OBJETIVO PRINCIPAL

There are several factors or variables that lead to the development of reading attitudes among learners and the attitudes that are formed lead to a certain behavior with regards to reading. Hockenbury and Hockenbury (2007) explain that attitudes form as a result of experience. The experience could be a personal one or an experience obtained through observation. For example, if children do not have access to print resources due to poverty in their communities, they grow up not valuing reading. Schools must be sites of rich literacy exposure and role models so that children can gain access to books and have teachers who love and model reading so that they learn from them. Teachers must also have access to interesting story books to make sure that learners have positive reading experiences, especially in the early grades of schooling. If learners do not experience success during their reading, their confidence drops and they may start being apprehensive when it comes to reading. If their parents do not engage in reading or do not keep many books at home, children tend to attach less significance to reading. Wang (2000) opines that teachers should provide chances for children to experience success when reading as children’s sense of success and confidence in reading is the first step for them to form a positive attitude toward reading.

Briggs (1987) points out that people are not born with specific attitudes. He confirms the view given earlier by pointing out that reading attitudes are developed as children become involved with people and their environment. Other than experiences, personal interests, taste and habits cause attitudes to evolve as children grow, mature and interact with others during pre- school days. This suggests that reading attitudes do not just mushroom at high school but they

can be developed early in a child’s life due to experiences he went through. Ntuli and Pretorius (2005) indicate that attitudes towards reading can begin in infancy and be enhanced throughout childhood. Wang (2000) too points out that children’s attitude can be formed and enhanced by specific experiences. For example, if children cannot get access to books, or if the books they read are not interesting, if their parents and teachers do not believe the children can read and the children themselves are not successful in their reading endeavours, the outcome would be a belief that reading is difficult, not important or boring. They will also believe that they cannot get anything from reading. This gradually leads to the formation of negative reading attitudes right from infancy and by the time such children reach high school a stable behaviour against reading has established. The path to the formation of reading attitudes can be briefly summarized in the diagram below.

Reading experiences → Beliefs→ Attitudes→ Behaviour

This diagram shows that the reading experiences children have directly determine whether they read or not. It explains that if their reading experiences are minimal or negative, children tend to believe that reading is not important. Such a belief leads to the formation of negative attitudes which brings out a behaviour of avoidance when reading has to be done.

Research also suggests that attitudes are made up of an emotional component, a cognitive component, and a behavioral component (Hockenbury & Hockenbury 2007; Myers 1999; Smith &Mackie 2007). The emotional component has to do with how reading makes learners feel. It is where learners may ask themselves: does reading lead to positive experiences, or does it make

me feel discouraged? If it leads to positive experiences and the learners possess the skill and

the will to read, they are likely to enjoy reading and may even continue to read in and out of school. The cognitive component has to do with thoughts and beliefs about reading. In this component, if learners believe that reading is unrewarding or not beneficial, they are likely to stop reading. The behavioral component has to do with how the attitude influences learner behaviour. As stated in the diagram above, once learners have a specific belief about reading,

attitudes begin to form leading to a behaviour that may either cause the learners to enjoy reading or avoid it.

Dweck (2007) discusses two types of learner mind-set that may hinder or promote learning new or challenging concepts at school. These are the fixed mind-set and the growth mind-set. The fixed mind-set is where some students believe that their intellectual ability is a fixed trait and such learners tend to be excessively concerned with how smart they are (ibid), or alternatively they believe that they cannot do something, or that they are not ‘clever enough’. During learning such learners seek tasks that will prove their intelligence and avoid those that might not (Dweck 2007).

In contrast, Dweck (2007) points out that students with a growth mind-set believe that their intellectual ability is something that they can develop through effort and education. During teaching and learning students with such a mind-set do not worry about how smart they will appear but they take on challenges and stick to them. In a brief contrast between the two types of mind-sets, Dweck (2007) points out that the fixed mind-set and growth mind-set create two different psychological worlds. While students with a fixed mind-set care first and foremost about how they will be judged and reject opportunities to learn if they might make mistakes, students with a growth mind-set care about learning and if they make a mistake, they correct it (Blackwell, Trzesniewski & Dweck 2007, in Dweck 2007). Students with a growth mind-set are more determined to learn in the face of failure. Instead of avoiding challenging topics, they escalate their efforts and seek new learning strategies. Therefore, in order for students to be motivated to learn and exercise their brains the more, teachers need to help them develop a growth mind-set. Such a mind-set can make learners understand that there is no substitute for hard work and determination at school.

Mathewson (1994) presents a model that shows a chain reaction between reading attitudes and the resultant behaviour, i.e. reading. The Mathewson model suggests that reading attitudes which include prevailing feelings about reading, action readiness for reading and

evaluative beliefs, influence one’s intention to read and to continue reading. The intention to read in turn influences reading, which includes text selection, attention and strategy use.

The Mathewson model suggests that for learners to develop a reading behaviour, it is not enough for them to have positive reading attitudes, which is an internal factor, but they must also have the intention to read. External motivators such as availability of interesting books to read, having friends who value reading, whether they comprehend what they read or not, and the individual’s emotional state also contribute to the decision to read. However, McKenna et al. (1995) highlight some limitations in the Mathewson model. One of its limitations is that its focus on the role of attitudes during specific acts of reading leaves long term effects on attitudes largely to implication. To construct a more conducive model with regards to long term development of reading attitudes, McKenna synthesized the work of Mathewson and adapted a view that attitude is largely affective in nature and that beliefs are causally related to it. The McKenna model identified three principal factors that influence attitude. These are: beliefs about the outcomes of reading in light of the judged desirability of those outcomes; beliefs about expectations of others in light of one’s motivation to conform to those expectations; and the outcomes of specific incidents of reading. The current study follows the position taken by Mathewson where it is believed that learners’ decision to read and to continue reading is not entirely dependent on their beliefs, feelings and behavioral intentions but that external motivators contribute to the decision to read and to continue reading.