Interest and Challenging Reading

Question: Will interest in a topic help in reading that is too challenging?

Answer: Students ranging from 10 to 14 years old read a passage well beyond their  current reading ability under two matched experimental conditions: high relative topic interest and low relative topic interest. Higher relative interest in the story topic buffered some of the negative influences of excessive challenge….

Fulmer, S. M., & Frijters, J. C. (2011). Motivation during an excessively challenging reading task:

The buffering role of relative topic interest. Journal of Experimental Education, 79(2), 185–208.

Comment: I’ve often wondered if interest in reading material would counteract the fact that the reading material is beyond the reader’s reading level. Here’s some evidence that it does. RayS.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.