Chapter i

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Today’s generation lots of learners don’t involve themselves in literature. Because of digital

distractions, no books at home and many more reasons. In a society where students are entertained

by video games, television shows, computer sites and other electronic gadgets, it is no wonder some

students find school and basic reading "boring". Imagine most of the students in your local

institutions holding a book, going to the library and exerting effort to read literature, that would be

extremely impressive. While some say this is not possible, this type of classroom environment is

achievable. The key to having students be engaged in what they are reading is providing them with

the option to choose what they would like to read.

Motivation is generally regarded as the underlying reason for completing a behavior, but

conceptualizations of motivation vary widely. Different theories have proposed that motivation arises

from adaptive purposes, seeking to obtain external rewards, or is a result of internal fulfillment. The

drive theory of motivation emphasizes the adaptive purposes of the behavior intended to satiate

survival needs (White, 1959).

Motivation is an essential factor to improve reading comprehension that all of researchers and

teachers admitted it. According to Dornyei (2001), the meaning of motivation is so complicated

because it is composed of different models and theories. Teachers can supply an exciting and relaxed

environment to increase their learners’ reading comprehension. By using various genres, they are

able to make a more attractive atmosphere for students. In fact the teachers are as models and
motivators. They should provide a situation that students choose their materials and reading texts

themselves and allocate more time to reading (Gambrell, 1996).

Allowing students to choose what they want to read not only improves their intrinsic motivation

but ultimately improves their reading skills as well. Motivation plays a huge role in reading

comprehension; students perform better and demonstrate motivation when they read books that

interest to them and have engaging content, that they can make meaningful connection to (Guthrie

2007). Students seems only will read a literature when they will get a reward to engage to literacy or

punishment for not engaging.

With the exception of Wentzel's (1989) work in the general motivation literature and in-depth

case studies of adults' purposes and interests in reading (Gray & Rogers, 1956), the social goals for

reading have been infrequently discussed. But social motivations seem essential for reading since

students read in groups during instruction and share texts in many social situations.

Students need to know at least 90% to 95% of the words they read if they are going to

comprehend the text. Therefore, it is important to use several strategies to build background

knowledge that leads to better reading comprehension and overall achievement for ELLs. It doesn't

hurt to review many words we often take for granted — not only for the benefit of ELLs, but also for

students who may not come to school with a rich vocabulary background or exposure to certain

experiences. (colorincolorado.org)

Some students struggle to find a reason to work hard in school. Perhaps they are not the "best"

student or maybe they just do not care about the topic. As teachers, we spend time, effort and

resources in planning fun and interactive assignments for our class. Perhaps the teacher in the

vignette thought he/she had designed something that would interest everyone; there is an opportunity

to be creative in the diorama, and there is a writing opportunity for those who would prefer to write

down their ideas.

appeals to them. One student created a book about the first few days of school because he liked to

write and wanted to share his feelings with the class. This was not an assignment, rather he just

wanted to create something because he enjoyed doing so.

Motivation itself mediates the Matthew effect in reading. Increased motivation results in

increased engagement and comprehension which in turn results in improved performance and

learning (Klauda & Guthrie, 2014).

Researches indicated that intrinsic motivation variables affect students’ reading comprehension

and readiness (Pressley & Harris, 2006). Previous research has advocated reading motivation in

connection to students’ comprehension progress because reading comprehension permits students to

analyze information that they have a prior knowledge about it to increase their comprehension

(Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman, 2011). Hermosa (2002) defined reading motivation as the

interest or desire to read for different purposes. She believed that positive reinforcements had

beneficial impacts towards motivation in reading, so it is necessary for teachers to make integrative

reading activities.

Researchers have also looked at the impact of personality differences on learning performance.

As discussed previously, causality orientations (autonomous vs. controlled) have been shown to

correspond with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for completing tasks. Williams and Deci (1996)

adapted the general causality scale to incorporate motivational reasons for student learning into a

learning self-regulation. Blackwell et al. (2007) argued that not only learning goals, but also theories

of intelligence, contribute to overall behavior and attitudes towards learning. Incremental theorists

tend to view intelligence as something that can be gained, or improved upon.

Knowing all of the above, the researcher is convinced that the topic is worth studying, as there is

ongoing discussion as to what motivates students to read a literature piece.What motivated learners
in previous times is not necessarily relevant and adequate today (Marciano, 2010). Researchers,

indeed, do not make the mistake of continuing investigations in this field, as new findings have

greater application in areas such as reading activity. In this respect, effective intrinsic motivation

helps instructors to convince their students to study harder and more productively (Knights et al.

2007). New findings also prove that people’s hierarchy of needs has changed (Marciano, 2010). And

so, a simple solution, which relates to human instinct and behaviours, known as intrinsic motivation,

is suggested. Therefore, a new approach is needed whereby students will be motivated according to

their individual natures to engage and participate in the reading activity.

The Concept of Motivation

Motivation has a big impact on student learning and performance. Dewey (1913) as cited on Tin

(2006), and Ainley et al (2002) stated that motivation plays an essential and necessary role in

learning. It means, student could be difficult to follow the learning activities when they don’t have

motivation (Ainley, Hillman, & Hidi, 2002; Tin, 2006). Meanwhile, Alexander & Wade (2000) and

McWhaw & Abrami (2001) explained that the motivation will greatly affect students' in learning

process and learning activity. The student who is not motivated to reading process and learning

activity, perhaps would have a tendency to not learn as well as possible, and eventually will

influence quality of learning, because when students have motivation students will prepare

themselves as well in learning (Alexander & Wade, 2000; McWhaw & Abrami, 2001). So, when

students were motivated to learning activities, perhaps students will be show appropriate behavior

such as more attention, more active, and more engage in activities that supported to the learning.

Based on explanation above, writer concluded motivation as a positive feeling including

engagement, attention, concentration, happiness and willingness to spend more time to specific

object or activity.
Theoretical Framework

As explained further in the literature review chapter, motivation can be understood as a stage in

which people are “energized or activated” to act in a particular way (Ryan, Deci, 2000, p. 54). The

intrinsic motivators can be briefly presented as natural, nonfinancial, “inside” incentives that drive

students to complete their tasks (Pink, 2009). It has been proven that what makes one firm more

effective than another is often the motivation of its own dedication (Griffin, Moorhead, 2006).

According to Valleley & Shriver (2003) and Strommen & Mates (2004), reading as a primary

learning objective for students in the early stages of formal education (Strommen & Mates, 2004;

Valleley & Shriver, 2003). Furthermore, Valleley & Shriver (2003) mentioned that students who

having strong reading have tendency to get success in their study.

Student's behaviors change, and, simultaneously, motivation factors differ. This is a result of the

fact that intrinsic motivational strategies are based on traditional motivation theories such as those of

Maslow, Herzberg, Vroom or Skinner, with adjustments according to current student’s needs. Many

factors influence students’ success in the classroom and researchers are constantly exploring options

that improve their success. It is important to consider the effects that rewards can potentially have on

students. Upon first inspection rewards are positive and encouraging but can be detrimental to

motivation when removed.

This effect has yet to be fully understood in a learning context and it is important to explore the

eventual harmful consequences of decreased motivation for pursuing improvement. However,

rewards in the classroom are not easy to control when grades are a consistent form of confirmation

and feedback acting as inherent classroom rewards. It may be more beneficial for instructors to

consider which goals they emphasize in their classroom.

from any negative influence of reward and extrinsic motivation on learning. This study explored

individual differences within a student population in order to investigate whether or not preexisting

learning-oriented goals could truly help shield students from fluctuations in rewards compared to

their performance goal oriented peers.

The aim of this study is to better guide the instructors by applying a research that correlates

reading motivation with comprehension. According to previous research, there was a meaningful

relationship between motivation and reading comprehension especially intrinsic motivation that

could improve reading comprehension (Taboada & Buehl, 2012).

One of the most important skills of language is reading comprehension and the students should

comprehend reading passages when they are them to be successful in their academic life.

Unfortunately, there is not enough attention to reading skill. One of the most important factors that

can influence reading comprehension is motivation. In fact, the correlation between reading

motivation and reading comprehension is more than reading activities and reading behavior. There

were a lot of research that examined the relation between motivation and reading comprehension and

it looks that there is a direct relationship between reading comprehension and reading motivation

(Morgan & Fuchs, 2007).

As a result, different approaches to motivation can emphasize on cognitive behaviors (such as

pre-reading strategy), non-cognitive aspects (such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes), or both. For

example, Gottfried (1990) defined academic motivation as “enjoyment of school learning feathered

by a mastery aspect; curiosity; persistence; taskendogeny; and the learning of difficult and new

tasks.”
Motivations to Students to Read Literature  

 ''Literature offers our students the chance to think not only about the characters they

meet in the pages of the books, but also about their own lives. We want students considering

situations from another point of view, experiencing things they have never before experienced;

we want them developing empathy. We want them reading literature.'' Literature opens doors

for students. It exposes them to new ideas and experiences. It gives them unique perspectives. It

allows them to learn and to escape. It entertains and informs. It makes them ask questions.

And, ultimately, literature enriches their lives.

Conceptual Framework

Applied to the English Literature Instructors of University of Eastern Pangasinan, this frame is

divided into three namely: the input, process and output.

This component structure of input includes: profile of the respondents namely: profile of the

instructors, educational attainment, experience of teaching the subject, instructors perspective

regarding intrinsic motivation.

The process involves survey, interview and observation in determining the effectiveness of pre-

reading activities.

The input and process will determine the output which is the pre-reading strategies as an

intrinsic motivation used by English Literature Instructors in the University of Eastern Pangasinan.

The output is the implications of using pre-reading strategies as an intrinsic motivation used by

the researchers to help improve the teaching strategies or styles of English Literature Instructors in

the University of Eastern Pangasinan.

The following hypotheses are generated by the Researchers.

1. There is no significant difference on the profile variables of the respondents and

implementation of pre-reading strategies as an intrinsic motivation.

2. There is no significant difference between the profile variables of the respondents and English

Literature Instructor’s perspective in intrinsic motivation.

Scope and Delimitation

This study is restricted to intrinsic motivation of the students, instructor’s prospective regarding

pre-reading strategies, essential activities to enhance reading comprehension among students of the

University of Eastern Pangasinan.

The participants in this study are the English Literature Instructors of the University of Eastern

Pangasinan from the College of Teacher Education.

Significance of the Study

This study is essential and profitable to University Administrators, University of Eastern

Pangasinan students, University Teaching Staff, Education Students, and Future Researchers.

To University of Eastern Pangasinan Students, the result may directly benefit the students.

The implication of pre-reading as an intrinsic motivation to effective reading comprehension.

To University Teaching Staff, this research will serve as a guide for quality and effective

application of intrinsic motivation in the reading and teaching process.

Education students and future researchers will make fully aware of the implications of intrinsic

motivation in the reading comprehension process.