A study on intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, reading efficacy, reading motivation in relation to the reading competency of top-performing and low-performing primary students in Hong Kong : a gamified reading perspective

Abstract

This exploratory study is to examine how do intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, reading efficacy and intrinsic reading motivation affect reading competency of the top-performing and low-performing primary students in Hong Kong, particularly in the context of gamified reading.

A mixed-method research of quantitative and qualitative was adopted. Two sets of secondary data, composed of self-administered questionnaire survey and face-to-face interview, were obtained from the Project of Reading Battle (one of the established online gamified quizzes database in Hong Kong). A total of 57 primary school students (n=57) were interviewed and analysed in two groups: the top-performing group (n=39) and the low-performing group (n=18).

Results indicated that the positive correlations of most of the motivational constructs and reading efficacy in relation to reading competency were significantly confirmed. Comparing the two groups, all correlations were found stronger in the top-performing group, and differences in intrinsic motivation, extrinsic and reading efficacy were observed. With gamified reading, the interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation was found influential in enhancing one’s reading efficacy and regulating reading activity in terms of the amount and breadth of reading.

To conclude, this study could provide more insight for predicting how top-performer and low-performer participate in gamified reading base on in their different motivational characteristics.