Motivational changes in an English foreign language online reading context

I investigated how reading online affects English foreign language (EFL) learners’ motivation to read all-English texts. Two classes of intermediate Taiwanese EFL learners in a college reading course participated. Each student read one online story every week during the semester-long experiment. A pre- and postreading motivation questionnaire, adapted from Mori’s study, was administered to ascertain students’ motivational changes. Results from a t test showed that reading using an e-book had a positive effect on students’ motivations for reading in terms of several dimensions: reading efficacy, challenge, curiosity, involvement, reading for grades, and integrative orientation. Analysis of variance results showed that female students in the low-proficiency group were significantly more positive about the motivational effects of online reading than were low-proficiency male students.