• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of TUScholarShareCommunitiesDateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsGenresThis CollectionDateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsGenres

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Help

    AboutPeoplePoliciesHelp for DepositorsData DepositFAQs

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    The Effect of Choice on Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, Reading Self-Efficacy, and Reading Performance

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    TETDEDXHann-temple-0225E-13224.pdf
    Size:
    18.83Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Genre
    Thesis/Dissertation
    Date
    2018
    Author
    Hann, Fergus Michael
    Advisor
    Beglar, David
    Committee member
    Nemoto, Tomoko
    Elwood, James Andrew
    Schaefer, Edward
    Department
    Teaching & Learning
    Subject
    English as A Second Language
    Choice
    Reading Anxiety
    Reading Autonomy
    Reading Interest
    Reading Performance
    Reading Self-efficacy
    Permanent link to this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/2974
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/2956
    Abstract
    Over the last decade, the idea of providing students with choices in their learning experience has attracted academic interest (Flowerday & Shraw, 2000; Katz & Assor, 2007; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008). Although some previous research has suggested that choice is beneficial to language learning, other research has indicated that choice has negligible (Iyengar & DeVoe, 2003) or even damaging effects (D’Ailly, 2004; Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, & Turner, 2004) on language acquisition. Considerable differences in the focuses of previous research can explain the conflicting results of these choice studies (Iyengar & DeVoe, 2003; Schwartz, 2004); however, researchers agree that choice is closely associated with motivation (Stefanou et al., 2004). For instance, various motivational models, such as self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), include the concepts of choice, autonomy, and control as key elements of intrinsic motivation and performance. This study had three main purposes, the first of which was to quantitatively examine the relationships among Reading Anxiety, Autonomy, Interest, Reading Self- Efficacy, and Reading Proficiency in Japanese EFL students in a first-year pre-intermediate reading course. The second purpose was to quantitatively examine the effect of having No Choice, Option Choice, and Active Choice (Reeve, Nix, & Hamm, 2003) on Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, Reading Self-Efficacy, and reading performance over one academic year in a foreign language reading curriculum. The final purpose was to qualitatively corroborate and support the quantitative findings through a series of structured interviews based on students’ beliefs and attitudes toward the provision of choice in the reading curriculum. A quantitative quasi-experimental design supported by a qualitative phenomenological component was used during the year-long longitudinal study with 201 first-year Japanese EFL students at a private university in Japan. Nine intact classes were randomly assigned into three groups: No Choice (n = 66), Option Choice (n = 67), and Active Choice (n = 68), as defined by Reeve et al. (2003). Affective Variable Questionnaires were administered to measure the levels of Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, and Reading Self-Efficacy before, during, and after a 32-week treatment. The results of reading performance measures, including Vocabulary Definition and Vocabulary in Context quizzes, Intensive Reading tests, Extensive Reading quizzes, Timed Reading assignments, Composite TOEFL, and TOEFL Reading component scores were tracked over the academic year. The results showed low to medium Pearson correlations ranging between r = - .39 to r = .29 among Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, and Reading Self-Efficacy. In addition, a stable, significant relationship was found between Reading Self-Efficacy and Reading Proficiency, as measured by students’ TOEFL scores and TOEFL Reading Component scores at the start and end of the academic semester. Initially, no such relationship was found between Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, and Reading Proficiency. However, by the end of the academic year, significant correlations were found among the Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, Composite TOEFL, and TOEFL Reading component scores. The results indicated significant changes in the affective variables within each group over the academic year. Over the year, significant decreases in Reading Anxiety, and significant increases in Reading Self-Efficacy in each of the three groups were particularly salient. In addition, there were significant changes in many of the Reading Performance measures for each of the groups; however, only the Active Choice group had significant changes in all seven Reading Performance measures over the year. In terms of the effect of choice on the affective variables, students in both the Active Choice and the Option Choice groups had significantly higher Autonomy gains than students in the No Choice group over the academic year. Thus, giving students any type of choice in their reading curriculum exerted a positive effect on Reading Autonomy. With regards to the effect of choice on reading performance, mixed results were found in the reading components among the three groups. First, in the Intensive Reading and Timed Reading components, students in the Active Choice group performed significantly better than students in the Option Choice and No Choice groups. This finding indicated that when choice is given to students, it is necessary that the locus of control be with the student. With respect to Vocabulary Definitions and Vocabulary in Context components, both the Active Choice and Option Choice groups had significantly higher scores than the No Choice group. In other words, any choice was considered better than no choice. The type of choice had no effect on the Vocabulary components. In Extensive Reading, the Active Choice group significantly outperformed the No Choice group in the Extensive Reading quizzes; however, the Option Choice group was not significantly different from the other two groups. The results indicated that only autonomous choice led to greater self-determination, and increases in performance. Finally, no differences were found among the three groups in the Composite TOEFL scores and the TOEFL Reading component scores. The quantitative findings were corroborated by interviews with 18 students with a wide range of motivation and reading performance, as measured by the Affective Variables Questionnaire and the reading performance measures. The students were interviewed about the treatment process and their feelings about having choice in the reading curriculum. Common themes derived from the interview data indicated that choice affected students’ sense of Reading Autonomy. A common pattern emerged from the data indicating that students in the Active Choice group with lower levels of affect and reading performance were less comfortable making choices than students with higher levels of affect and reading performance abilities. Additionally, students in the No Choice group with higher levels of affect and reading performance were frustrated by the lack of choice in the reading course. The study contributed four unique points to the field of choice in language learning. First, choice was found to increase students’ sense of Reading Autonomy, a key component in intrinsic motivation and successful learning (Littlewood, 1999). Next, having any type of choice was found to be beneficial in Vocabulary acquisition. Moreover, only autonomous choice was found to be advantageous in the more complex tasks of Intensive Reading, Extensive Reading, and Timed Reading. Finally, the benefits of choice did not extend to performance on the Composite TOEFL and TOEFL Reading components. The testing environment and the lack of choice available in standardized testing were demotivating and contributed to a decrease in reading performance. The mixed results of this study indicate that choice is a complex phenomenon. The field of choice in education and language learning offers a wealth of teaching and research possibilities for future study.
    ADA compliance
    For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu
    Collections
    Theses and Dissertations

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Temple University Libraries | 1900 N. 13th Street | Philadelphia, PA 19122
    (215) 204-8212 | scholarshare@temple.edu
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.