They can because they think they can.pdf - CTE - Online Learning ...

written in a foreign language. I lackedthe confidence to read statistical textand research methodology at the beginningof my doctoral program, and thatlack of confidence threatened both mymotivation and my reading comprehension.Over time, I developed competencein reading these kinds of textsandconfidence in my ability to do so.Explicit instruction in reading comprehensionstrategies is essential tobringing struggling readers along. Butwithout a sense of competence,students will have a hard time digginginto enough positive reading experiencesto get the practice they'll need tointernalize those strategies.Self-Efficacy andText ComprehensionUncertainty, coupled with lack ofstrategy, subverts too many strugglingreaders' ability to comprehend text.When middle or high school studentsapproach content-area reading assignments,some feel confident in theirability to pull off the task, but manyothers feel clueless about how tosuccessfully comprehend the text.Self-efficacy and text comprehensionare not only situational but also interrelated,and motivation is related to bothelements. If students believe, forexample, that they have a good chanceof succeeding at understanding whatthey are reading, then they are likely tobe more motivated to engage in readingand to persevere. Guthrie and Wigfield(2000) call for "a reading engagementmodel" that underscores the importanceof both increasing students' motivationto read and providing instructionin comprehension strategies andsocial interaction in the classroom.Without the spur of motivation, strugglingstudents stand less chance ofbecoming engaged readers.Strategies to IncreaseEngagementOne of the realities facing teachersacross all content areas today is thatmany students either read at a superficiallevel to answer homework questionsor find ways to circumventreading altogether. When I wastempted to take the avoidance path as agraduate student, I was fortunate tohave the family support and personalmotivation to keep me going and helpme develop workable strategies. Educatorsneed to give struggling readers thesame kind of boost by increasing theirmotivation to comprehend texts andintroducing students to a variety ofcomprehension strategies. Effectiveresearch-based comprehension strategiesinclude question generation, questionansweringroutines, comprehensionmonitoring, cooperative learning,summarization, graphic organizers, andfamiliarity with different text structures.To use any comprehension strategyeffectively, students need to focus theirattention on the reading task at hand.Simply assigning them a text for homeworkor in-class discussion won'tnecessarily guarantee that they willattend to the reading task with thefocus needed for effective comprehension.In fact, the opposite may be thecase. Students with low self-efficacy caneasily become discouraged with thetask before they even start if their onlymotivation is to fulfill an assignment.Once into reading, these students'minds will quickly wander from thereading task if the text holds noinherent interest for them, if they readwithout purpose, or if they fail to makepersonal connections with the materialas they are reading. If students lackengagement with texts, they areunlikely to tap into whatever readingstrengths and strategies they possess.ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 57