Motivation is an important ingredient in reading engagement. Challenged readers with a history of failure in school may come to us as severe reading casualties. As reading facilitators we need to address the problem of lack of intrinsic motivation, before we can address reading assessment and development. Kamil, Pearson, Barr, & Mosenthal (2009) agree that "
motivation is crucial to engagement because motivation is what activates behaviour. A less motivated reader spends less time reading, exerts lower cognitive effort, and is less dedicated to full comprehension than a more highly motivated reader." (p. 408) We may therefore, need to engage our challenged readers in activities where we promote the aesthetics of reading, that honors students voices, without an emphasis on grades. For instance,students can listen to stories and give their views and emotional responses to the story, the characters or the setting.
Students must not be kept in a perpetual stage of slow paced reading instruction, but must be provided with authentic real world experiences that are meaningful and address their interest. Why can't a student who is interested in cars have reading instruction done on books or articles about cars?
Providing students with a sense of self-efficacy will boost their confidence to attain intrinsic motivation. Collaborative learning has been identified as a successful motivator. When students believe they can succeed and they have the support of their teacher and their peers they feel a sense of community. Tompkins, (2006) iterates that the role of effective teachers is to establish a community of learners in which students are motivated to collaboratively and purposely engage in reading and writing activities.
