The Relationship between Reading Comprehension and Writing Skills of Fourth Grade Students and Their Motivation to Read and Write

Abstract

Motivation is well-known to have a crucial influence in the growth and acquisition of language skills, including reading comprehension and writing. From this point of view, the goal of this study was to find out how 4th graders' reading comprehension, writing skills, and motivation to read and write are connected. Conducted according to the correlational research design, the study consisted of a total of 581 students, 297 boys and 284 girls, studying at the 4th grade of the public primary schools located in the central districts of Kars, Konya, and Zonguldak provinces. Data collection tools included the “Reading Comprehension Test”, “Motivation to Read Profile”, “Motivation to Write Profile”, and “Story Text Assessment Analytic Rubric”. Data analysis results indicated that the reading comprehension skills of female and male students were close to each other with statistical significance in favour of female students considering the scores of story writing and of motivation to read and write. A major positive correlation was found between the motivation to read and its sub-factors and the sub-factors of motivation to write, as well as between the motivation to read and motivation to write. Furthermore, motivation to read was found to be a considerable predictor of reading comprehension skill, while motivation to write was found to be a major predictor of writing skill. At the conclusion of the study, a number of recommendations were made for future researchers and teachers.