































GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 18 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

used as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino, Latina, 
or Hispanic.) Because of changing demographics and 
population growth, schools throughout the country are 
becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse. 
In 2015, roughly 4.8 million or approximately 10% of 
all public school students in the U.S. were identified 
as English learners (McFarland et al., 2018), and 
researchers predict that by the year 2030 approximately 
40% of students will be English learners (Goldenberg, 
2013). Furthermore, almost eight of every 10 English 
learners in the U.S. are native Spanish speakers of 
Latinx origin (McFarland et al., 2018).

Academic performance among this rapidly-growing 
population of linguistically diverse students has 
consistently remained far below that of their 
monolingual peers (Baker, Richards-Tutor, Sparks, 
& Canges, 2018). In 2017, the achievement gap in 
reading between English learners and their English-
proficient peers on the National Assessment of 
Educational Progress (NAEP) was 37 points in fourth 
grade and 43 points in eighth grade (McFarland et al., 
2018).

English learners who value reading and see 
themselves as capable readers are motivated to 
engage more deeply with reading tasks (del Rio, 
2013), and prolonged reading engagement results 

Abstract
This qualitative study explored reading motivation 
among high school English learners whose first 
language was Spanish. Latinx English learners (N = 
87) from two southeastern, suburban school districts
took part in the first stage of the research. The
researcher utilized subscores for self-concept as a
reader and value of reading from a recognized reading
motivation survey instrument along with reading
subscores on a nationally recognized standardized
language assessment to identify students who could
be presumed to be less-motivated readers (n = 14)
for interview selection. Responses from six randomly
selected interviewees from this less-motivated
pool of participants demonstrated that they faced
numerous obstacles toward becoming proficient
readers, including challenging home environments
and debilitating anxieties. Overall, a series of complex
factors were shown to inhibit reading motivation.
Implications and practical recommendations for
educators are discussed.

Over the next 40 years, more than one million 
immigrants a year will move to the United States (Pew 
Research Center, 2015). The Pew Research Center 
(2015) predicts a 6% surge in the Latinx population in 
the U.S. from 18% to 24% between 2015 and 2065. (As 
used in this study, Latinx refers to an individual of Latin 
American origin or descent, and this terminology is 

Exploring the Reading Motivation of Less-
Motivated Adolescent Latinx English Learners

by robert a. Griffin



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 19 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

in increased academic English proficiency which 
promotes overall academic success (Cummins, 2011). 
Studies have found a strong relationship between 
higher levels of student motivation and increased 
academic achievement (Cox & Guthrie, 2001; Marks, 
2000; Schunk, Meece, & Pintrich, 2013). Specifically, 
research has shown that less-motivated students 
report a sense of disconnect with academic content 
and a feeling of isolation stemming from being labeled 
a poor student (Marks, 2000; McKool, 2007; Schunk 
et al., 2013). As such, this study seeks to explore more 
completely what inhibits motivation in reading among 
high school Latinx English learners.

Few studies exist specifically to explore what 
motivates English learners to engage in reading. Of 
the few studies that have been conducted concerning 
English learners’ reading motivation (e.g., Arzubiaga, 
Rueda, & Monzó, 2002; del Rio, 2013; Howard, 
2012; Ivey & Broaddus, 2007; Protacio, 2012), none 
addresses English learners’ reading engagement at 
the high school level. Listening to what students say 
about reading is central to this study’s purpose. As 
such, this study seeks to determine what high school 
Latinx English learners who are classified as less-
motivated readers say about themselves as readers 
and what factors promote or inhibit their motivation. 
The descriptor less motivated was chosen because 
motivation should be considered along a spectrum 
and cannot be defined dichotomously (Schunk et al., 
2013).

Expectancy-Value Theory
As the conceptual framework undergirding this 
study, the expectancy-value model of achievement 
posits that motivation is strongly influenced by one’s 
expectation of success or failure at a task (Applegate 
& Applegate, 2010; Atkinson, 1957; Wigfield & Eccles, 
2000). Proponents of the expectancy-value model 
have argued that an individual’s beliefs regarding 
competency and the extent to which one values 
an activity will determine the individual’s choice, 
persistence, and performance on that activity (Eccles, 
1983; Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzoni, 1996; 
Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). People will attempt to attain 
goals they value and perceive as achievable (Dörnyei, 
1998). Unfortunately, Wigfield and Eccles (2000) 
found that as individuals got older, their ability-related 
beliefs and values became more negative, which led 

to a decline in motivation and task engagement.

Trends in Prior Research
Past research into reading motivation among Latinx 
students has primarily concentrated on the cognitive 
processes of individual students, but there is a growing 
trend toward viewing reading motivation through a 
sociocultural lens. Additionally, prior research has 
concentrated primarily on elementary and middle 
school students. Few studies exist that specifically 
address reading motivation among high school Latinx 
English learners.

Arzubiaga et al.’s (2002) pivotal study of Latinx 
English learners’ reading motivation focused on how 
sociocultural dynamics such as home environments 
and family routines promote or inhibit reading 
engagement. Survey results (from Gambrell et al.’s 
[1996] Motivation to Read Profile) from 18 second-
generation Latinx English learners from Mexico and 
El Salvador in third and fourth grades and interviews 
with their parents suggested that family togetherness 
and the encouragement and emotional support it 
fosters positively related to how much children valued 
reading. Family nurturance that promoted students’ 
perceptions of the value of reading included teaching 
children religious values and moral principles, 
encouraging them to do well in school, and inspiring 
them to pursue an academic future. Furthermore, the 
extent to which families pursued Spanish and English 
reading and cultural activities positively correlated 
with how students perceived themselves as readers. 
In contrast, the extent and strenuousness of parents’ 
work responsibilities and the number of young children 
at home negatively influenced children’s perceptions 
of the value of reading (Arzubiaga et al., 2002).

In their formative mixed-methods study, Ivey and 
Broaddus (2007) sought to determine what effective 
literacy instruction in reading and writing among 
adolescent Latinx English learners entailed. Interviews 
with 14 Spanish-speaking Latinx English learner 
beginners in an upper middle school ESOL language 
arts classroom revealed that effective reading 
instruction for English learners involves flexibility and 
variety in the selection of texts. Students reported being 
motivated to read when texts matched their interests 
and were not overly difficult. Ivey and Broaddus (2007) 
cautioned against a blanketed, stereotypical selection 



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 20 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

of reading materials and noted how students, even 
those with similar linguistic and ethnic backgrounds, 
have unique family, cultural, and educational histories 
that influence what is engaging for them. Furthermore, 
this study revealed that when teachers take into 
consideration the larger sociocultural context of 
reading motivation and the individuality of each of their 
students, meaningful reading engagement is possible 
even before English learners have mastered content-
specific reading, writing, and language skills (Ivey & 
Broaddus, 2007).

In her qualitative study, Howard (2012) conducted 
three case studies to explore fourth-grade English 
learners’ (two Latinx students who immigrated to the 
U.S. from Mexico and one Hindi-speaking student 
who immigrated to the U.S. when he was a toddler) 
perceptions of themselves as readers, the types of 
reading support programs they valued, and their 
reading preferences. Survey results revealed that 
students were motivated to choose books their friends 
suggested, and surveyed students revealed that 
they were motivated to read when they were given 
the freedom to choose books that interested them. 
While they avoided overly long or difficult books, they 
favored graphic novels and fiction books most. Parent 
expectation was the number one reason students said 
they read outside of school.

An example of a sociocultural investigation of reading 
motivation among English learners is Protacio’s (2012) 
qualitative study in which she interviewed six English 
learners (four boys and two girls) in the elementary 
grades from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds 
about what motivated them to read. She discovered 
that English learners use reading to affiliate with their 
American peers and assimilate into their new culture. 
She also found that the students she interviewed were 
motivated to read interesting texts that are at their 
independent reading level. As integratively motivated 
English learners, the focal students in Protacio’s 
(2012) study remarked that reading became a way for 
them to bond with their peers in the United States and 
learn more about their new culture. In short, Protacio 
(2012) found that perceived competence, interesting 
reading materials, and social motivation all seemed to 
contribute to English learners’ reading motivation.

Using a quantitative approach, del Rio (2013) 

examined how third-grade reading achievement 
correlated with the reading motivation of fourth-grade 
students and how reading motivation (as measured by 
the Motivation to Read Profile [Gambrell et al., 1996]) 
related to fourth-grade reading achievement scores. 
Results from 207 fourth-graders in two different 
schools primarily of Latinx origin demonstrated that 
reading motivation influenced but did not control 
the correlation between third- and fourth-grade 
reading achievement scores. Most significant for del 
Rio’s (2013) study was its implication that students’ 
reading motivation in the early grades predicted future 
academic achievement.

Despite all the benefits of fostering increased reading 
motivation, research specifically investigating English 
learners’ reading motivation at the high school level is 
relatively scarce (Protacio, 2012). Investigating reading 
motivation among high school English learners, 
therefore, warrants concerted research. Research is 
necessary to further clarify the strengths and learning 
needs of underperforming English learners.

Method
As an expression of its exploratory focus, this study 
used a qualitative-dominant mixed methods design. 
Over 300 high school Latinx English learners in two 
suburban, southeastern U.S. school districts were 
invited to participate in this study, and 87 students 
(with the permission of their parents/guardians) 
agreed to participate in the first stage of the study, the 
survey phase. Reading motivation survey results and 
standardized test scores for these 87 participants were 
used to ascertain students who could be presumed as 
less-motivated readers. Specifically, three measures 
were used to collect data in a cascading design. 
Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP; Pitcher 
et al., 2007) survey results and ACCESS for ELLs 
(WIDA, 2019) English reading proficiency subscores 
were used to categorize participants (N = 87) into 
Below Average subgroups for the following categories: 
English reading proficiency (n = 48), student self-
concept as a reader (n = 43), and student perception 
of the value of reading (n = 31). Students who scored 
below average on all three measures were placed in 
a Less Motivated subgroup (n = 14), and from this 
group, six students were randomly selected to be 
interviewed (Figure 1).



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 21 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

elicit more-detailed responses or because students 
provided rich responses that elicited further tangential 
discussion. Each interview session was unique as the 
primary researcher and the research assistant probed 
to explore deep-seated emotions and experiences 
related to reading over multiple contexts.

Data Analysis
The primary researcher transcribed the interviews 
to promote familiarity with the data. The assistance 
of a shadow researcher, a doctoral candidate at the 
research university, was also utilized to assist with 
coding the transcribed interviews. The researchers 
read the transcripts repeatedly to ensure intimacy 
with the data. Using a constant comparative approach 
(Glaser & Strauss, 1967/2017), each interview 
was coded separately using open coding, and the 
researchers shared their codes with each other. After 
becoming highly familiar with the data and agreeing 
on the preliminary, open codes, the researchers used 
the same approach to develop overarching or axial 
coding categories (Creswell & Poth, 2018).

Findings
Six students identified as less-motivated readers 
were randomly selected to participate in the interview 
sessions: Timoteo, Ulises, Vicenta, Ximena, Yesenia, 
and Zanetta (all pseudonyms). The depth of self-
awareness of their own abilities as students and 

Data Collection
The conversational interview protocol used in this study 
(see Appendix A) is an adapted and abridged version 
of Sturtevant and Kim’s (2010) AMRP conversational 
interview for English learners (ACIELS). Ten questions 
were included on the interview protocol asking students 
to reflect on their reading experiences, primarily in 
English. Probing questions were also included to elicit 
more-detailed information from student interviewees. 
An audio recorder was used to record the interviews. 
The interviewer and a research assistant, a native 
Spanish speaker, took detailed notes on the students’ 
responses during the interview sessions. The 
researcher interviewed all students, while the research 
assistant sat in on each interview to translate for the 
interviewer or interviewee as necessary. To promote 
a natural manner of conversation, the interviewer 
began by telling interviewees about an interesting 
book that he had read recently and why that book was 
interesting to him. This brief introduction prepared the 
students to open up and share about their own reading 
experiences in an honest and reflective manner.

The interview sessions ranged in length from 35 to 67 
minutes, with the average length being approximately 
50 minutes. Some interviews were longer than others 
because more probing questions were needed to 

Figure 1. Procedure for selecting interview candidates.



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 22 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

readers was immediately apparent. In addition, the 
impediments they faced toward engagement with 
reading emerged from the conversational interviews.

Self-Awareness
Students reported a strong sense of awareness 
about their academic aptitudes both in and out of the 
classroom. They were acutely aware of their reading 
skills and language capabilities in English. Their reading 
motivation was linked to their image of themselves as 
poor students or nonreaders. They were specifically 
aware of their understanding of English and its impact 
on their perceptions of themselves as readers. In 
addition to being aware of their academic aptitudes, 
students were also highly aware of their own reading 
competence. Their struggles with reading caused 
lower self-esteem and feelings of embarrassment for 
not being able to transfer learning from one language 
to the other. Some of them expressed awareness 
that their limited vocabulary impeded their reading 
comprehension. Almost all of the interviewees were 
also aware that they were in the Less Motivated 
subgroup without being told beforehand.
When asked how she thought of herself as a reader, 
Ximena said in a tone of self-defeat, “A little bit. 
Not fluently. I’m an okay reader, not [an] excellent 
reader,” and Yesenia managed to utter, “A little bit 
less,” meaning that she thought she was in the “less” 
reading group. Ulises also knew right away into which 
group he fell, and he explained how he knew:

I’m in below . . . because I don’t think I have the 
perfect way how to read, so why would I teach 
someone to read if I don’t even know how to? . . . I 
do know, but I’m not a perfect reader . . . because 
when I read, I read slow. Sometimes I have to ask 
the teachers how you pronounce that word, and I 
. . . ¿Cómo se dice “tartamudeo”?. . . I stutter a lot 
when I read.

Zanetta knew she was in the below-average group, but 
she contributed her lack of motivation to the absence 
of childhood reading experiences: “I think it’s below 
because when I was a little child, I never read a book, 
never in my life. I read a book, I think one time, then 
never.” Zanetta also described as honestly as she 
could her sense of frustration at her own inability to 
learn English quickly enough, but her lack of progress 
likely came from her fear of failure:

Oh my gosh, I remember that because I feel so 

. . . I was so angry with myself because I don’t 
know . . . I don’t know English. I don’t know how 
to answer. I don’t know what do you say? I think 
it’s embarrassing because . . . for me, like example 
of me, I think I don’t read well in English, but it’s 
something interesting I have to do, and I have to 
learn. I think it’s more like leave. . . If you are scared 
of something, leave that, and you know you have 
to learn, so focusing that. What do you have to do? 
How is the best way? I think it’s more like that.

Zanetta’s honesty illustrated how English learners 
sometimes gave up on themselves because of their 
past failures with language.

Timoteo, in his verbose style, acknowledged his own 
internal lack of self-interest and motivation as the root 
causes of his poorer reading skills:

Through 1 to 10, I think I’m like a 4 or a 5, probably 
in the below average, probably because I don’t 
put 100% effort to learning how to read in English, 
which English is something important that will 
help you through all your life, but I just don’t put 
the 100% effort, and I bet if I did and I practiced at 
home, I would have been a good reader by now.

Unlike other students who had abandoned their hopes 
of improving, Timoteo’s response showed some 
glimmer of hope that he could improve with time and 
effort, but self-depreciation still came across in his 
response. These excerpts exhibited the strong sense 
of self that pervaded the responses of interviewees, 
and they highlighted an apparent connection between 
self-image and reading motivation.

Impediments
Students faced significant obstacles with regard 
to becoming literate in both Spanish and English 
and ongoing challenges to improving their reading 
proficiency. Difficult home environments and anxieties 
concerning reading in public emerged as important 
subthemes that demonstrated the extent of their 
personal and emotional roadblocks toward reading 
success. These findings also underscored the 
magnitude of the challenges these students face.

Early traumatic experiences. Students reported rifts 
or disturbances in the family, such as parental conflict 
or divorce, or other influential mitigating factors, 



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 23 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

such as financial hardships. Ulises, in what was a 
very touching exchange, talked about how his father 
abandoned the family: “He left us to . . . I don’t know. 
He left us . . . to make a new family, I guess.” Ulises had 
to stay with his neighbors because his parents worked 
for long hours: “My mom had to work to feed me here. 
My dad had to work too. I stay with my neighbors, and 
then they all took care of me.”

Moreover, Zanetta’s parents divorced when she was 
young: “When I was three years, my mom and my dad 
was separated.” Likewise, Vicenta’s mother left the 
family in Mexico to come to the U.S. when Vicenta 
was young: “She left me because she said in Mexico 
we didn’t have a good life. She was unemployed. She 
didn’t have no water. She said, ‘I have to leave my 
child, so I could have a better life.’” These examples 
highlighted the traumatic experiences that shaped 
the perspectives of students concerning learning, 
schooling, and reading.

The poverty and abject living conditions that many 
students interviewed had experienced were difficult to 
comprehend. Timoteo described in detail what life was 
like for his family in Mexico before coming to the U.S.:

When I was a little kid, probably when I was four, 
I also lived in a small house, probably with two 
bedrooms. It was made out of, I think, wooden 
boards. It was in Mexico . . . we didn’t have water 
running through our house—very poor lands, and to 
survive you would have to find jobs since you were 
young. Sometimes you would see kids in the streets 
asking at least for a nickel to buy them something 
to eat.

Current living conditions. Their living situations did 
not improve much after coming to the U.S. Parent 
workloads were of primary concern as their parents 
worked for long hours in factories doing labor-intensive 
tasks to earn money for the family. Heavy workloads 
served to distract the family from education for its 
members. Timoteo also described in detail the work 
situation of his parents:

I’m pretty sure that my parents would have love 
having a very good education because they could 
have probably had a better job and provide for their 
families with more money than they’re getting now, 
because right now, they are working at this factory. 
My dad, when it’s okay, $11 or $12 per hour, but 

even with all that money, he still doesn’t have 
enough to pay for the bill at the end of the week. He 
probably has 2 or 300 dollars left which probably 
will be used for needs from the house as well. [My 
mother] works in the same place, but she’s not in 
a higher rank like my dad. She has less years in 
there.

While heavy parental workloads were common, 
students did household chores or managed multiple 
things at home, all of which did not allow them to focus 
exclusively on schoolwork when at home. Ulises’s 
after-school routine involved him helping his mother 
in the afternoons: “I go help her. She does pillows, 
and I unfold the pillows to stack them in the back.” In 
his verbose and highly expressive manner, Timoteo 
related his household responsibilities outside of 
school, responsibilities and chores that left little time 
for schoolwork:

When I get home, I usually help my mom because 
she right now she can’t do much, so I have to help 
her with the babies. She does a lot of stuff because 
she’s taking these pills that the doctor gave her 
so she can feel better and work more around the 
house so she won’t get like . . . because without the 
pills, she gets really hard headaches. She gets big 
fever, and she collapse, and she can’t move a lot. 
That’s why she’s taking pills, and with the pills, they 
help her because she feels like she’s already ready 
to walk around, move more, but she still can’t . . . 
I help the baby. She takes care of the one that just 
was born, the newborn, and I take over my brother, 
the one year old, which I help her clean diaper, give 
him food and stuff like that . . . I also take care of 
my dog when I get home . . . I have been working 
a lot because my family is coming from North 
Carolina, so we have to get the house ready for 
them and everything, and I had to clean the whole 
entire porch, which is actually a big porch. Then 
they made me clean the whole, the porch bars, little 
bars.

Timoteo’s description highlighted the time restraints 
these students faced toward attaining any degree of 
literary or academic achievement.

Parental literacy. Students were also largely aware 
of the ability or inability of their parents to read and 
write both in Spanish and English. As such, students 



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 24 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

were aware of their own family members’ reading 
abilities and linguistic competencies in Spanish and 
English. Although their own motivation to read was 
low, sensitivity about their family members’ education, 
level of learning, and grasp of language was high. 
Literacy among their parents was generally low, and 
literacy in English was usually restricted to one parent, 
most often the father who worked outside of the home. 
Students largely came from traditional, patriarchal 
home environments where reading was largely not 
part of their experiences growing up.

Their mothers suffered from low literacy levels, 
specifically in English. Their fathers were more 
proficient, though not proficient enough in English 
to be able to help their children. Ximena was asked 
about her parents’ literacy in English, to which she 
emphatically responded: “[My father] can understand 
English, and he knows how to speak it a little bit. No, 
my mom doesn’t know how to talk English.”

Ulises shared similar thoughts about his parents’ 
English skills, highlighting the obstacles his parents’ 
illiteracy posed to him:

It makes it difficult because my mom doesn’t know 
how to speak English, and my dad, I can hardly 
understand him when he speaks English, so it’s 
hard to speak English [to them]. Mom knows some 
words, but she doesn’t know it perfectly.

Likewise, Zanetta was embarrassed by her mother’s 
inability to speak English correctly:

Mm-hmm, my mom doesn’t know nothing. That day 
we was in the grocery store, and she said, “Dank 
you.” I said, “Mama, it’s thank you.” Yeah, thank you, 
thank you. No English!

Zanetta gave her father a little higher mark when she 
responded, “[Dad] kind of learned, but he’s not good.” 
And Timoteo shared how his father corrected his 
mother’s English: “She still has a few difficulty, but my 
dad always be like, ‘No, you’re spelling it wrong and 
reviews [corrects] her.’”

Anxieties about reading in public. To further 
illustrate the complexity of the challenge and obstacles 
to academic and reading success students face, 
students reported feeling anxious about the whole 
effort of learning English and reading. This theme 

denoted anxieties about reading or concerning the 
future because of students’ current perceptions about 
reading. For less-motivated students, reading in either 
English or Spanish was difficult because the very act 
of reading created internal anxiety. Internal anxiety 
was due to their own inability to read or to feelings 
of social anxiety that arose from being watched and 
ridiculed by peers and friends if they did not read well 
or made mistakes in reading. This internal and social 
anxiety not only prevented them from reading; it also 
made them apprehensive about future prospects of 
reading. Students felt anxious about reading aloud in 
class, and they associated such public reading tasks 
with a deficiency within themselves, which made them 
want to avoid or escape from reading.

When asked why she did not like to read in public, 
Yesenia looked down and commented, “I don’t know. I 
think the people’s going to laugh at me,” and Ximena 
responded matter-of-factly, “I don’t like reading out 
loud.” This unfavorable perception of reading aloud 
repeated itself. Other interviewees shared feelings of 
anxiety related to learning tasks and school activities 
in general. For example, Timoteo, in his distinctively 
reflective manner of responding to interview questions, 
remarked:

[T]here’s a lot of students, and they’re all watching
me. What if I mess up in a word? They’re probably
going to be like, “You don’t know how to read,” or
something. Well, if it’s a small class, I don’t really
mind, but if it’s like a big, big class with a lot of
students, only if I know most of them. If I know
everybody, I really don’t care.

Ulises, in a similar fashion, described his feelings of 
anxiety: 

[W]hen I started reading, I get nervous and I start .
. . what’s it called? Tartamudeo . . . stuttering, like
you’re stuttering once I read. When I read, I just get
nervous because I don’t like people hearing when I
read. Yeah. That concerns me next year since this
year, words are difficult. Some words are difficult
to understand. Imagine next year what’s going to
happen.

Along these same lines, Zanetta shared her anxieties 
about reading aloud:

Everybody says, “Why you scared? You read 
so good.” I’m like, “I don’t know. I can.” I feel 



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 25 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

embarrassed, I think. Not really. It’s just when I am 
in the front [of] other people . . . I have to read out 
loud. I feel so bad because I want to read really 
good. I want to do it good, but I cannot sometimes.

Discussion and Implications
The students interviewed for this study faced 
numerous challenges in their quest to attain 
proficiency as English readers. Coming from low-
socioeconomic backgrounds and home environments 
where both parents worked long hours, students found 
themselves facing almost insurmountable obstacles 
to reading engagement. As explained through the 
lenses of expectancy-value theory, the students’ 
self-awareness served as a further inhibitor to their 
motivation and success as their low self-esteem was 
reinforced from the negative experiences of their past 
failures with reading.

Factors Inhibiting Motivation
As the interviewees for this study shared, Latinx 
English learners experience much over the course of 
their lives that can adversely affect their motivation 
to read. Economic and social hardships and the 
time constraints they bring with them are primarily 
responsible for the lower reading motivation of Latinx 
English learners in general.

Economic hardships. English learners are first 
the children of immigrants, and their immigrant 
experiences shape their reading motivation more than 
other factors (Ayón, 2014). As immigrants from second- 
or third-world economies, Latinx English learners 
face many financial hardships that interfere with their 
reading success. Economic adversities coupled with 
the large families that are common in Latinx cultures 
usually mean that parents—primarily fathers, if there 
are small children at home—work long hours at labor 
extensive, low-paying jobs, while mothers are left 
home to tend to household chores and take care of 
multiple children. According to data from the Pew 
Research Center, more foreign-born Latinx mothers 
stay home than any other demographic subgroup in 
the U.S., regardless of the economic constraints the 
family may face (Livingston, 2014).

Moreover, Latinx immigrants have strong positive 
beliefs about the value of hard work in getting ahead 
socially and economically in the U.S. (Taylor, Lopez, 

Martínez, & Velasco, 2012), but their immigrant 
experiences have largely contradicted their strong 
beliefs in the American Dream. The Great Recession 
hit foreign-born Latinos especially hard (Taylor et al., 
2012). Immigrant parents work longer and harder than 
many other American workers. Given these dismal 
work conditions, finding the time to read with their 
children is difficult for immigrant parents who work 
outside the home for long hours at labor extensive, 
blue-collar jobs. Moreover, they are often paid much 
less than non-immigrant workers. In 2011, the median 
weekly wage of Latinos working full time in the 
U.S. was $549 per week. White Americans earned 
approximately 30% more per week on average (U.S. 
Department of Labor, 2012). Low earnings like these 
can barely sustain a small family, much less a larger 
family. Latinx immigrant families, therefore, have 
limited discretionary funds to spend on non-essential 
reading materials like books or magazines.

Economic conditions are so dire in some families that 
older adolescents are required to work to help their 
parents earn money to support the family, leaving little 
time to read or discuss reading with family members 
or peers. The number of teens working after school or 
on the weekends has declined over the last decade 
among non-immigrant teens, but immigrant children 
are more likely to need to work to help their families 
survive (Soergel, 2015). Non-immigrant teenagers 
who work at low-paying jobs from 10–15 hours per 
week are usually able to pocket their earnings, but the 
children of immigrants have to spend their earnings 
on the family. Making a way for themselves in a new 
country while experiencing life on the lowest rungs of 
the economic ladder may make reading and schooling 
far-removed concerns for English learners and their 
families.

Social hardships. Latinx English learners also face 
numerous social hardships that impede their reading 
motivation and engagement. Parents of English 
learners are largely unable to help their children with 
their schoolwork or to read to their children because 
of their own lack of literacy. Most significantly, English 
(L2) literacy among Latinx parents of English learners 
is particularly low, though fathers who work outside of 
the home are somewhat better able to communicate 
socially in English. In a study conducted by the Pew 
Research Center, over 60% of first-generation Latinos 



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 26 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

said they were unable to read a newspaper or book 
in English with any real sense of aptitude (Taylor et 
al., 2015). In addition, Spanish (L1) literacy is also low 
among many Latinx immigrant parents because they 
often have not been well educated through no fault of 
their own (Gándara, 2010). The situation, therefore, 
is one in which both parents often lack academic 
proficiency in both Spanish and English, so not only 
are they not reading to their children in English, but 
they also are not reading to them in Spanish. Without 
sufficient proficiency in academic English or Spanish, 
these parents are completely unprepared to help their 
children succeed in school, and reading a text to their 
children in English (or Spanish) is largely out of the 
question.

Lower educational attainment among Latinx parents 
is also a major factor inhibiting reading motivation for 
English learners. In contrast with only 6% of white 
mothers, over 40% of Latinx mothers in the U.S. have 
not attained a high school diploma (Gándara, 2010). 
Fathers are usually not at home with the children, 
which leaves poorly educated Latinx mothers badly 
equipped to read with their children or to help them with 
their schoolwork. Given the strong positive influence 
of the educational attainment of parents on children, 
these statistics underscore the serious risks Latinx 
students face toward reading success in particular and 
academic achievement in general (Gándara, 2010).

Recommendations for Educators
Understanding the theoretical dynamics of what 
negates or promotes reading motivation and 
engagement for Latinx English learners is only the 
starting point. The purpose of this section, therefore, 
is to take the theoretical and make it practical to the 
extent that teachers and school leaders are capable. 
English language teachers, mainstream teachers of 
English learners, school leaders, and other educational 
stakeholders may use the suggestions discussed 
here as talking points to elicit instructional and other 
reforms that promote higher reading engagement for 
adolescent Latinx English learners.

Empathetic teaching. More often than not, teachers 
and other educators with whom students interact 
during the school day have the greatest potential 
to be optimizers of reading engagement for English 
learners (Chun, 2009; Day & Bamford, 2002). To this 

end, educators should be particularly mindful of the 
economic and social factors that impede reading 
motivation for the English learners they teach. 
Creating empathy and understanding among teachers 
and other educators concerning the backgrounds 
and living conditions of Latinx English learners is an 
important starting point in being able to reach more 
English learners. In accordance with expectancy-value 
theory, constant encouragement and celebrating wins, 
even minors ones, will help students find their own 
internal motivation to learn and read (Lutz, Guthrie, & 
Davis, 2006).

Early literacy interventions. Teachers and learning 
support specialists should focus their attention on 
those English learners who are most in need of their 
support and intervention. Reading support for at-
promise Latinx English learners should begin earlier in 
their schooling (Bowman-Perrott et al., 2009; Calderón 
et al., 2011; del Rio, 2013; Donovan & Cross, 2002). 
Focusing on younger students in earlier grades, 
especially males and less-proficient English learners, 
for reading interventions will result in more long-term 
successes in reading achievement (Applegate & 
Applegate, 2010; Donovan & Cross, 2002; Halle et al., 
2012; Schiefele et al., 2012; Sturtevant & Kim, 2010). 
Language teachers, though, should not give up hope 
of initiating reading interest for at-promise students 
even as late as high school.

Parent/family engagement. While teachers have no 
control over the home environments or upbringing of 
their English learners, they can reach out to parents 
of English learners in a variety of ways to encourage 
them to get more involved in their child’s learning. 
Parent involvement in their child’s schooling and 
reading practices has more of a positive influence on 
student reading achievement than any other factor, 
including socioeconomic status, family size, or level of 
parental education (Clark & Rumbold, 2006). Parents 
should be invited to literacy awareness evening or 
weekend events at their child’s school. Such evening/
weekend events would be ideal times to distribute 
engaging texts directly to parents to help build home 
libraries and to bring in Latinx community members 
and reading mentors to speak to parents and students 
together (Gonzalez, Borders, Hines, Villalba, & 
Henderson, 2013).



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 27 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

Conclusion
Motivation is a dynamic process influenced by multiple 
and varied factors. Reading motivation for English 
learners is no exception. As a sizable and growing 
student subgroup in U.S. schools, English learners—
Latinos being the largest subgroup of them—lag 
behind their native speaking peers, principally in 
reading. Their overall lack of motivation and reading 
success is more understandable given the economic 
and social hardships they face as an immigrant 
population making a way for themselves in a new and 
unfamiliar terrain.

Improving reading achievement and closing the 
achievement gaps will need to involve concerted 
effort from teachers, administrators, and educational 
policymakers alike. The solutions will need to involve 
educators changing the ways they perceive English 
learners and their capabilities, but larger, systemic fixes 
will also be necessary—expanded parental outreach, 
community-wide literacy awareness programs, etc. 
Fixing the problem will require an “all-hands-on-deck” 
approach with students, parents, teachers, and school 
and community leaders working together to achieve 
viable solutions.

References
Applegate, A. J., & Applegate, M. D. (2010). A study 

of thoughtful literacy and the motivation to read. 
The Reading Teacher, 64(4), 226–234. doi:10.1598/
RT.64.4.1

Arzubiaga, A., Rueda, R., & Monzó, L. (2002). Family 
matters related to the reading engagement of Latinx 
children. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1(4), 
231–243. doi:10.1207/S1532771XJLE0104_3

Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of 
risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64(6), 
359–372. doi:10.1037/h0043445

Ayón, C. (2014). Service needs among Latino 
immigrant families: Implications for social work 
practice. Social Work, 59(1), 13–23. doi:10.1093/
sw/swt031

Baker, D. L., Richards‐Tutor, C., Sparks, A., & Canges, 
R. (2018). Review of single subject research
examining the effectiveness of interventions for at‐
risk English learners. Learning Disabilities Research
& Practice, 33(2), 64–74. doi:10.1111/ldrp.12160

Chun, C. W. (2009). Critical literacies and graphic 
novels for English-language learners: Teaching 
Maus. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 
144–153. doi:10.1598/JAAL.53.2.5

Clark, C., & Rumbold, K. (2006). Reading for pleasure: 
A research overview. London: National Literacy 
Trust. Retrieved from http://www.literacytrust.
org.uk/research/nlt_research/ 271_reading_for_
pleasure_a_research_overview

Cox, K. E., & Guthrie, J. T. (2001). Motivational and 
cognitive contributions to students’ amount of 
reading. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 
26(1), 116–131. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1044

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative 
inquiry and research design: Choosing among five 
approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Cummins, J. (2011). Literacy engagement: Fueling 
academic growth for English learners. Reading 
Teacher, 65(2), 142–146. doi:10.1002/TRTR.01022

Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (2002). Top ten principles 
for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign 
Language, 14(2), 136–141. Retrieved from http://
nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/

del Rio, V. M. (2013). Effects of sex, third grade reading 
achievement and motivation as predictors of fourth 
grade reading achievement of Hispanic students: A 
path analysis (Doctoral dissertation). Available from 
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database. (UMI 
No. 3608703)

Dörnyei, Z. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign 
language learning. Language Teaching, 31(3), 117–
135. doi:10.1017/S026144480001315X

Eccles, J. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic 
behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and 
achievement motives: Psychological and sociological 
approaches (pp. 75–146). San Francisco, CA: W.H. 
Freeman.

Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B. M., Codling, R. M., & 
Mazzoni, S. A. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. 
Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518–533. doi:10.1598/
RT.49.7.2

Gándara, P. (2010). The Latino education crisis. 



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 28 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

Educational Leadership, 67(5), 24–30. Retrieved 
from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership.aspx

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967/2017). The 
discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for 
qualitative research. New York, NY: Routledge.

Goldenberg, C. (2013). Unlocking the research 
on English learners: What we know—and don’t 
yet know—about effective instruction. American 
Educator, 37(2), 4–38. Retrieved from http://www.
aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae

Gonzalez, L. M., Borders, L. D., Hines, E. M., Villalba, 
J. A., & Henderson, A. (2013). Parental involvement 
in children’s education: Considerations for school 
counselors working with Latino immigrant families. 
Professional School Counseling, 16(3), 185–193. 
doi:10.5330/PSC.n.2013-16.183

Howard, R. M. (2012). ELLs’ perceptions of reading. 
Reading Improvement, 49(3), 113–126. Retrieved 
from http://www.projectinnovation.com/Reading_
Improvement.html

Ivey, G., & Broaddus, K. (2007). A formative 
experiment investigating literacy engagement 
among adolescent Latinx students just beginning to 
read, write, and speak English. Reading Research 
Quarterly, 42(4), 512–545. doi:10.1598/RRQ.42.4.4

Livingston, G. (2014). Among Hispanics, immigrants 
more likely to be stay-at-home moms and to believe 
that’s best for kids. Retrieved from http://www.
pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/among-
hispanics-immigrants-more-likely-to-be-stay-at-
home-moms-and-to-believe-thats-best-for-kids/

Lutz, S. L., Guthrie, J. T., & Davis, M. H. (2006). 
Scaffolding for engagement in elementary school 
reading instruction. Journal of Educational Research, 
100(1), 3–20. doi:10.3200/JOER.100.1.3-20

Marks, H. M. (2000). Student engagement in 
instructional activity: Patterns in the elementary, 
middle, and high school years. American 
Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 153–184. 
doi:10.2307/1163475

McFarland, J., Hussar, B., Wang, X., Zhang, J., Wang, 
K., Rathbun, A. . . . Mann, F. B. (2018). The condition 
of education 2018 (NCES 2017-144). Washington, 

DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center 
for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.
ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pdf

McKool, S. S. (2007). Factors that influence the 
decision to read: An investigation of fifth grade 
students’ out-of-school reading habits. Reading 
Improvement, 44(3), 111–131. Retrieved from http://
www.projectinnovation.com/Reading_Improvement.
html

Pew Research Center. (2015). Modern immigration 
wave brings 59 million to U.S., driving population 
growth and change through 2065: Views of 
immigration’s impact on U.S. society mixed. 
Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.
pewhispanic.org/

Protacio, M. S. (2012). Reading motivation: A focus on 
English learners. Reading Teacher, 66(1), 69–77. 
doi:10.1002/TRTR.01092

Schunk, D. H., Meece, J. L., & Pintrich, P. R. (2013). 
Motivation in education: Theory, research, and 
applications (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson 
Education, Inc.

Soergel, A. (2015, March 26). Why teens are getting 
shut out of the workforce. U.S. News & World 
Report. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/
news/blogs/data-mine/2015/03/26/studies-suggest-
teens-getting-shut-out-of-workforce

Taylor, P., Lopez, M. H., Martínez, J., & Velasco, G. 
(2012). When labels don’t fit: Hispanics and their 
views of identity. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 
from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/04/when-
labels-dont-fit-hispanics-and-their-views-of-identity/

U.S. Department of Labor. (2012). The Latino labor 
force at a glance. Retrieved from http://www.
dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/hispaniclaborforce/
hispaniclaborforce.pdf

WIDA. (2019). ACCESS for ELLs. Retrieved from 
https://wida.wisc.edu/assess

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy-value 
theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary 
Educational Psychology, 25(1), 68–81. doi:10.1006/
ceps.1999.1015



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 29 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

Appendix A: Reading Motivation Interview Protocol
Adapted from the Conversational Interview for English Learners (Sturtevant & Kim, 2010)

English
Directions:
Make sure the audio recorder is working prior to the 
interview session. Have a notepad prepared to take 
detailed notes during the interview in the event a student 
declines having the interview recorded. Familiarize yourself 
with the interview questions before the actual interview 
session in order to establish a more conversational 
setting. Select a quiet, comfortable room for the interview. 
Provide refreshments during the interview session. Plan 
for the interview to take 20–30 minutes, but more time 
may be needed if the student speaks more than expected. 
Follow up on any interesting comments and responses 
to gain more insight and a fuller understanding of the 
student’s reading experiences. Lastly, make sure you have 
thought of a personal reading experience to share for the 
preliminary discussion before the interview session.

Say: Before we begin, it is important to remember that 
your name will not be shared with anyone other than the 
researcher, the research assistant, and the faculty advisor. 
Remember your participation in this interview is completely 
voluntary, and you may ask to stop the interview at any 
time. Your responses to the questions will not affect your 
grade in any class, including this one. I am going to ask 
you some questions. I want to know about your reading 
experiences. There are no right or wrong answers. I 
really want to know how you honestly feel about reading 
and what reading experiences you have had. To help me 
understand your answers more, I would like to record your 
answers to my questions. May I record our conversation? 
Wait for the student to respond. Answer any questions 
the student may have about the interview process before 
proceeding.

I have been reading a good book (or magazine, newspaper 
article, etc.) about . . . (explain the nature of the text, some 
of its main characters, etc.). I was talking with . . . (name 
a person) about it yesterday. I enjoy talking about good 
stories, books, or articles I have been reading. Today I 
would like to talk to you about what you have been reading 
either from a fictional book, a newspaper, a magazine, a 
web site on the Internet, anything you have been reading 
and learning about. Are you ready to begin?

B. Interview Questions
1. Think about something important or interesting that
you learned recently, not from your teacher and not from
television, but from something that you have read. What did
you read about? (Wait time.)

a. Tell me about what you learned. (Probe for language
material was read in.) What else could you tell me? Is
there anything else?
b. How did you know or find out about reading material
on this topic (e.g., assigned by teacher, chosen by
student at school or out of school)?
c.Why was this story (or reading) interesting to you?

2.Did someone ever do something that got you interested

Español
Direcciones:
Asegúrese de que la grabadora de audio está trabajando 
antes de la sesión de la entrevista. Tener una libreta 
preparada para tomar notas detalladas durante la 
entrevista en el caso de que un estudiante se niegue 
a tener la entrevista grabada. Familiarizarse con las 
preguntas de la entrevista antes de la sesión actual con 
el fin de establecer un ambiente más conversacional. 
Seleccione un salón tranquilo, y cómodo para la 
entrevista. Proporcionar algo ligero de comer durante la 
sesión de la entrevista. Planee que la entrevista tome 
20-30 minutos, pero puede necesitarse más tiempo si el
estudiante habla más de lo esperado. Dar seguimiento a
las observaciones y respuestas interesantes para obtener
mayor conocimiento y una mayor comprensión de las
experiencias de lectura de los estudiantes. Por último,
asegúrese de que ha pensado en una experiencia de
lectura personal para compartir en el debate preliminar
antes de la sesión de la entrevista.

Diga: Antes de comenzar, es importante recordar que sus 
nombres no serán compartidos con nadie más excepto 
con el investigador, el asistente de investigación, y el 
consejero de la facultad. Recuerden que su participación 
en esta entrevista es completamente voluntaria, y ustedes 
pueden abandonar la entrevista en cualquier momento. 
Sus respuestas no afectarán sus calificaciones en 
ninguna clase, incluyendo ésta. Voy a hacerles algunas 
preguntas. Quiero saber acerca de sus experiencias de 
lectura. No hay respuestas correctas o incorrectas.  Con 
honestidad me gustaría saber cómo se sienten acerca de 
la lectura y que experiencias de lectura han tenido. Para 
ayudarme a entender más sus respuestas, me gustaría 
grabar las respuestas que dan a mis preguntas. ¿Puedo 
grabar nuestra conversación? Espere a que el estudiante 
responda. Contestar cualquier pregunta que el estudiante 
pueda tener sobre el proceso de la entrevista antes de 
proceder.

He estado leyendo un buen libro (o una revista, artículo de 
periódico, etc.) acerca . . . (explicar la naturaleza del texto, 
algunos de sus personajes principales, etc.). Yo estaba 
hablando con . . . (el nombre de una persona) de ello ayer. 
Me gusta compartir  las historias, libros o artículos buenos 
que he estado leyendo. Hoy me gustaría hablar acerca de 
lo que tú has estado leyendo, ya sea un libro de ficción, 
un periódico, una revista, un sitio web en Internet, todo lo 
que hayas estado leyendo y aprendiendo sobre tu lectura. 
¿Estás listo para empezar?

B. Preguntas de la Entrevista
1. Piensa en algo importante o interesante que hayas
aprendido recientemente, no de tu maestro ni de la
televisión, sino de algo que hayas leído. ¿Qué fue lo que
leíste? (Espera tiempo.)

a. Dime lo que aprendiste.  (Sondea para obtener más
información del idioma en que fue leído el material.)
¿Qué otra cosa podría decirme? ¿Hay algo más?



GEORGIA JOURNAL OF READING 30 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1   2019

in reading a book or some other text? 
a.Who? What did s/he do?

3.What types of reading have your teachers asked you to
do this year in school?

a. What is your favorite type of reading in school? Why?
b. Do you have any classes where you can read
materials in your home language? (Probe for further
explanation.)
c. Do you have any classes in which your teacher reads
to the class? Explain. How do you feel about this?
d. In what class do you feel the reading is the most
difficult? What makes it difficult?
e. In what class is reading easiest? What makes it easy?

4.Have you helped anyone else learn to read? Explain.
5. Do you belong to any clubs or organizations for which
you read?

a. Could you explain what kind of reading or writing you
do in these organizations (e.g., sometimes people read
religious materials at church, or scout manuals at Girl
Scouts or Boy Scouts)?

6. Do you ever work or help others with work where you
need to read (e.g., students sometimes help their parents
in a job or family store)? (If yes, probe for more detail).

7. In the next year, what kinds of new materials would you
like to learn to read? Why?

8. Do you think having two languages has ever caused a
problem for you? Explain.

9. Is there anything that worries or concerns you about
reading? Please explain.

10. How do you think you could improve your own reading?
Why?
a. Do you try to do this?

Say: Thank you for helping me learn more about high 
school English learners!

Appendix A: Reading Motivation Interview Protocol
continued

b. ¿Cómo supiste o encontraste material sobre este
tema (por ejemplo, fue asignado por el maestro, elegido
por el estudiante en la escuela, o fuera de la escuela)?
c. ¿Por qué ésta historia (o lectura) fue interesante para
ti?

2. ¿Alguien alguna vez hizo algo para que te interesaras
en leer un libro o algún otro texto?

a. ¿Quién fue? ¿Qué hizo ella, o él?

3. ¿Qué tipo de lecturas te han pedido tus maestros hacer
en éste año escolar?

a. ¿Cuál es tu tipo de lectura favorito en la escuela?
¿Por qué?
b. ¿Tienes alguna clase donde puedas leer materials en
tu idioma natal? (Sondea para más información.)
c. ¿Tienes alguna clase en la cual su maestro les lea?
Explica. ¿Cómo te sientes acerca de esto?
d. ¿En qué clase sientes que la lectura es más difícil?
¿Qué es lo que lo hace difícil?
e. ¿En qué clase la lectura es más fácil? ¿Qué es lo
que la hace que sea fácil?

4. ¿Has ayudado a alguien más para aprender a leer?
Explica.

5. ¿Perteneces a algún club u organización para la cual
lees?

a. ¿Podrías explicar qué tipo de lectura o escritura
hacen en estas organizaciones (por ejemplo., algunas
veces leen materiales religiosos en la iglesia, o
manuales de exploración en las niñas exploradoras o
niños exploradores)?

6. ¿Alguna vez has trabajado o ayudado a los demás con
trabajo en el que tu necesitas leer?  (¿por ejemplo, los
estudiantes algunas veces ayudan a sus padres en un
trabajo o negocio familiar)? (Si sí, indaga para que te den
más detalles).

7. ¿En el próximo año, que materiales nuevos te gustaría
aprender a leer? ¿Por qué?

8. ¿En algún momento te ha causado problemas el saber
dos idiomas? Explica.

9. ¿Hay algo que te inquieta o preocupa acerca de la
lectura? Por favor explica.

10. ¿Cómo crees que podrías mejorar su propia lectura?
¿Por qué?

a. ¿Tratas de hacer esto?

Diga: ¡Gracias por ayudarme a conocer más acerca de los 
estudiantes de preparatoria que están aprendiendo inglés!


