Nowadays, reading is a basic communicative tool. Although silent reading is the most common, pupils in primary schools are often asked to read out loud. This way, a teacher can assess pupils’ reading progress. In literature classes, reading aloud is also used by a teacher for introducing a new work of literature to the class. The speech that changes throughout the reading by using different variations in pace, volume, stress, pause, pitch, timbre and register is called interpretive reading. When combined with non-verbal visuals, interpretive reading provides a first-rate and an extremely enjoyable experience for the listeners. The positive feelings, which are aroused in a class during the reading, channel pupils’ attention towards learning activities and motivate them for school work. The aim of this Master’s thesis was to research the connection between the interpretive reading done by a teacher and pupils’ motivation for school work in the first five years of primary school. The theoretical part focuses on the interaction with literature at home and at school. If parents introduce literature to their offspring as something positive and entertaining, children are more likely to show interest in reading later on. This process is continued in primary school, where a teacher proceeds with the development of pupils’ reading motivation, as well as their reading skills. Adults reading to children can decide to read interpretively, which makes their reading vivid and leaves a lasting impression on a listener’s experience. Interpretive reading consists of several stages. Listening to interpretive reading in literature classes is associated with emotions, attention and pupils’ general learning motivation. The empirical part of this thesis presents the qualitative and quantitative research conducted in various primary schools in the Gorenjska region. 50 primary school teachers and their pupils took part in this research. An observation list was created in order to perform the qualitative research, and for a quantitative counterpart a questionnaire and a Likert opinion scale. The results of the quantitative research show that teachers, in their opinion, often read interpretively, but they rarely prepare beforehand for such reading. Most teachers appreciate interpretive reading and see the connection between this kind of reading and pupils' motivation for learning. The qualitative research showed the intertwining of interpretive reading with pupils’ emotions, their attention and their calmness, which are clear signs of learning motivation. The most motivational element of interpretive reading was the volume of reading, whereas non-verbal visuals were not used very often. The results of this thesis can be helpful to primary school teachers, namely in providing different ways of how to use various interpretative elements in their reading to boost their pupils’ learning motivation.
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