Text selection and students' motivation to read

This study explores the relationship between features of the books students selectfor independent reading and their motivation to read. After spending 15 to 20 minutes reading self-selected texts, participants (n = 340) completed the Motivation to Read Profile-Revised (MRP-R) (Malloy et al., 2013) and provided information about their book. A significant positive correlation (p < .001, d = .361) was found between the enjoyment students experience from the book and their motivation to read. Students who loved their book had significantly higher median motivation scores compared with their peers who did not love their book. Associations between motivation and other features of the book (i.e., format, genre, thickness, visual features) were either very weak or not statistically significant. Follow-up semi-structured interviews (n = 8) revealed that highly motivated and unmotivated students alike know their reading preferences but that unmotivated students are afforded less freedom in their text selections. This study adds further support for the importance of matching children with compelling texts.Includes bibliographical references