The influence of reading motivation on reading behaviour. A qualitative study on the reading behaviour of high school students.

Abstract

The reading behaviour of children, students and adults has been a topic of sociolinguistic research for many years. One of the subtopics in this field is reading motivation. Reading motivation consists of various components (such as interest and involvement) and is influenced by different factors (e.g. the literate environment). The purpose of this thesis is to take a close look at the reading behaviour and reading motivation of high school children in the Netherlands. The main research question is: which factors influence the reading behaviour of high school children?, and the sub questions related to this main question are: (1) to what degree are reading motivation and reading attitude perceived to contribute to reading competence? (2) to what extent are the results from the interview similar to or different from those from the questionnaire?, and (3) what are the differences in and similarities between the reading behaviour of multicultural and monocultural students? In order to address these questions, this study examines the reading behaviour of fifteen high school children by means of an interview and a questionnaire. This study shows that reading motivation and reading attitude are perceived to contribute to reading competence, and that the results of both methodologies employed show comparable findings. The reading behaviour and reading motivations of monocultural and multicultural are likewise similar: no major differences are found. Finally, it is concluded that interest, involvement, and the literate environment are the factors that influence the reading behaviour of high school children.