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The relationship between motivation to read and reading comprehension in chilean elementary students

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Abstract

This study examined the role of reading motivation in reading comprehension achievement of 1070 Chilean third, fourth, and fifth-grade students enrolled in public and private schools. Students were assessed in Spanish reading comprehension and were administered the Motivation to Read Profile from Gambrell, Palmer, Codling and Mazzoni (1996), at the beginning and end of the school year. Results showed that motivation to read at the beginning of the school year was significantly associated with gains in reading comprehension skills. When disaggregating motivation into self-concept and value of reading, only self-concept of reading significantly predicted gains in reading comprehension. Moderation analyses showed that students that started the year with lower reading comprehension and higher motivation to read, had significantly better reading comprehension at the end of the school year, than their peers who started with lower reading motivation. The pedagogical implications are discussed.

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  1. Universidad de los Andes, Chile, Monseñor Alvaro del Portillo 12.555, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile

    Pelusa Orellana, Carolina Melo & Paula Baldwin

  2. The University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA

    Samuel De Julio

  3. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile

    José Pezoa

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  1. Pelusa Orellana
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Appendix

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Table 5 Descriptives by Grade Level
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Table 6 Correlations
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Orellana, P., Melo, C., Baldwin, P. et al. The relationship between motivation to read and reading comprehension in chilean elementary students. Read Writ 33, 2437–2458 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10051-3

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