Does instruction that improves ABE students motivation or self-esteem also lead to increased reading comprehension ability?
The direct or deliberate discussion of learners’ literacy beliefs and plans in order to deal with issues of reading self-efficacy and motivation may increase reading comprehension achievement. (Boudett & Friedlander, 1997 and Friedlander & Martinson, 1996; Mikulecky & Lloyd, 1997) Most ABE programs assume that adult learners’ motivation and feelings of self-efficacy are important issues. However, very few studies investigate whether or not attempting to improve motivation and feelings of self-efficacy will have a positive affect on adult learners’ reading ability. Mikulecky and Lloyd (1997) describe workplace literacy programs in which learners’ feelings of literacy self-efficacy, or how good they perceive their reading and writing to be, and how important reading and education are in their future plans, is evaluated and then dealt with briefly, but directly, during classroom literacy instruction. Learners in their study who participated in these classroom discussions had much greater
