Achievement Motivation And High School Students’ Reading Proficiency: Integration Of Achievement Goal Theory And Expectancy-value Theory

Students’ motivation plays an essential role in the development of their reading proficiency.However,studies on achievement motivation in reading have been underrepresented in the literature.Building on existing studies in educational psychology and reading motivation research,this study proposes a conceptual model based on an integrative conception of Achievement Goal Theory(AGT)and Expectancy-Value Theory(EVT),two of the dominant theories on achievement motivation.This model hypothesizes that students’ achievement goals indirectly influence their reading proficiency through their expectancy for success and task value appraisals.With this model,this thesis seeks to address the following three research questions: 1)Is an integrative conception of AGT and EVT plausible? 2)What is the relationship between students’ achievement goals and their reading-specific expectancy-value appraisals? 3)How do students’ achievement goals and readingspecific expectancy-value appraisals affect their reading proficiency?To answer these questions,this thesis uses secondary data from four Asian countries(China,Japan,Singapore and South Korea)as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA)2018 datasets.In total,the samples include31,493 students from 898 schools.Based on the definitions of the AGT and EVT frameworks and relevant PISA documentation,this thesis selected 17 questionnaire items from the PISA dataset.Then,a series of measurement models are specified with these items and validated using confirmatory factor analysis(CFA).A total of four latent constructs are derived from these items,including mastery goal,performance goal,reading self-efficacy and reading enjoyment.Mastery goal and performance goal correspond to the dichotomous model of achievement goals,while reading self-efficacy and reading enjoyment correspond to the expectancy and value constructs defined in EVT theory.Finally,a structural model based on these latent constructs and students’ reading proficiency values is built and validated using structural equation modeling(SEM).The results reveal that: 1)the hypothesized model is a good fit to the data,which indicates that an integrative conception of AGT and EVT is plausible;2)overall,mastery goal positively predicts students’ reading self-efficacy and enjoyment,whereas performance goal negatively predicts reading self-efficacy and enjoyment;and 3)the indirect effects of students’ mastery goal and performance goal on their reading proficiency are positive and negative,respectively.Reading self-efficacy and enjoyment are potential mediators of these effects.The specific relationships among these constructs vary across different cultural contexts.This thesis is an attempt to explore the plausibility of integrating AGT and EVT into a unified framework and the applicability of this framework to the reading context.The findings of this study can not only help promote the integration of different achievement motivation theories,but will also prove beneficial to teachers in the implementation of appropriate teaching strategies based on their students’ motivational profiles.