EFL Turkish university students' attitudes and motivation towards reading in English

Proceedings of the 1st GlobELT Conference on Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language -- APR 16-19, 2015 -- Antalya, TURKEYWOS: 000380512200096This study investigated EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Turkish students' attitudes and motivation towards reading in English with regards to their proficiency level and gender. The study was carried out at Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University the School of Foreign Languages, with the participation of 61 intermediate, pre-intermediate and beginner level EFL learners. Data were collected through a perception questionnaire. A "Foreign Language Reading Attitudes and Motivation Questionnaire" was used to find out the students' attitudes towards reading. The analyses of the data from the questionnaire revealed that the students' attitudes towards reading in English were neutral, and there is a statistically significant difference between intermediate level learners and pre-intermediate and beginner level learners. Furthermore, the results revealed statistically no significant difference between males and females in relation to the participants' attitudes toward reading. The comparison of the different levels of students indicated that high proficiency learners had a positive attitude towards reading. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd