science and humanities, in an early stage and also academic
achievement in a much later stage (Abbott et al, 2017). This is borne out by the fact that English
is a library language and the window to the world of information. The latest inventions, discoveries
and research findings in different fields are indeed encoded in this language. To access this vast
corpus, it is necessary to have good reading skills.
In the educational world, reading activities and assignments are something that cannot be nego-
tiated. This is because students acquire most of their knowledge through reading activities, and
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TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 3
almost all forms of learning are related to reading. Al-Ghazo (2015) noted that the task is an inter-
active process involving four elements: the reader, text, fluent reading, and strategic reading. This
activity is productive and necessary to understand messages, interpret, analyze, or predict the text's
meaning to arrive at an understanding. Furthermore, a reader is an active participant who has a
central role as an interpreter, analyzer, and book predictor. In this case, the reader is not only
someone who is passive and receives information from the text but is someone who gives meaning
to the text (Benge et al, 2010).
The ability and willingness to read broadly affect the success of studies. A student needs to have
good reading skills to be superior in obtaining information. The ability referred to in this case is
the ability to understand the content of reading. Also, the reader's representation of the text occurs
at three recursive hierarchical levels, which are (a) the linguistic level (specific words and sen-
tences), (b) semantic level (the real meaning resulting from individual speech and sentence con-
struction), and (c) the situational level (the importance of the text produced in combination with
the book and the reader's background knowledge) (Bilal, et al 2013).
The Al-Ahdal’s current analysis (Al-Ahdal, 2020b) assessed the importance of e-book commu-
nication logs for Saudi EFL students' progress. It employed 30 male students at Qassim University,
Saudi Arabia, for 12 weeks in an experimental sample. The BookRoll approach was used and
required by the EFL teachers to import material from textbooks and allow students free access
everywhere. In addition to the availability, the approach apart from teaching at the school was the
sort of confidentiality and individual learning pace that the device provides the learner: They pro-
ceeded to replay those sections that the tutor described, reviewed the notes, and took part in other
reading activities (even repeatedly) which the teacher placed on the e-book. The study examined
the computer logs to determine the prevalent reading patterns and model reading behaviors. It
illustrates the methods utilized by students while reading papers. The findings have shown that
BookRoll is ideal for forecasting student reading habits with a reasonably reliable standard, which
will be beneficial to a broad variety of stakeholders, not just education advice providers, who are
willing to adopt technology in the EFL classroom in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Regarding reading a text in English, a common phenomenon in classes is the disappointment of
the lecturer in students' understanding of the reading given. Meanwhile, the process of reading a
foreign language text involves the interaction of two languages. When reading, the readers have
access to their first language, and it is not uncommon to use it as a strategy. However, it takes time
2020 TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 | ISSN 2094-3938
TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 4
and confuses the students. Also, they often encounter many new words and find it difficult to grasp
the main idea from the reading. Therefore, students are reluctant to continue reading because they
do not understand the texts. This results in passive discussion as a common condition in the classes.
In other words, reading in a non-native language requires extra effort and it seems difficult to
understand in a foreign language. In this case, reading skills with the right technique is very im-
portant for academic and personal growth in the future (Ifnanti, 2015).
Several factors affect reading ability, they include 1. Internal factors: (a) physiological: eyes and
ears, (b) psychological: reading interest, intelligence, visual perception skills, vocabulary mastery,
and attitudes towards reading; 2. external factors: (a) teaching: teaching methods and attractive
programs, curriculum, and available facilities, (b) social: environmental motivation. From these
factors, it can be seen that one of the internal factors which can affect comprehension is reading
interest.
2. Reading Interest and the learner
Reading interest is a complex psycho-cognitive phenomenon that specifically refers to the three
but more emphatically to the pre reading stage out of the three phases of a reading class viz. pre-
reading, while reading, and post-reading. It is an initial condition that needs to be met before read-
ing. In the pre-reading or reading interest stage, the aim is to arouse or investigate the learners’
interest in the subject matter of the text chosen for reading by making them draw on their
knowledge of the world, and by eliciting their views on the subject. The line to take for the teachers
is to enable the learners establish or discover a relationship with the text. Different approaches
may be taken for this. Some are as follows:
i. Asking questions on the subject which the learners are scheduled to read about;
ii. Activation of the learners’ background knowledge on the subject;
iii. Enable learners to vocalize their opinions so that they may look forward to what the
writer’s views are.
Interest is the acceptance of a relationship between oneself and the reading content. Hence, the
stronger or closer the relationship, the greater the attraction. Furthermore, the claim describes a
learner's tendency to approach rather than avoid engaging in specific content or actions, for exam-
ple, reading or writing, from time to time (Jones & Brown, 2011). Therefore, to understand reading
2020 TESOL International Journal Volume 15 Issue 4 | ISSN 2094-3938
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