Abstract
The twofold aim of this study was to substantiate the validity of the Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Reading Motivation and Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Writing Motivation for third to eight graders and to map motivational trends in elementary and secondary education students’ academic and recreational reading and writing. More specifically, we adopted the innovative and coherent theoretical framework of the Self-Determination Theory to study qualitatively different motives for reading and writing and to examine the relationships between them. In total, 2,343 students from third to eighth grade were involved. Based on confirmatory factor analyses, a two-factor model, distinguishing between autonomous and controlled motivation, for academic and recreational reading and writing was confirmed in all grades. Furthermore, the scales were reliable, and the measurement models were invariant across students’ gender and their general achievement level. Despite the absence of strong invariance for the measurement models across each of the different grades, we found evidence that students within the same grade level (i.e., middle elementary, upper elementary, and lower secondary grade) interpreted the SRQ-Reading and Writing scale items in a conceptually similar way. Factor correlations confirmed the interrelatedness of reading and writing motives, as well as strong associations between students’ motivation to read and write in either academic and recreational contexts. Finally, concerning the motivational trends, the present results advert to a significant decline of students’ autonomous motivation to read and write, both in and outside school. Accordingly, we point out that the late elementary and the lower secondary grades are crucial phases to engage students in motivating literacy activities. In light of these alarming results, we recommend future experimental research studies to focus on evaluating the effectiveness of instructional reading and writing activities that foster students’ innate need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Highlights
In November 2018, the European Literacy Network (ELN) signed a charter declaring engagement in perfecting and spreading literacy so that a truly human world, reflecting democratic values, can be established (European Literacy Network, 2018)
This study extends prior research by (a) assessing qualitatively different types of both reading and writing motivation within the same study, (b) studying these types of motivation in the academic as well as in the recreational context, (c) investigating reading and writing motivation in both elementary and secondary education, (d) studying measurement invariance according to different student characteristics, and (e) investigating the interrelatedness between reading and writing motivation
All 2,343 students completed the SRQ-Reading Motivation for academic and recreational reading and the SRQ-Writing Motivation for academic writing. 1,020 students (43.5%) indicated that they write during their free time and subsequently completed the SRQ-Writing Motivation for recreational writing
Summary
In November 2018, the European Literacy Network (ELN) signed a charter declaring engagement in perfecting and spreading literacy so that a truly human world, reflecting democratic values, can be established (European Literacy Network, 2018). Writing assessment reports revealed alarming results on students’ poor writing performance (Inspectie van het Onderwijs, 2010; National Center for Education Statistics, 2012) In light of these findings, various empirical research studies refer to motivation as an important predictor of reading and writing performance (Graham et al, 2007; De Naeghel et al, 2012; Troia et al, 2013; De Smedt et al, 2016, 2018b; Teng and Zhang, 2018; Rocha et al, 2019; Rogiers et al, 2020; Toste et al, 2020), strongly emphasizing its key role in fostering both students’ reading and writing skills (Graham, 2018a,b). Writing motivation decreases as students progress through school (Cleary, 1991)
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