The efficacy of socio-affective teaching strategies in a reading intervention: Students’ views and opinions

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper reports on students’ opinions of the effectiveness of social and affective teaching strategies to improve their reading proficiency. An intervention, based on Guthrie and Wigfield’s (2000) engagement model, was conducted using two groups of first-year students, classified as High Risk and Low Risk. Interviews were conducted with selected students, and their responses were analysed using content analysis. The responses of the students suggested a relationship between socio-affective strategies and students’ reading proficiency. Students reported that they were motivated to put more effort into reading to improve their reading proficiency when social and affective strategies were used in reading instruction. The paper argues that as reading is a social, affective and cognitive activity, and given that a number of students have been disadvantaged by their backgrounds in developing appropriate affective and cognitive reading literacy levels, reading instruction should include socio-affective strategies in order to address students’ reading challenges more efficiently.