EAP Students’ Reading Motivation of English Academic Expository Texts: A Mixed Methods Design

Abstract

This mixed methods research study explored the nature of reading motivation of selected EAP students majoring in medicine at an Iranian Medical University. In addition, this study examined the relationships between reading motivation constructs and reading proficiency (RP). In the quantitative part of the study, 95 students responded to the adapted version of the Reading Motivation Questionnaire (RMQ). In the qualitative part of the study, eight students (4 high and 4 low achievers) participated in semi-structured interviews concerning their perceptions of reading expository texts. The quantitative results indicated that the students were motivated more intrinsically than extrinsically when reading English. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis revealed a significant and positive correlation between RMQ and RP. The qualitative results indicated that selected EAP students majoring in medicine are motivated to read academic expository texts because of a wide variety of reasons including intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy, to name just a few. Based on these mixed methods data, it is concluded that reading motivation is a multidimensional construct with multiple components.