Brandt et al., (2021) point out the need for teachers to instill in their students the culture of reading books. They detail seven motivational principles that teachers can use to inculcate a strong reading habit in young minds. These principles include: Providing learners with a selection of books, parent-learner collaboration during reading, giving students control over their reading skills, giving learners authentic reading materials, integrating technology in the reading plan, incentivizing reading, and assigning manageable reading tasks to the learner. They proceed to conduct an empirical test on the efficiency of the seven indicators in a sample of 256 learners in one elementary school and nine reading teachers. The test subjects were exposed to the seven indicators of teaching literature after having been taught using conventional methods established by their teachers. The effect of the introduced model as assessed in the transformation registered in the learners one year after it was first introduced. Taylor-Powell and Renner’s five-step test was used to qualify the transformative changes if any.
According to the teacher’s assessment, the seven motivational principles resulted in a shift in attitude in learners towards reading books. Learners were more willing to participate in reading lessons and it resulted in an improvement in their reading skills and comprehension. The research is well-designed and its results are significant for teachers looking to improve the reading skills of their learners. One criticism that could be aimed at the article is that it does not consider how the seven-point plan as proposed by Brandt et al., (2021) fits into the English lesson and the larger curriculum as a whole and whether it can be effectively implemented in a wide variety of schools.
Reference
Brandt, L., Sharp, A. C., & Gardner, D. S. (2021). Examination of teacher practices on student motivation for reading. The Reading Teacher, 74(6).