The Effects of Purposeful Reading on Reading Comprehension and Task Motivation

This study examined the effects of purposeful reading on reading comprehension and task motivation. Specifically, this study investigated whether purposeful reading could increase reading comprehension ability and students' task motivation through the comparison between purpose and no-purpose groups. Fifty eight 3rd-year middle school students participated in the study and were randomly assigned to one of either the purposeful (N=26) or the non-purposeful reading groups (N=32). The learners' reading comprehension was measured through three posttests, and their general motivation level toward English learning and task-specific motivation were also checked using questionnaires. The results demonstrated that purposeful reading played a positive role in reading comprehension especially when reading texts were more challenging for the learners. The results also revealed that the purpose group students showed a significantly higher level of task motivation than those in the no-purpose group even though the two groups displayed a similar level of general motivation toward English learning initially. The findings provided Korean EFL middle school students' characteristics and task motivation with regard to purposeful reading, and suggested pedagogical implications to pursue reading proficiency and task motivation enhancement.