81 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Motivational Factors Affecting Undergraduate Students' Reading Interest Rena Rahmawati renarr09@gmail.com, IKIP Budi Utomo, Malang, Indonesia Anisa Mbali Amah anisaamah369@gmail.com, IKIP Budi Utomo, Malang, Indonesia Astriana Vidia Jerina astrijerina24@gmail.com, IKIP Budi Utomo, Malang Indonesia Maya Rizki Amayasari, M.Pd, quinzysaverio@gmail.com, IKIP Budi Utomo, Malang, Indonesia Abstract The purpose of this research is to find out factors that affect undergraduate students' lack motivation in reading. This research only focuses on the surface of the lack of motivation, this research does not find the more profound reason. The subject of this study was undergraduate students of IKIP BUDI UTOMO Malang in the English Education Department 2019, A class. The subject was 20 undergraduate students. To collect the data, the researchers used questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were intended to reveal written data, and the interview was unstructured. After distributing the questionnaire, researchers found that a few factors affect undergraduate students' lack of motivation in reading. About 55% of undergraduate students have an average opinion about reading in their spare time, 75% read less than 1 hour every day and 60% like to read novels. Most of the respondents' motivation to read is to spend time. As many as 43% of the respondents have neutral opinions about whether friends, lecturers, or mood have influenced them. Furthermore, the most apparent obstacle, according to the respondents is laziness. Keywords : motivation, factors and reading. 1. Introduction Indonesian reading interest is low. Not many Indonesians like to read, even students. It can also be seen in undergraduate students. Most undergraduate students do not read willingly; they read when they are forced to read, for example, to find information, to do assignments, and to finish the exam. Not many undergraduate students can finish the whole modules or journal given by their lecturer; many students read it a little and leave the rest. Usually, they find the table of contents straight to the point they need; they rarely read the full content. Moreover, they often choose to listen to the explanation by the lecturer or by their friends and find the summary on the internet. Many factors affect undergraduate students' reading interest; one of them is lack of motivation. Many undergraduate students have less or even did not have the motivation to read. Lack of motivation can be seen from internal and external factors. Internal factors that affect lack of motivation on reading interest are laziness, lack of vocabulary, bad mood, not being fluent in reading, not having time, etc. External factors such as the environment have an ample figure affecting reading interest. To increase undergraduate students' reading interest, they need discipline, good mood, time, increased vocabulary and to choose the right environment. There are a few studies about motivational factors that affect reading interest. There are few suggestions found from others' research too. Chitra Muliati (2017) suggests that students must enrich their vocabulary to read effectively and efficiently. Joel C. Meniado (2016) concludes that students like to read something fun, humorous, and enjoyable so that the mailto:renarr09@gmail.com mailto:anisaamah369@gmail.com mailto:astrijerina24@gmail.com mailto:quinzysaverio@gmail.com 82 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. teacher can apply an extensive reading strategy. Andri Pitoyo (2020) suggests completing the library and increasing the library facility, infrastructure, and service. The author believes that a few suggestions above can help the students increase their reading motivation. The author also believes that making a list of the book, article, journal, and all the material they need to read can make students more focused and increase their motivation to read. Thus, this research aims to find out factors that affect undergraduate students' lack of motivation in reading. This research only focuses on the surface of the lack of motivation; this research does not find a deeper reason. 2. Methodology This study used a descriptive qualitative approach to the type of survey. The subject of this study was undergraduate students of IKIP Budi Utomo in the English Education Department 2019 class A; the subject was 20 undergraduate students. Data collection techniques used were questionnaires and interviews. The use of questionnaires was intended to reveal written data. The interview was unstructured. The interview was conducted so the researcher knew the reason and could find out factors dealing with the subject. The questionnaire result was the written data, and the interview supports it. The written data was in charts and percentages. 3. Research Findings and Discussion After distributing the questionnaire, the next thing to do was make it into a percentage. This questionnaire showed students reading interest and factors affecting reading interest. The research finding can be seen in this description. Image 1. Reading in spare time Of 20 respondents of this research, 55% of students had an average opinion about having an interest in reading in their spare time, whether they did not like it or disliked it. Around 20% of students liked reading, and 15% liked it very much. About 10% of students liked but did not like reading very much. The respondents liked to do something other than reading, such as social media or hanging out to socialize with friends; some even chose to sleep to spend their spare time. In general, undergraduate students did not read because they were busy with their life. 83 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Image 2. Time of reading 75% of the respondents read around 0-1 hours per day, and 25% read about 2-3 hours per day. Not even one of the respondents has ever read more than three hours. Between 0-1 hours, most of the respondents read for around 30 minutes. The respondents who read for more than 2 hours said they read in their spare time. Whenever they were busy with other things, they did not read because they could not make time for reading. Image 3. The books 60% of the respondents liked to read novels, 20% of the respondents liked to read journals, 10% of the respondents liked to read comics, and 5% of the respondents liked to read scientific books and recipes. Reading novels was good for the respondents; they could choose what novel they wanted to read, what genre, and what background of the story. Reading novels can bring the pleasure of adventure in a different world. Extensive reading is more fun than intensive reading. 84 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Image 4. Motivation to read As many as 30% of the respondents explained their motivation in reading was to spend time, 25% of respondents explained that they read to find information, 20% of respondents explained that they read to do assignments, 15% respondents explained that they read because reading is their hobby and the last 10% respondents explained that they read because they need to read. The respondents who like to read to spend time and to find information are slightly different in number. Many respondents read because they need to do assignments, and reading is a necessary thing to do. Because if they do not read, they cannot do the assignment. Image 5. Influence As many as 32% of the respondents explained that mood influences them in reading, 20% of the respondents explained that lecturers influence them, 5% of the respondents explained that friends influence them, and 43% have an average opinion. After further discussion with respondents, they explained that the three motivations mentioned above sometimes did not have any influence, but sometimes they influenced them so much. In a classroom activity, the lecturer influenced them to read because usually, the lecturer asked them to do a task that required reading. However, if they went out of the class, they rarely read. The respondents who chose in neutral opinion explained that they did not have friends who like to read, so their friends did not influence them. 85 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Image 6. Obstacles in Reading The questionnaire data show that 50% of the respondent explained laziness was the biggest obstacle in reading, 35% of the respondent explained their lack of vocabulary make it an obstacle in reading, 10% of the respondent explained they have no time to read, and the last 5% of the respondent explained the surroundings make them cannot read. Laziness still played a significant role in reading. This laziness was the biggest factor that affected their lack of motivation to read. They said it was so hard to read because they were too lazy to do it, and it was hard to motivate themselves to read, whether it is extensive or intensive reading. The respondents chose average because if they were free, they read, but if they were busy, they did not. This result was in line with Mary E. Hoeft's (2012) research that found out many students' reasons for not reading are too busy. As an adult, they may start to work part-time or even work full time. It is hard for them to divide their time between study, work, and personal life. That is why some undergraduate students who work and study just read for assignments and do not read for pleasure. More than half of the respondents read for less than an hour. This result was similar to research conducted by Andri Donal (2015), who found that 79% of his respondents read for less than 1 hour. In the research conducted by (the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2006) cited in Carol Gordon and Ya-Ling Lu (2008), fifteen- to twenty-four- year-olds spend only seven to ten minutes per day on voluntary reading, which is about 60 percent less time than the average American. Those two studies showed that many students and young adults read less than an hour. The students read for less than an hour because they were always busy. They had to do chores, take care of their siblings, meet friends, and do anything outside of their house. Thus, all those made them read less. Few students liked reading, and they cut the time to meet friends and changed it to reading. Many respondents liked to read novels more than other books. This result differed slightly from Joel C. Meniado's (2016) finding that his respondents like to read humor books and comics. Here, 60% like reading novels. The reason they like reading novels is that novels are more interesting and reading novels can make someone forget reality. They read novels and most of the time, they found some new vocabulary that unexpectedly can help them express themselves in reality. Clark and Douglas (2011), cited in the Education Standards Research Team (2012), write that Text messages, magazines, websites, and emails are the most common reading choices for young people. Fiction is read outside the class by two-fifths of young people. It is to say, young adults, like to read text messages or Instagram posts/stories. Reading non-science is usually called reading for pleasure. The books include novels, short stories, snippets, comics, etc. As Clark and Rumbold (2006) cited in the Education Standards 86 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Research Team (2012) note, the terms ‘reading for pleasure’, ‘reading for enjoyment’ and their derivatives are used interchangeably. The respondents' motivation to read was to spend time, but if they were busy, they did not read. If the respondents' motivation is doing assignments, they will read the material or make time to read it. Raphael Kwame. Kavi, S. N. B Tackie and Kwabena Asiedu Bugyei (2015) also found out that (66.7%) of their respondents only engaged in reading primarily to pass their examinations and not so much for their personal development, for fun, or to be well- informed. The respondents who chose a neutral position usually followed the surroundings. They read if the situation was in the classroom, and the lecturer asked them to read. If they were in a library full of people reading, they read too. However, they did not read if they were alone, and no one asked them to read. Nevertheless, few respondents were still influenced by their friends, teacher, and mood. Margaret K. Merga (2014) conducted a study that found that 18% of the respondents have been influenced to read by their friends. This result is low compared to mother and teacher influence. Laziness still played a significant role in why undergraduate students did not read. Laziness starts from oneself, and a few people or conditions can make someone like to read. For someone whose first language is not English, it is hard to read in English because of the unfamiliar vocabulary. Chitra Muliati (2017) suggests improving students' reading ability by improving their vocabulary. This suggestion was born because of their lack of vocabulary. 4. Conclusion Motivational factors that affect undergraduate students' reading interest can be seen as internal and external factors. Their lack of motivation was mainly because of laziness and lack of vocabulary. These were the two most significant factors of lack of motivation. Improving the two of them can improve the lack of motivation in students. Teachers, friends, and mood did not influence the students. They mostly followed the flow of the place they were in. That is why they sometimes read and sometimes did not. It is according to the condition needed. Most undergraduate students liked to read non-academic books, such as novels. Few of them liked to read journals. In the school, the school can start to complete the library books, so the students can be more motivated to go and read there. Moreover, for the students, the more they read, the more they will know many things. 87 | IJET| Volume. 11, Issue 1. Juli 2022 Copyright 2022 Rena Rahmawati, Anisa Mbali Amah, Astriana Vidia Jerina. and Maya Rizki Amayasari, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. References Donal, A. (2015). Students’ Reading Interest (A Case Study at FKIP of The University of Pasir Pengaraian). Indonesia: Journal of English Education. Gordon, C., and Lu, Y. L. (2008). “I Hate to Read—Or Do I?”: Low Achievers and Their Reading. America: American Association of School Librarians. Hoeft, M. H., (2012). Why University Students Don't Read: What Professors Can Do To Increase Compliance. America: International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Kavi, R. K., Tackie, S. N. B., Bugyei, K. A, Reading for pleasure among junior high school students: case study of the Saint Andrew's Anglican Complex Junior High School, Sekondi. Ghana: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Meniado, J. C., (2016). Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Motivation, and Reading Comprehension Performance of Saudi EFL Students. Saudi Arabia: Canadian Center of Science and Education. Merga, M. K., (2014). Peer group and friend influences on the social acceptability of adolescent book reading. Australia: Research Online. Muliati, C. (2017). The Students’ Motivation in Reading and Reading Interest of The Fifth Semester Students of IAIN Palangkaraya. Indonesia: A Thesis. Pitoyo, A. (2020). A Meta-Analysis: Factors Affecting Students’ Reading Interest in Indonesia. Indonesia: Universitas Nusantara PGRI Kediri. Team, E. S. R., (2012). Research evidence on reading for pleasure. United Kingdom: Department of Education.