Reducing Reading Anxiety and Enhancing Reading Attitudes Through Interactive Read-Aloud: An Action Research Study...

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Literacy Studies
• Child Development

Background:

• Reading anxiety and negative reading attitudes are significant barriers to academic success.
• Early intervention is crucial for fostering positive literacy development in primary school students.
• Interactive read-alouds offer a promising pedagogical approach to address these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of teacher-led, face-to-face interactive read-alouds on reading anxiety and attitudes in second-grade students.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a 13-week interactive read-aloud program utilizing children's picture books.
• To explore students' qualitative experiences during the interactive reading intervention.

Main Methods:

• Action research design with 32 second-grade primary school students.
• A 13-week interactive read-aloud program using picture storybooks.
• Quantitative measures: Reading Anxiety Scale and "Garfield" Visual Reading Attitude Scale.
• Qualitative data collection via researcher's journal.

Main Results:

• Significant decrease in students' reading anxiety scores post-intervention.
• Significant improvement in students' reading attitude scores.
• Qualitative data revealed positive experiential responses to the interactive reading process.

Conclusions:

• Teacher-led interactive read-alouds are effective in mitigating reading anxiety among young learners.
• This pedagogical strategy positively influences students' attitudes toward reading.
• Picture book-based interactive read-alouds foster positive engagement and experiences with literacy.