A Study on the Reading Motivation of Elementary 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Students

Abstract

Reading motivation can be defined as intrinsic and extrinsic factors that encourage individuals to read. This study focuses on whether elementary level 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students’ intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation is affected by the variables of gender and grade level. Being a descriptive survey, the study had 520 participants. The data obtained were analyzed by two-way MANOVA and correlation analysis. The results showed that extrinsic motivation is more effective for the reading motivation of girls than boys, and that as grade level increases, intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation decreases. Falling reading motivation despite increasing grade level is a serious problem considering the many efforts made in recent years to develop reading habits in students. This necessitates new efforts in Turkey towards increasing the reading motivation of elementary students