Reading Self-Concept and Motivation: A Perspective from Students with Reading Difficulties

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between reading self-concept and motivation among a group of male and female students with reading difficulties, also exploring this according to gender variables. The paper also seeks to determine to what extent reading self-concept can predict reading motivation among these target students. The study sample comprised a group of 100 mixed male and female students studying at upper-primary schools in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, all of whom faced reading difficulties (RD). The researcher prepared and applied two tools in questionnaire form, the Reading Self-Concept Scale questionnaire (RSCSQ) and the Reading Motivation Scale questionnaire (RMSQ), both of which had acceptable validity and reliability. The study found a significant positive correlation between the total RSCSQ score and its reading ability domain and the total RMSQ score with each of its two domains. There is a significant positive correlation between the reading difficulties domain and the external reading motivation domain but no correlation between the reading difficulty domain and the total RMSQ score and its internal reading motivation domain. Second, the study found that for students with RD, while reading self-concept and its reading ability domain can predict reading motivation; the reading difficulty domain cannot predict reading motivation. These results were consistent both among the group and between gender variables.