중학생 영어 학습자의 읽기 동기: 영어 읽기 수준과 학년에 따른 차이

Abstract

Middle School English Learners' Reading Motivation: Differences Based on English Reading Proficiency and Grade Min Jeong Kim Advisor: Kyung Ja Kim. Ph.D. Major in English Language Education Graduate School of Education, Chosun University This study aims to investigate the motivation for English reading among South Korean middle school students and analyze the differences in English reading motivation based on their proficiency level and grades. To achieve these research goals, surveys and English reading test were conducted on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-grade middle school students in Gwangju Metropolitan City. The students' response to English reading motivation items were scored on the Likert scale. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and t-test was conducted to examine differences in English reading motivations between the upper and lower groups of their English reading achievement scores. Then, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to investigate differences in English reading motivation factors, and a post-hoc test was conducted to analyze whether there was a difference among the three grade levels. The results of the study are as follows: The first finding reveals that, through the analysis of rankings for motivation factors in English reading among middle school students, extrinsic motivation (M=3.50) was identified as the highest, followed by self-efficacy (M=3.28), intrinsic motivation (M=2.97), and reading avoidance (M=2.61). This result suggests that middle school students who are English learners engage in English reading activities primarily for extrinsic reasons, such as academic performance and career choices. The second finding involves determining English reading motivation based on English reading achievement levels (upper vs. lower). To do this, the mean score for English reading achievement, which was 77 points, was used as a criterion. Participants with scores of 80 or above were classified as the upper group, while those with scores below 80 were classified as the lower group. The finding suggests that, based on English reading achievement levels, there were slight differences in the mean values for the four motivation factors between the upper group and the lower group for extrinsic motivation (M=3.61 for upper vs. M=3.36 for lower, t=-1.292, p=.205), intrinsic motivation (M=3.17 for upper vs. M=2.70 for lower, t=-1.634, p=.112), reading avoidance (M=2.48 for upper vs. M=2.78 for lower, t=1.906, p=.065), and self-efficacy (M=3.32 for upper vs. M=3.11 for lower, t=-1.314, p=.198). However, statistically, these differences were not significant. The third finding reports that, in the investigation of English reading motivation differences, there were no statistically significant differences in the four English reading motivation factors across all grades. Meanwhile, the results of a grade-level multiple comparison investigating motivation factors for English reading revealed a statistically significant difference(p=.049) in students's self-efficacy between 1st-year (M=3.02) and 3rd-year (M=3.48). Through such statistical analysis, it can be inferred that 3rd-year students have significant more confidence in their English reading abilities compared to 1st-year students. Based on the study findings, teaching implications and suggestions for the future studies are discussed.