EFL Middle School Learners’ Lexical Profile and Academic Motivation During a Reading Course

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to examine 84 middle school learners' lexical profiles, academic motivation, and post-instructional reflections of a reading course. After the learners were involved in reading theme- based books based on Lexile levels and writing for post-reading controlled writing tasks, the learners were asked to respond to questionnaires on academic motivation and a reflection of the course. The results were triangulated by semi-structured interviews with 14 learners. An analysis of learner writing products with RANGE GSL/AWL indicated that their percentage of words at the 2nd 1,000 and ‘Not in the list' level had increased at a statistically significant level. Academic motivation analyzed with paired t-tests indicated a significant difference only for ‘amotivation' by the end of the semester. Learners' reflection of the course provided further understanding of the reading course for improved reading ability and motivation.