Motivation, Reading, and Extramural English : A study on if, and how, teachers of English work with motivation toward literature in relation to extramural English

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of secondary school English teachers in regard to their students’ motivation toward reading and literature in school. The aim of this study was also to examine if the teachers had experienced that extramural English has had any positive and/or negative effects on their students’ motivation. The study was carried out through a survey with 60 secondary level teachers of English and four qualitative interviews with secondary level teachers. The results showed that students, in general, tend to be unmotivated and reluctant toward reading, and that teachers work to solve this by using strategies such as connecting the reading to the students’ everyday lives and clarifying the purposes of their reading assignments. Most of the respondents believed that extramural English has positive effects on the students’ learning as it helps students improve their language skills outside of school and shows the students that English is useful in their everyday lives. Moreover, most respondents also identified negative effects of extramural English, as it might provide students with a sort of language that is not appropriate in school. The short texts and language tools may also affect the students’ reading skills as they acquire English without having to read long texts or process what they read in the same ways as they would in school. Thus, extramural English was, according to many of the respondents, believed be one of the reasons as to why students are not motivated to read in school.