The Impact of Authentic Context in an EAP setting on Reading Motivation

Abstract

While authenticity is recurrently associated with higher motivation, the question remains how an authentic context can affect reading motivation in an EAP setting. To investigate the effect, two groups of 30 EAP students were selected through cluster random sampling as control and experimental groups. A mixed methods approach was employed to collect data. The quantitative method encompassed the administration of the reading motivation questionnaire and the qualitative methods were the focus group interview and diary writing. Having administered the pretest of the reading motivation questionnaire at the beginning of the study, the researchers administered the posttest after the 8-week intervention of providing an authentic context. The findings revealed that the experimental group (Authentic context) had a higher reading motivation after the intervention as compared to the control group (traditional context). The interview findings also supported the quantitative findings. Moreover, the data from the diaries shed more light on the students’ general views of the two contexts such as their impressions of the tasks and activities, impressions of what was enjoyable and what was not, and the reactions to the instructor and the peers.Key term: reading motivation, EAP, authentic text; authentic task, authentic contextÂ