The Relationship between English Reading Motivation, English Reading Attitude, and English Reading Performance among Chinese Primary Students

Abstract

English reading is a key pathway to developing language skills and intercultural literacy in primary school students, yet it is often overlooked, leading to suboptimal reading performance. Reading motivation and reading attitude, as important non-cognitive factors, have been separately proven to be related to reading performance, but their joint mechanism in Chinese primary school students has not been systematically explored. This study, involving 330 fourth to fifth-grade primary school students in Shenzhen, China, measured their English reading motivation and reading attitude through questionnaires and combined with final English exam scores. Using correlation analysis and multiple regression methods, the relationship between motivation, attitude, and reading performance was systematically examined. The results showed that reading motivation and reading attitude were significantly positively correlated with reading performance. Further analysis revealed that reading motivation and reading attitude jointly explained 58.9% of the variance in reading performance, with motivation playing a particularly prominent predictive role. This study confirms that in the context of English education in Chinese primary schools, reading motivation and reading attitude are key predictive variables affecting students 'reading performance, and their synergistic effect is significant. The findings provide empirical evidence for educational practice, suggesting that teachers should focus on both stimulating students' motivation and cultivating positive attitudes in instructional design and interventions to effectively enhance students' English reading ability and academic performance.