THE EFFECTIVENESS OF REWARD MOTIVATION

IN ENHANCING ENGLISH READING HABITS

OF YEAR FOUR STUDENTS IN
SK PETRA JAYA,
KUCHING

KHADIJAH VONG BINTI BUSTAMAM

SUBMITTED IN PART FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF TEACHING
(PRIMARY EDUCATION)

FALCULTY OF EDUCATION
OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
MAY 2011

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work in this thesis entitled The Effectiveness of Reward
Motivation In Enhancing English Reading Habits of Year Four Students in Sekolah
Kebangsaan Petra Jaya, Kuching is done by me except for quoatations and
summaries which have been duly acknowledged.

Date: 17 July 2011

Signature:

__________________________

Name:

KHADIJAH

VONG

BUSTAMAM
Matrik No. :

ii

691215135486002

BINTI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks to the Almighty God for His shower of blessings and mercy that I
am able to complete this school-based research within the given time. At the same
time, I wish to express my greatest and sincerest appreciation to my supervisor,
Madam Josephine Maung for her invaluable ideas, guidance, patience, and support
in the pursuance of this study. I would also like to thank my colleagues, friends and
course mates for their support and ideas shared. My special thanks also goes to all
the students (Year 4 Anggerik) of Sekolah Kebangsaan Petra Jaya, Kuching for their
co-operation in supplying the research data for this study. Without their help in
answering the questionnaires, this study would have not seen the light of day. Last
but not least, my gratitude goes to my parents, husband and children for their endless
love, understanding, support and encouragement.

iii

ABSTRACT

This

research

was carried out to investigate

the

reading habits and

attitudes toward reading English materials among the Year Four Anggerik students
in Sekolah Kebangsaan Petra Jaya, Kuching. This study also aimed to determine the
effectiveness of reward motivation in enhancing English reading habits among the
students. A total of thirty students of Year Four Anggerik participated in this study.
This study took the quantitative design research.

The questionnaire with the

reliability of r = 0.628 Cronbachs Coefficient Alpha was used an instrument in the

data collection.

The data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for

the Social Sicence (SPSS) version 11.5 for Windows. Simple descriptive form that is
frequency, percentile, standard of deviation and means were used in the data
analaysis.

The findings from this study showed that the students had positive

attitudes towards reading English but their reading habit was quite low. The reward
motivation was not the main influence for them to read. This study found out that
the students were more on grade motivation, instrumental motivation and intrinsic
motivation.

iv

CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

iii

ABSTRACT

iv

CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

xi

CHAPTER ONE :

RESEARCH PROBLEM

1.1

Introduction

1.2

Background of the Research

1.3

Statement of Research Problem

1.4

Conceptual Framework

1.5

Aim of the Research

1.5.1

Research Questions

1.5.2

Research Hypotheses

1.6

Significance of the Research

1.7

Limitations of the Research

1.8

Definition of Terms

1.9

Summary

12

CHAPTER TWO:

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Introduction

13

2.2

Related Literature

13

2.2.1

Importance of Reading

13

2.2.2

The Reading Process

15

2.2.3

Theories of Motivation

17

2.2.4

Students Reading Attitude

19

2.2.5

Motivation to Read

21

2.2.6

Reading Characteristics

23

2.3

Related Research

24

2.4

Summary

26

CHAPTER THREE :

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1

Introduction

28

3.2

Research Design

28

3.3

Population and Sample

29

3.4

Sampling

29

3.5

Research Instruments

30

3.6

Data Collection

33

3.7

Data Analysis

34

3.8

Summary

36

vi

CHAPTER FOUR :

DATA ANALYSIS

4.1

Introduction

37

4.2

Profile of Respondents

37

4.3

Research Findings

39

4.3.1

English Reading Habit

39

4.3.2

English Reading Attitudes

43

4.3.3

The Level of the Reading Motivations

64

4.3.4

The Effectiveness of the Reward Motivations in Enhancing

Students to Read English

4.4

66

Summary

CHAPTER FIVE :

71

SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND

RECOMMENDATION

5.1

Introduction

72

5.2

Summary and Conclusion of Research Results

72

5.2.1

Reading Habits

72

5.2.2

Reading Attitudes

74

5.2.3

Reading Motivation

74

5.3

Discussion of Research Results

75

5.4

Implication of Research Finding

78

5.5

Recommendation

80

5.5.1

Recommendation for Teachers

80

5.5.2

Recommendation for Further Research

80

5.6

Summary

81

vii

5.7

Conclusion

82

REFERENCES

83

APPENDIX
Questionaire

90

viii

LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1

Layout of The Questionnaire

32

Table 3.2

The Action Research Process

34

Table 3.3

Method of Analysis for Research Questions

35

Table 3.4

Average Mean Score Interpretation

35

Table 4.1

Demographic Background of the Respondents

38

Table 4.2

The Reading Interest of the Students in English

40

Table 4.3

The Frequency in Reading English

40

Table 4.4

Time Spend on Reading in English

41

Table 4.5

The English Reading Materials the Students Prefer

41

Table 4.6

With Whom the Students Read English

42

Table 4.7

Numbers of English Books Read in a Week

42

Table 4.8

Numbers of Students Reading at Home

43

Table 4.9

Numbers of Students Using a Dictionary When Reading in English 43

Table 4.10

Item 1: I find reading English interesting

44

Table 4.11

Item 2: I enjoy reading English

45

Table 4.12

Item 3: Reading English is important to me than the reward

46

Table 4.13

Item 4: Reading English is relevant to my life

46

Table 4.14

Item 5: Reading English helps me to understand and speak

English

48

Table 4.15

Item 6: I like reading English that challenges me

49

Table 4.16

Item 7: I think reading English will be helpful to me

50

Table 4.17

Item 8: I read English to do better in than my friends on the

English test

51

Table 4.18

Item 9: Getting good marks in my English is important to me

52

Table 4.19

Item 10: It is my fault if I do not understand English

53

ix

Table 4.20

Item 11: I think about how my reading will affect my overall

English results

54

Table 4.21

Item 12: I think reading English can help my career

55

Table 4.22

Item 13: I think reading English can help me to get a good job

56

Table 4.23

Item 14: I put more effort into reading English if my teacher gives
me a reward

Table 4.24

57

Item 15: I think the reward will make me interest in reading

English

58

Table 4.25

Item 16: I read English because I want my teacher to notice me

59

Table 4.26

Item 17: I read English because I want to get a reward

60

Table 4.27

Item 18; I will spend more time in reading English if there is a

reward given

Table 4.28

61

Item 19: I think giving a reward is very important to continue

reading English

Table 4.29

62

Item 20: I think the reward is very effective in encouraging me to

read English

63

Table 4.30

Level of Reading Motivation

64

Table 4.31

David Correlation Value Interpretation

66

Table 4.32

Correlation Between the Gender and the Reading Motivation

67

Table 4.33

Correlation Between the Race and the Reading Motivation

68

Table 4.34

Correlation Between the Academic Performance and the Reading

Motivation

Table 4.35

69

Correlation Between the Parents Occupation and the Reading

Motivation

70

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1

Conceptual Framework of The Research

Figure 2.1

The Reading Process

16

Figure 2.2

Internalizing Motivation

18

Figure 4.1

The Level of Motivation

65

xi