Literacy Interventions Promoting Adolescent Reading Engagement and Motivation: A Systematic Literature Review

It is important to consider instructional and affective needs of adolescent readers as both correlate with proficiency. Given the dearth of research into how affective factors within interventions promote reading development, the authors undertook a systematic literature review of adolescent literacy interventions, which measured outcomes relating to motivation and/or engagement. Six studies met criteria, the majority of which were of high quality. Five aimed to improve both performance and motivation and four were within universal provision. Findings suggest that including motivational components within technical reading intervention promotes reading motivation, although it is not clear whether this is mediated by improved reading proficiency. Interventions were generally cognisant of Ho and Guthrie’s (2013) affirming motivations for reading, although the dimension of peer value–devalue was overlooked. Future research could consider the socio-cultural context for adolescent reading; and explore further the impact of adolescent reading interventions that target engagement and motivational factors.