Korean EFL Learners' Reading Motivation and Their L2 Reading Behavior

This study aimed to explore how the Korean university students' reading motivation is related to their English (L2) reading behavior. The construct of the students' Korean (L1) and L2 reading motivation was investigated with the data obtained through the questionnaire from 120 sophomore students. A factor analysis was conducted to extract the major factors of motivation and determine the interrelationship among items in the questionnaire. As a result, 6 factors were extracted: Intrinsic Motivation for English Reading, Extrinsic Motivation 1 (Immediate Goal Orientedness), Extrinsic Motivation 2 (Integrative Orientation), Importance of L1 Reading, Intrinsic Motivation toward L1 reading, and Importance of L2 Reading Skill. The interrelatedness between the assessment results on the L2 reading behavior (reading amount, time and speed) and motivation factors was measured by correlation coefficients. It was found that Intrinsic Motivation toward English Reading was significantly related to the students' reading amount and Intrinsic Motivation toward Korean Reading had positive association with the students' reading time with statistical significance. Other factors did not show significant correlation with the students' reading behavior. In addition, the students' reading speed was significantly related to their reading amount as well, while reading time did not affect the speed gain.