Get set...get ready...get reading! A study of ecological psychological factors explaining low reading comprehension of English as a second language

Abstract

It is important to understand reading anxiety because it affects learning negatively and if it is not resolved in early childhood, reading anxiety continues to compromise academic pursuits and limits children’s futures. The present research project had several aims, (a) to establish the impact of ecological and psychological factors on reading anxiety, , (b) if an impact is established, to identify the independent variables (IVs) that have strong effect on the dependent variable (DV), reading anxiety, (c) to establish the potential differences in reading anxiety outcomes between boys and girls, (d) to establish whether gender has a moderating effect on the relationship between IVs and the DV, and (e) to establish whether home language played a role in reading anxiety outcomes between English First Language Learners (EFLs) and English Second Language Learners (ESLs), across the three language groups, English, Nguni, and Sotho-Tswana. Participants consisted of 76 grade four learners, boys, and girls, in quintile level five schools, who spoke English, Nguni and Sotho-Tswana languages. Convenient sampling method was applied to identify schools for participation. Three primary schools participated, and the data were collected using a paper-pen method/ questionnaires, and analysed in four phases, descriptive statistics, hypotheses testing, multiple regression as well as additional analysis using Models of Mediation and Moderation. Findings revealed that psychological factors play a significant role in explaining reading anxiety, but not ecological factors. More specifically, variables reading time frequency, reading attitude, and reading self-concept strongly predict reading anxiety. However, neither language nor gender appeared to influence the relationships among these variables.