CAR: A Means for Motivating Students to Read

By: Gloriela Jiménez Víquez 

Nowadays, the use of English in the internet has forced L2 learners to try to sharpen their reading skills as a way to get informed of what is going on in the world.  Thus, teaching this skill has become a great challenge for ESL teachers whose main goal is to help students face this process in an easy way so they can become successful readers.  However, L2 learners usually become overwhelmed with the amount of information that needs to be processed in order to understand language use.  That is why an important issue to consider is that motivation takes a very important role in helping students to acquire this important language skill.

The article presents different types of motivation to be applied in different classroom settings which include a variety of motivation-supporting instructional techniques to create a positive environment where reading “comes alive”.

Researchers have identified different types of motivation and how they influence learning.  Ryan and Deci 2000, cited by Komiyama, proposed the Self-Determination Theory, SDT as a way to show how motivation can enhance and maintain interest in learning. According to the SDT Theory, two forms of motivation “extrinsic ad intrinsic” can influence how a person learns.  Extrinsic deals with external factors such as good grades, rewards, etc. while Intrinsic motivation deals with internal aspects such as curiosity, and a desire to learn  where reading becomes more enjoyable and interesting.   Thus, SDT suggests that teachers support students’ psychological needs for Competence (C), Autonomy (A), and Relatedness  (R). 

The CAR principles develop more self-determined forms of student motivation.  Competence relates to the students’ feeling of being capable of completing L2 reading activities.  Autonomy refers to ability to be in control of our own behaviors, and Relatedness suggest that developing empathy with peers and instructors will help students feel part of the group. They will create a good environment for learning to take place.

When applying CAR principles in the classroom, teachers should take into consideration not only different learner variables (age, grade level, proficiency level), but also instructional variables (type of class, textbooks, objectives), because it’s important to consider that learners are individuals that have different interests and needs. Once this is taken into account, students will be able to develop emotional orientations with desired teaching behaviors that will help them read more, understand text, and use different strategies to convey meaning.

I agree that to help students improve their English reading skills teachers should nurture their motivational orientations and promote a learning environment that includes CAR principles and techniques to guide students to move from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation where they can take control over their own learning, based on their interests and needs.

Based on the article written by REIKO KOMIYAMA