Due to neuropsychological and neurophysiological causes, educational performance of younger adolescents with dyslexia is below their abilities, as their primary deficits significantly hinder their acquisition of cognitive, metacognitive, self-determination and motivational learning strategies. As a consequence, these students develop secondary emotional difficulties and low learning self-esteem, and when compared to their peers, they need more time to become independent students and competent learners. This doctoral thesis employed a mixed methods research to study some selected dimensions of learning motivation (goals, interests, external stimulation, attribution, self-esteem, self-efficacy, extrinsic learning motivation, introjected learning motivation, intrinsic and identified learning motivation) in a group of younger adolescents with dyslexia attending the Slovenian language classes in primary school (seventh to ninth grade), based on the experimental method of pedagogic research. The data were collected through questionnaires for students, providers of additional professional assistance and parents, and through other documents (learning achievement reports, expert opinions, official decisions, individualized programs, evaluation of individualized programs). A quasi-experiment was conducted in two experimental groups and a control group operating in natural conditions, with one group undergoing the intervention self-determination training, and the other group undergoing the intervention metacognitive reading strategy learning training. Intervention trainings lasted three months. Both experimental groups involved 66 adolescents, included in the customized primary school curriculum with additional professional assistance. The control group included 27 adolescents with additional professional assistance who did not undergo any additional intervention training. The research included providers of additional professional assistance and parents of the participating adolescents. After six months, testing was repeated and the multivariate analysis used to explain how the type of intervention training influenced the selected dimensions of learning motivation. We ascertained that both intervention trainings were statistically relevant (growth) with some dimensions of learning motivation and metacognitive skills, directly after the training. The effect lasted up to six months after the training. Intervention self-determination training influenced also self-advocacy and self-determination skills in the period between all three measurements. According to providers of additional professional assistance, this effect further increased after the training, while parents believe it retained the same level. Providers of additional professional assistance believe that both intervention trainings significantly reduced cognitive deficits, characteristic of dyslexic adolescents, and influenced also some other dimensions of learning motivation. In both types of training, we also found the practical importance of the difference in acquired results among groups, as high, moderate and low effect size on some dimensions of learning motivation and metacognitive skills.The type of intervention training, on the other hand, had no influence over the learning performance of younger adolescents in Slovenian language since the change in learning performance is difficult to measure in the time span of three months, particularly in a group of adolescents with the most severe deficits in individual areas of learning which are risk factors in the development of learning failure. Based on the analysis of the documents, we found that the areas of learning motivation, self-determination and metacognition were not adequately identified and defined. This doctoral thesis makes a scientific contribution to a more thorough understanding and explanation of the learning motivation development dynamics in younger adolescents with dyslexia, and applied contribution to more effective special teaching interventions for teachers and providers of additional professional assistance for these areas.
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