Introduction

Yaacov Petscher, 2010

Attitudes have long been held as an important psychological construct as they play an important role
in moderating ones level of motivation and intention to read, as well as mediating the relationship
between an individuals beliefs and reading activities


Mathewson 1994 defined attitudes as prevailing feelings about reading, action readiness for reading
and evaluative beliefs about reading. McKenna 1995 identified beliefs about the outcomes of
reading, beliefs about the expectations of others in light of ones motivation and the outcomes of
specific incidents of reading as key attitude components.

Attitudes children may have about a specific reading activity affect both the amount of reading
children engage in (Ley, Schaer & Dismukes, 1994) and their reading achievement (Burns, Roe &
Ross, 1999; Downing, 1982; Ghaith & Bouzeineddine, 2003; Kush & Watkins, 1996).

Alexander and Cobb (1992) emphasised that attitudes are a prerequisite for reading, and negative
attitudes may be the single greatest predictor of future reading

Negative attitudes towards reading will also impact a students motivation and attention, both
critical to successful achievements in the school setting. Shapiro and White (1991)

Conversely, positive attitudes about reading lead students to seek opportunities to read, have higher
levels of motivation and greater sense of self-esteem (Robinson & Weintraub, 1973).

Instructional activities that will positively influence attitudes towards reading facilitate high levels of
achievement (Barnett & Irwin, 1994), and students who read more become better readers; they
become more proficient in reading fluency and comprehension, vocabulary and cognitive
development (Ivey & Broaddus, 2001).

Reading skills
Many literacy experts believe that poor reading attitudes are not causal, but consequential,
negatively impacting a childs ability to exert effort to learn new strategies for successful reading
(Ajzen, 1989)

The enhancement of attitudes towards reading, explained by Shapiro and White (1991), has been
dually focused on the improvement of attitudes towards reading across genre and environment as
well as the improvement of overall reading abilities of students.

Shiefele, 2012
Motivation is assumed to be of particular significance because it affects the amount and breadth of
students reading, which, in turn, facilitates the development of reading competence (Mol & Bus,
2011; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997b).

Seitz 2010
Because reading is an exigent activity that often involves choice, motivation is crucial to
reading engagement

In order for students to develop into effective readers, they must possess both the skill and the will
to read

Guthrie and Wigfield (2000), motivation is what activates behavior.