Relations of children's motivation for reading to the amount and breadth or their reading.

The authors explored different aspects of children's reading motivation and how children's motivation related to the amount and breadth of their reading. The reading motives assessed included self-efficacy, intrinsic–extrinsic motivation and goals, and social aspects. Fourth- and 5th-grade children (N?=?105) completed a new reading motivation questionnaire twice during a school year. Children's reading amount and breadth were measured using diaries and questionnaires. Children's reading motivation was found to be multidimensional. Their motivation predicted children's reading amount and breadth even when previous amount and breadth were controlled. An intrinsic motivation composite predicted amount and breadth of reading more strongly than did an extrinsic motivation composite. Some aspects of girls' reading motivation were more positive than boys'. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's meaning got to do with it: The role of vocabulary in word reading and reading comprehension.

There is at present no clear consensus as to the nature of the relations between oral vocabulary and specific literacy skills. The present study distinguished between vocabulary breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge to better explain the role of oral vocabulary in various reading skills. A sample of 60 typically developing Grade 4 students was assessed on measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary breadth, depth of vocabulary knowledge, decoding, visual word recognition, and reading comprehension. Concurrent analyses revealed that each distinct reading skill was related to the vocabulary measures in a unique manner. Receptive vocabulary breadth was the only oral vocabulary variable that predicted decoding performance after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. In contrast, expressive vocabulary breadth predicted visual word recognition, whereas depth of vocabulary knowledge predicted reading comprehension. The results are discussed in terms of interrelations between phonological and semantic factors in the acquisition of distinct reading skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Orientations in the Classroom: Age Differences and Academic Correlates.

Age differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the relationships of each to academic outcomes were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of 797 3rd-grade through 8th-grade children. Using independent measures, the authors found intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to be only moderately correlated, suggesting that they may be largely orthogonal dimensions of motivation in school. Consistent with previous research, intrinsic motivation showed a significant linear decrease from 3rd grade through 8th grade and proved positively correlated with children's grades and standardized test scores at all grade levels. Extrinsic motivation showed few differences across grade levels and proved negatively correlated with academic outcomes. Surprisingly few differences based on children's sex or ethnicity were found. Causes and consequences of the disturbingly low levels of motivation for older, relative to younger, children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool home literacy practices and children's literacy development: A longitudinal analysis.

In this 3-year longitudinal study, the authors tested and extended M. Sénéchal and J. Le Fevre's (2002) model of the relationships between preschool home literacy practices and children's literacy and language development. Parent-child reading (Home Literacy Environment Questionnaire plus a children's Title Recognition Test) and parental teaching of letters, words, and name writing were assessed 6 months prior to children's school entry. The 143 children (55% male participants; mean age = 5.36 years, SD = 0.29) attended Gold Coast, Australia government preschools. Parent-child reading and literacy teaching were only weakly correlated (r = .18) and were related to different outcomes consistent with the original model. Age, gender, memory, and nonverbal ability were controlled. Parental teaching was independently related to R. W. Woodcock's (1997) preschool Letter-Word Identification scores (R2change = 4.58%, p = .008). This relationship then mediated the relationships between parental teaching and Grades 1 and 2 letter-word identification, single-word reading and spelling rates, and phonological awareness (rhyme detection and phonological deletion). Parent-child reading was independently related to Grade 1 vocabulary (R2change = 5.6%, p = .005). Thus, both home practices are relevant but to different aspects of literacy and language development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal relationships of levels of language in writing and between writing and reading in grades 1 to 7.

Longitudinal structural equation modeling was used to evaluate longitudinal relationships across adjacent grade levels 1 to 7 for levels of language in writing (Model 1, subword letter writing, word spelling, and text composing) or writing and reading (Model 2, subword letter writing and word spelling and reading; Model 3, word spelling and reading and text composing and comprehending). Significant longitudinal relationships were observed within and across levels of language: spelling to spelling and spelling to composing (Grades 1 to 7), Models 1 and 3, and composing to spelling (Grades 3 to 6, Model 1; Grades 4 to 6, Model 3); spelling to word reading and word reading to spelling (Grades 2 to 7), Models 2 and 3; spelling to word reading (Grade 1), Model 2, and word reading to spelling (Grade 1), Model 3; composition to comprehension (Grades 3 to 5), Model 3; comprehension to composition (Grades 2 to 6), Model 3; and comprehension to word reading (Grades 1 to 6), Model 3. Results are discussed in reference to the levels of language in translating ideas into written language and integrating writing and reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of three components of reading fluency to reading comprehension.

This study examined the relationships of 3 levels of reading fluency--the individual word, the syntactic unit, and the whole passage--to reading comprehension among 278 5th graders heterogeneous in reading ability. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that reading fluency at each level related uniquely to performance on a standardized reading comprehension test in a model including inferencing skill and background knowledge. The study supports an automaticity effect for word recognition speed and an automaticity-like effect related to syntactic processing skill. In addition, hierarchical regressions using longitudinal data suggest that fluency and reading comprehension have a bidirectional relationship. The discussion emphasizes the theoretical expansion of reading fluency to 3 levels of cognitive processes and the relations of these processes to reading comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher perceptions and student reading motivation.

Teacher perceptions of students' intrinsic motivation for reading were examined from the perspective of self-determination development and reading achievement. A sample of 68 teachers from randomly selected elementary schools that were representative of county characteristics rated 374 students on 6 aspects of motivation for reading, including individual, topical, activity-based, autonomy-supported, socially supported, and writing-related aspects. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that teachers perceived higher achievers to be relatively higher in intrinsic reading motivation (individual and topical) than in extrinsic reading motivation (activity-based and autonomy-supported). In contrast, teachers perceived lower achievers to be relatively more motivated by extrinsic contextual factors than by intrinsic factors. Teachers appear to possess implicit theories that are in accord with the self-determination perspective on the development of motivation and reading achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative reading achievement: A longitudinal study of 187 children from first through sixth grades.

This article reports results of a longitudinal study of relative reading achievement of 87 boys and 100 girls from 1st through 6th grades. Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests (W. H. MacGinitie, J Kamons, R. L. Kowalski, R. K. MacGinitie, & T. MacKay, 1980) data were drawn from records of 1 rural school district in Eastern Canada. There was a systematic relationship between gender and reading categorization in Grades 1-3, with more boys below average, and no systematic relationship in Grades 4-6. Probabilities of 6th-grade reading-achievement categorization conditioned on 1st-grade achievement were used to challenge the stability of reading categorization reported in previous studies. The courses of relative reading achievement over the 6 grades of key subgroups of children were followed to show how reading-achievement categorization changes. The implications include a case for early reading intervention and for reconsideration of the view that relative reading achievement is largely immutable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructional approaches that significantly increase reading comprehension.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the most widely used literacy instructional approaches on the reading comprehension of Grade 2–6 students. Participants (N = 660) were enrolled in 4 districts in the United States; 53% were male (n = 348) and 47% were female (n = 312); 51% were Caucasian (n = 338), 23% were African American (n = 149), 21% were Hispanic (n = 138), and 5% represented other ethnic backgrounds (n = 35). Sixty-two percent came from low to low-middle socioeconomic status schools, and 38% came from middle to high socioeconomic status schools. The study was a quantified experimental versus controlled group comparison. Analyses of variance were used to determine the differences between literacy scores. Two-level hierarchical linear modeling analyses were used to examine the effects of school variables on academic achievement. The highest comprehension scores for all populations occurred through three approaches. When struggling readers received 20 min of instruction with 1 of these 3 approaches, their literacy growth was equal to or greater than that of their peers. Implications are that treatments using classroom books produced significantly higher comprehension scores than workbook practice or extending basal treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting delayed letter knowledge development and its relation to Grade 1 reading achievement among children with and without familial risk for dyslexia.

The authors examined the developmental trajectories of children's early letter knowledge in relation to measures spanning and encompassing their prior language-related and cognitive measures and environmental factors and their subsequent Grade 1 reading achievement. Letter knowledge was assessed longitudinally at ages 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.5 years; earlier language skills and environmental factors were assessed at ages 3.5 and 4.5 years; and reading achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1. The analyses were conducted on a longitudinal data set involving children with and without familial risk for dyslexia. Emerging from the trajectory analysis of letter knowledge were 3 separate clusters: delayed (n = 63), linearly growing (n = 73), and precocious (n = 51). The members of the delayed cluster were predominantly children with familial risk for dyslexia, and the members of the precocious cluster were predominantly control group children. Phonological sensitivity, phonological memory, and rapid naming skills predicted delayed letter knowledge. Environmental predictors included level of maternal education and the amount of letter name teaching. Familial risk for dyslexia made a significant contribution to the predictive relations. Membership in the delayed cluster predicted poor reading performance at Grade 1. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of word reading fluency and spelling in a consistent orthography: An 8-year follow-up.

In a longitudinal study, development of word reading fluency and spelling were followed for almost 8 years. In a group of 115 students (65 girls, 50 boys) acquiring the phonologically transparent German orthography, prediction measures (letter knowledge, phonological short-term memory, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and nonverbal IQ) were assessed at the beginning of Grade 1; reading fluency and spelling were tested at the end of Grade 1 as well as in Grades 4 and 8. Reading accuracy was close to ceiling in all reading assessments, such that reading fluency was not heavily influenced by differences in reading accuracy. High stability was observed for word reading fluency development. Of the dysfluent readers in Grade 1, 70% were still poor readers in Grade 8. For spelling, children who at the end of Grade 1 still had problems translating spoken words into phonologically plausible letter sequences developed problems with orthographic spelling later on. The strongest specific predictors were rapid automatized naming for reading fluency and phonological awareness for spelling. Word recognition speed was a relevant and highly stable indicator of reading skills and the only indicator that discriminated reading skill levels in consistent orthographies. Its long-term development was more strongly influenced by early naming speed than by phonological awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of first-grade reading in Spanish-speaking English-language learners.

Longitudinal prediction of English and Spanish reading skills was examined in a sample of 249 Spanish-speaking English-language learners at 3 time points in kindergarten through Grade 1. Phonological awareness transferred from Spanish to English and was predictive of word-identification skills, as in previous studies. Other variables showing cross-linguistic transfer were letter and word knowledge, print concepts, and sentence memory. Expressive vocabulary tended to show language-specific relationships to later reading. Oral-language variables predicted reading comprehension more highly than word identification. Classification of good and poor readers in 1st grade was found to be comparable with studies that used monolingual readers. Results broadened the range of variables showing cross-linguistic transfer, at the level of both predictor and outcome variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Syllable and letter knowledge in early Korean Hangul reading.

This study examined the development of Korean consonant–vowel (CV) syllable identification, consonant and vowel letter knowledge, and their relationships to phonological awareness and the reading of regular Hangul words among Korean kindergartners as a 6-month longitudinal study. Results showed that Korean children identified CV syllables better than consonant and vowel letters. In regression analyses, CV syllable identification at Time 1 strongly contributed to Hangul word recognition concurrently over and above letter knowledge, as well as longitudinally after controlling for letter knowledge and reading at Time 1. However, letter knowledge did not predict Hangul reading once CV syllable identification was controlled. In addition, CV syllable knowledge facilitated subsequent letter knowledge and phoneme onset and coda awareness. The results, in general, shed light on the salient roles of syllables in the early literacy development of Korean. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ability self-concepts and subjective value in literacy: Joint trajectories from grades 1 through 12.

Because literacy skills are critical for most academic subject matters, researchers have become increasingly interested in understanding children's motivation in this domain as a way to increase academic success. In this study, we extend previous work by looking at the heterogeneity of children's motivational changes in literacy across Grades 1–12. We used a cross-sequential design based on 3 different cohorts of children (N = 655) coming from 10 public elementary schools. Data were collected over an 8-year period (1988–1996) starting when children were in 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades. Using multiple-process growth mixture modeling, we identified 7 groups of children showing distinct trajectories of change in literacy subjective task value and ability self-concept across school years. For all children, ability self-concept and subjective task value decreased between Grade 1 and Grade 12; however, this decline was more apparent for some youths than for others. Our findings suggest the importance of school-based interventions that aim to prevent decreases in student motivation for literacy over time and that focus on the early detection of children at risk for dramatic declines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation for smoking cessation among pregnant women.

The authors evaluated an expanded measure of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for smoking cessation in a population-based sample of 897 pregnant smokers (500 current smokers and 397 recent quitters). The measure assessed motivation related to pregnancy and parenthood in addition to general intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions. Current smokers at baseline who quit smoking by 28 weeks of pregnancy (n?=?102) had significantly higher baseline levels of pregnancy-related motivation than continuing smokers. Extrinsic and pregnancy motivation dropped between baseline and 28 weeks of pregnancy among continuing smokers. Higher levels of intrinsic relative to extrinsic motivation at baseline were associated with sustained abstinence during the first 2 months postpartum. Results suggest that both general and pregnancy-specific motivation are important for smoking cessation and relapse prevention during pregnancy. Interventions to enhance the salience of health benefits over and above those related to pregnancy and other intrinsic benefits of a greater sense of self-control could protect against postpartum relapse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task values and ability beliefs as predictors of high school literacy choices: A developmental analysis.

This study examines how competence beliefs and task values predict high school achievement choices related to literacy. Students' task beliefs (self-concept of ability, intrinsic value, and importance) about reading in the 4th grade and English in the 10th grade were tracked over time. Task beliefs, school performance, and gender were used to predict students' (a) time per week spent reading for pleasure in 10th grade, (b) number of language arts courses per year of high school, and (c) reading relatedness of 12th-grade career aspirations. Results indicated that ability beliefs positively predicted all 3 outcomes, importance predicted career aspirations and course choices, and intrinsic value predicted leisure time reading and high school courses. Gender differences were also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Naming speed and phonological awareness as predictors of reading development.

This article investigates how well kindergarten phonological awareness (PA) and naming speed (NS) account for reading development to Grade 5. The authors use regression analyses to predict reading development, with mental ability and prior achievement controlled, and follow the reading development of children having combinations of adequate or inadequate PA and NS. PA was most strongly related to reading in the first 2 years of school, and NS's initially weaker relationship increased with grade level. Children with weak PA and slow NS were most likely to develop reading difficulties by Grade 5, followed by children with slow NS alone. The authors discuss the roles of NS and PA in reading development and the need to clarify the constructs underlying NS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A randomized controlled trial study of the ABRACADABRA reading intervention program in grade 1.

This study reports a randomized controlled trial evaluation of a computer-based balanced literacy intervention, ABRACADABRA (http://grover.concordia.ca/abra/version1/abracadabra.html). Children (N = 144) in Grade 1 were exposed either to computer activities for word analysis, text comprehension, and fluency, alongside shared stories (experimental groups), or to balanced literacy approaches delivered by their classroom teachers (control group). Two computer-based interventions—a phoneme-based synthetic phonics method and a rime-based analytic phonics method—were contrasted. Children were taught 4 times per week for 12 weeks in small groups. There were significant improvements in letter knowledge in the analytic phonics program and significant improvements in phonological awareness, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension at immediate posttest and in phonological awareness and reading fluency at a delayed posttest in the synthetic phonics program. Effect size analyses confirmed that both interventions had a significant impact on literacy at both posttests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of reading disability from familial and individual differences.

Reading ability at Grade 2 was well predicted both by the incidence of reading problems in children's families and by individual differences among the children in vocabulary, phonological awareness, and early literacy skills at age 5 years. In contrast, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), age, and preschool differences in IQ, nonverbal skills, early education, and reading and television-viewing habits were unrelated to subsequent reading acquisition. Greater accuracy of prediction was obtained when test results rather than self-reports were used to determine familial reading problems, but little support was found for the utility or reliability of a distinction between low achievement in reading and specific underachievement relative to IQ in prediction analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)