Developing Reading Motivation

Name: Yunita Hidanatun Nisa
NIM: 1610117120020

Developing Reading Motivation

Abstract

One of the abilities a student must have is reading skill. To have reading skill students must have the motivation to read. However, not only do they have motivation, they also have to develop that motivation. This paper aims to inform readers about developing reading motivation. There are several things to do and a teacher also plays an important role in developing reading motivation.

Keyword

Reading skill, reading motivation, the role of the teacher

Introduction

            Reading is an important activity for everyone, especially for a student. The ability to read is one of the abilities that must be possessed by a student in order to facilitate the learning process of students at school or at home. Reading can also be said to be a process for interpreting a text. However, so that the text that is read can be understood as much as possible, then there are several factors that can support the process, one of which is reading motivation. According to Karahan (2017), individual’s motivation towards reading may affect the process of reading, comprehension, and interpretation positively or negatively. To build students' motivation to read, of course there are several things to do. Thus, there is no reason for students to be lazy to read.

            If in ancient times reading was identic with books or other print media, nowadays reading can also be done through digital media, such as accessing the internet through cellphones, laptops, and computers. However, one of the biggest keys for students to get used to reading is to determine the type of reading. As a teacher, of course we can know the level of knowledge of students. Therefore, if you give reading assignments to students, you should give something that is in accordance with the students' capacity. Student motivation is a concern for educators because when students do not engage in class activities, they will not put effort into truly understanding what they are studying (Rotgans & Schmidt, 2011). If students are given reading material that is easy for them to understand, then they will be able to interpret the reading and they are happy to read it.

            However, reading activities especially among students in Indonesia still receive attention from various circles, especially from educational institutions. It can be seen from the efforts of the school in increasing students' interest in reading through programs run by each school. Based on the 2016 Most Littered Nation in The World study, reading interest in Indonesia occupies 60 of 61 countries. One of the reasons for the low interest in reading Indonesian society is the lack of habituation of reading behavior especially for students. However, this can be dealt with if students are often asked to read and are often reminded to read. So, as time goes by the student will have reading skills and love reading activities.

            Reading skills include the process of gathering information for word recognition, finding main idea, understanding details, recognizing text structures, predicting author ideas, etc. All of that can help students to read. Such readers first understand the meaning of content and then associate new knowledge with previously learned materials (Susanti, Buan & Suhartono, 2013). Previous knowledge also affects the reading process. If students already have knowledge related to the reading they are going to read, they will be more interested in reading the next reading material. Knowledge of students 'motivation to read, defined broadly "as students' beliefs, values, and goals related to reading" (Guthrie & Klauda, ​​2014, p. 392).

            The purpose of reading is also very influential on the motivation to read. Someone who wants to read with good and right goals, they will love reading. For example, like a writer, they want to read a book because they want to perfect what is or what they will write. The more information they get from reading books, the better paper that they will produce. Likewise what will happen to students if they want to get achievements at school. They will read as often as possible so that they can gain more knowledge so that they can answer the questions given by the teacher easily

            Sometimes everyone's reading interest is very high, but reading hobbies are still not yet formed. Therefore, building self-motivation to read is very important. Motivation is the state of individuals to do something about a condition (Karahan, 2017). Personal motivation is the motivation that is created from the individual itself and motivation is the most powerful motivation for individuals or students. Students who have high motivation in reading will have high enthusiasm in reading. A teacher is very important in a situation like this because often the motivation that students get comes from the learning environment and in the learning process of the students. The motivation of students to read can be linked to their personal dreams in the future. Thus, students will find it easier to get personal motivation to read. Furthermore, personal motivation can also be related to what things they will get if they have reading skills. Sometimes students will be more interested in doing something if they know what they will get if they do “that” thing.

            Reading is one of the activities that is fun, calming, and can provide a special pleasure. It's just that sometimes someone feels they don't have the luxury of time to read because it's full of the various routines and busyness that they have. Therefore, managing time to read can also affect the motivation to read. Reading can indeed be done at any time. However, if the time to read is not well regulated, it is likely that it will also affect the reading results. According to Rahim (2008), reading is a complicated activity that involves visual activity, thinking, psycholinguistics, and metacognitive. So, it can be concluded that reading requires the right time. However, time to read is not easily available. The time to read is something that must be sought.

            In conclusion, reading is one of the needs for everyone, including students. Therefore each student must have the ability to read because it can affect the learning process of students. The most influential factor in the ability to read a student is reading motivation. Motivation to read for a student is not only possessed but also needs to be developed. There are many ways to develop student reading motivation such as getting used to reading, having the good reading goals, building personal motivation and being able to manage time to read so that reading activities are not boring. In developing reading motivation, teachers also play an important role. Therefore, a good teacher is a teacher who can build and help a student in developing the motivation to read.

References

- Karahan, B. U. (2017). The Correlation of Reading Motivation & Reading Engagement With Readding Comprehension Skills In 8th Graders. European Journal of Education Studies, 3(9), ISSN: 2501 – 1111. Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu

- Rotgans, J. I., & Schmidt, H. G. (2011). Cognitive Engagement in The Problem-Based Learning Classroom. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 16(4), 465-479.

-  Susanti, I., Buan, S., & Suhartono, L. (2013).The use of cloze procedure to test the students reading comprehension. Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 2(2).

- Guthrie, J. T., & Klauda, S. L. (2014). Effects of Classroom Practices on Reading Comprehension, Engagement, and Motivations for Adolescents. Reading Research Quarterly, 49, 387–416.

-  Rahim, Farida. (2008). Pengajaran Membaca di Sekolah Dasar. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara.