Abstract
Background: It is essential to consider both cognitive and socioemotional aspects to better understand the complex sciences of reading acquisition. To enrich the literature, this study aimed to examine the developmental contribution of reading motivation (one of the socioemotional factors) beyond decoding and vocabulary (two well-studied cognitive skills) to Chinese reading comprehension and reading fluency in elementary school children.
Method: A cross-sectional design was adopted with 100 native Chinese-speaking children in Grade 5. Participants were measured on their decoding skills, vocabulary knowledge, reading motivation, passage reading comprehension, silent reading fluency, and oral reading fluency. All measures were adapted from published work and had high reliability and validity. Three sets of hierarchical regression analyses were carried out for each outcome variable (reading comprehension and reading fluency) separately, to examine the unique contribution of reading motivation to reading comprehension and fluency while controlling for age, gender, decoding skills, and vocabulary knowledge.
Results: We replicated previous findings regarding decoding ability and vocabulary knowledge being robust predictors of passage reading comprehension in Grade 5, and extended this finding to silent and oral reading fluency. Importantly, we found that reading motivation contributed uniquely to passage reading comprehension and silent reading fluency, but not to oral reading fluency.
Conclusions: This study simultaneously examined the developmental roles of decoding, vocabulary, and reading motivation in reading comprehension and reading fluency among Chinese children. Our findings reveal the complexity of reading development and the necessity of advancing existing reading theories by considering socioemotional factors beyond cognition. Copyright © 2023 by Association for Reading and Writing in Asia.
Method: A cross-sectional design was adopted with 100 native Chinese-speaking children in Grade 5. Participants were measured on their decoding skills, vocabulary knowledge, reading motivation, passage reading comprehension, silent reading fluency, and oral reading fluency. All measures were adapted from published work and had high reliability and validity. Three sets of hierarchical regression analyses were carried out for each outcome variable (reading comprehension and reading fluency) separately, to examine the unique contribution of reading motivation to reading comprehension and fluency while controlling for age, gender, decoding skills, and vocabulary knowledge.
Results: We replicated previous findings regarding decoding ability and vocabulary knowledge being robust predictors of passage reading comprehension in Grade 5, and extended this finding to silent and oral reading fluency. Importantly, we found that reading motivation contributed uniquely to passage reading comprehension and silent reading fluency, but not to oral reading fluency.
Conclusions: This study simultaneously examined the developmental roles of decoding, vocabulary, and reading motivation in reading comprehension and reading fluency among Chinese children. Our findings reveal the complexity of reading development and the necessity of advancing existing reading theories by considering socioemotional factors beyond cognition. Copyright © 2023 by Association for Reading and Writing in Asia.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2023 |
| Event | The 7th Annual Conference for the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia - Hong Kong, China Duration: 23 Feb 2023 → 24 Feb 2023 https://www.arwasia.org/arwa-2023 |
Conference
| Conference | The 7th Annual Conference for the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ARWA 2023 |
| Country/Territory | China |
| City | Hong Kong |
| Period | 23/02/23 → 24/02/23 |
| Internet address |
Citation
Li, A. Y., Zou, L., & Jia, K. (2023, February 23–24). The unique contributions of reading motivation to reading comprehension and reading fluency in Chinese children in Grade 5 [Paper presentation]. The 7th Annual Conference for the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA 2023), Hong Kong, China. https://www.arwasia.org/arwa-2023Keywords
- Reading motivation
- Reading development
- Chinese