A Study On The Motivational Effect Of Four Pre-reading Activities In Senior High English Reading Class

One of the most intriguing questions in instructed language learning research is why some students are more successful than others in learning a foreign language in the classroom. In the pursuit of the answer to this question, second language acquisition researchers have identified that successful language learners have a large reservoir of motivation, which allows them to persist when confronted with difficulties during this long and not always smooth process of language acquisition. And the development of the SDT theory and the Process Model make it possible to investigate motivation on the task level. The English reading class as a significant part of instructed teaching has a priority in motivation research and what can teachers do to motivate students to read in English class? Some research on reading motivation points to successful methods and techniques based on which a universal teaching practice is recognized for teachers to motivate students using pre-reading activities. However, in their efforts to motivate students to read, teachers often do not realize that different instructional methods actually have different motivational effect on students. This paper tested the motivational effects of four typically used pre-reading activities (Prediction; Providing Background knowledge; Pre-questioning; Brainstorming) on a class of senior one students in the Attached High School to NanKai University. The whole class engaged in reading tasks following four different pre-reading activities conducted in English separately in four reading class. A post-reading motivation survey will be completed by the students after each class. In addition, suggestions are also made for the application of motivation-supportive pre-reading strategies in the classroom to create a favorable environment where reading comes alive. The results of the study show the Pre-questioning activity demonstrated its distinct advantage in motivating students to read compared to the other three cognitive pre-reading activities. And among the rest, prediction held the lead by a tiny margin with Brainstorming as the least motivational one. Possible reasons contributing to the findings are discussed and interpretations are proposed. Particularly, it is suggested that an integrated pre-reading strategy is favored in intensively motivating students in EFL reading classroom.