Students' extracurricular reading behavior and the development of vocabulary and reading comprehension

Paper-based versus digital-based learning among undergraduate medical, nursing and pharmaceutical students in Japan: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Since the emergence of COVID-19, university education has drastically transformed into digital-based learning (DBL). Online education has been well recognised as a promising mode of teaching; however, only a limited number of studies have reported the students' preferred format for academic learning.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

The study was conducted in a university setting in Japan. A Google Forms online questionnaire was distributed to the participants between April and May 2022.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 939 undergraduate medical, nursing and pharmaceutical students in the pre-clinical grade were recruited, and 344 were included in the final analysis.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME

The questionnaire assessed students' format preferences between paper-based learning (PBL) and DBL as it pertained to academic performance and eyestrain. In terms of academic performance, comprehension, memory retention and absorption (concentration) were assessed. We also explored the association between students' daily time spent using DBL and their digital preference by the Cochran-Armitage trend test and logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 344 (191 medical, 73 nursing and 80 pharmaceutical) university students completed the questionnaire (response rate 36.6%). An even distribution was observed in the preferred learning format for comprehension: PBL (32.0%), both formats equivalent (32.8%) and DBL (35.2%; digital preference). Only few students preferred DBL for memory retention (6.1%), absorption (6.7%) and eyestrain (1.2%). Although a positive association was observed between daily time spent using DBL and digital preference for comprehension, there was no association for memory retention, absorption and eyestrain.

CONCLUSION

Among university students, DBL was just as preferred as PBL for comprehension; however, only a few students reported that DBL was better in terms of memory retention, absorption and eyestrain. A learning environment where students can study using PBL should be continued.

Print and digital reading habits and comprehension in children with and without special education needs

BACKGROUND

Text comprehension is a major obstacle for many Primary school students with special education needs (SEN). Reading episodes bring students opportunities to be exposed to new vocabulary and knowledge, potentially boosting their development of text comprehension skills.

AIMS

Our study seeks to understand how reading frequency (leisure and academic) and reading medium (print and digital) contribute to the development of text comprehension during Primary school in students with and without SEN.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

We tested 2289 Spanish students from fourth to sixth grade, from which 212 had an official decision of SEN. Students self-reported their reading frequency (as a measure of their reading habits) and completed a standardized text comprehension test. We employed multiple regression models with a robust maximum likelihood estimator to test associations between reading frequency and comprehension.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Students' comprehension was positively associated with their leisure print reading habits, and negatively associated with their frequency of academic digital reading. Those associations were independent of SEN status.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Results highlight the importance of promoting leisure reading in print to all students, regardless of SEN status. In addition, caution is advised when encouraging Primary school children to use digital texts when the emphasis is on comprehending texts for acquiring knowledge.

Measuring reading behavior in large-scale assessments and surveys

Large amounts of studies have shown that reading behavior is an important aspect for the development of students' reading skills. The construct reading behavior as examined in large-scale assessments and surveys within the field of empirical educational research is operationalized through a wide range of reading and reading-related aspects (e.g., reading time, reading frequency, print exposure, reading engagement, book genre preferences, knowledge of authors or book titles) and a broad array of measurement methods are used. The approaches to measure the same variable - namely reading behavior - differ fundamentally from each other, while at the same time, a clear concept that would help to classify the used measurement instruments and to interpret them in relation to the superordinate construct of reading behavior is missing. Therefore, the present article aims to give an overview of methods to measure reading behavior within the context of large-scale assessments and surveys, and to discuss how they were implemented. Finally, we make some suggestions on how it might be possible to relate the applied measurement approaches to each other, especially in terms of their content and theoretical relationship to the overarching construct of reading behavior.

Well-Being and Perceived Competence in School Children from 1 to 9 Class

Motivational aspects in reading, math, science and physical education are often studied on whole samples and not grouped into different classes. In our study we wish to investigate cross-sectional data across classes. Our research question wishes to investigate what class differences are there in school subject-based well-being and perceived competence? A total of 378 Icelandic pupils in classes 1-9 did answer a survey with nine items, focusing on how are you feeling at school, how do you like and how are you doing in reading, math, science and physical education. There were 163 girls (43%), and 202 boys (53%) ranging from 6 to 15 years of age (M = 10.86, SD = 2.57). The findings, for the whole sample, indicate that girls tend to like reading more than boys do. Additionally, girls feel that they are better in science compared to boys, while boys like physical education more than girls. In terms of classes, multiple items, including reading, math and science, indicated class differences, where higher classes (i.e., eighth and ninth class) tend to have lower average scores in how much they liked a certain topic, and how competent they felt. It is also of great interest that the correlation between 'how do you like' and 'how are you doing' are 0.53, 0.71, 0.66 and 0.66 for reading, math, science and physical activity, respectively. Well-being and perceived competence in all subjects correlate with each other, and well-being at school. This shows the importance of seeing the school as a holistic system, where experiences related to individual subjects coincide with the overall experience (and vice versa). The results are discussed in relation to self-perception, motivation and practice.

Testing the validity of a self-report scale, author recognition test, and book counting as measures of lifetime exposure to print fiction

We report a study testing the validity of the three most commonly used indicators of lifetime exposure to print fiction, namely a self-report scale, an author recognition test (ART), and book counting, in a sample of older adults (N=306; Mage = 59.29 years, SDage = 7.01). Convergent validity of the self-report scale and book counting was assessed through correlations with the fiction sub-score of the ART; divergent validity of these two indicators was examined via correlations with the non-fiction sub-score of that ART. We also assessed criterion-related validity by testing the degree to which each of the three indicators predicted participants' performance in a vocabulary test. The self-report scale and book counting were significantly more positively associated with the ART fiction sub-score than the ART non-fiction sub-score. Regression analyses, controlling for gender and non-fiction exposure, revealed that the ART fiction sub-score had the highest explanatory power among all indicators under investigation for predicting vocabulary test performance. The present results suggest that only ARTs may have satisfactory levels of both construct and criterion-related validity. Recommendations for the assessment of fiction exposure and future directions are discussed.

Reading fiction and reading minds in early adolescence: A longitudinal study

Reading fiction is argued to have benefits for our understanding of others' thoughts, feelings and desires, referred to as 'theory of mind'(ToM). We aimed to test this assumption by examining whether children's reading experience is longitudinally associated with later ToM. We examined reading experience and ToM in 236 children between the ages of 11-13 years. Participants were asked to report on their time spent reading both fiction and non-fiction at ages 11 and 13, ToM was measured at age 13. Verbal ability, reading comprehension, and reading motivation were included as control variables in all analyses. Results showed that children's self-reported fiction, but not their non-fiction reading was associated with ToM. Further, the association was concurrent but not longitudinal: fiction reading and ToM at age 13 were associated but fiction reading at age 11 did not predict ToM at age 13. Our findings motivate further research on what types of reading materials might be beneficial, and the level of exposure to fiction that is needed for measurable benefits for later ToM.

The effects of university students' fragmented reading on cognitive development in the new media age: evidence from Chinese higher education

Introduction

The impacts of fragmented reading have been felt on a huge scale during the new media age. An increasingly fast-paced society and a corresponding drop in theoretical reading have affected reading literacy and cognitive development across communities-and among university students in particular. This study sought to identify the components of fragmented reading and cognitive development and investigate the former's effects on the latter among university students in the new media age.

Methods

Paper-based and electronic surveys were used to gather demographic and related-reading data from undergraduates at six Chinese universities in early 2021. After testing the data from 916 samples for reliability and validity, descriptive statistics were obtained and path analysis was undertaken using structural equation modeling.

Results

The students reported relatively high levels of fragmented reading, particularly in its temporal form. Significant associations were found between the constructs of fragmented reading and cognitive development. Specifically, the fragmentation of content, time, and attention in reading behavior had significant, positive effects on cognitive breadth. However, each of these components was somewhat negatively associated with cognitive depth.

Conclusions

The findings disclosed the dual effects of fragmented reading on the cognitive development of students, opening a new perspective on this debate. As fragmented reading in the new media age grows inexorably, the study highlights the need to utilize its positive effects on cognitive development by integrating and classifying fragmented information into the mental maps of learners.

Chinese Adolescents' Reading Motivation Profiles and Their Relations to Reading Amount

This study used a person-centered approach to identify reading motivation profiles of 514 Chinese adolescents in seventh- to ninth-grade, based on dimensions of intrinsic reading motivation (curiosity and involvement) and extrinsic reading motivation (grades and competition). Furthermore, the effects of each profile on outcome variables (reading amount for enjoyment and for school) were investigated. Latent profile analyses revealed three reading motivation profiles: high quantity (high on all four dimensions), high intrinsic (high on curiosity and involvement, low on grades, and competition), and moderate quantity (moderate on all four dimensions). The high-intrinsic and high-quantity profiles proved to be equally successful in terms of amount of reading for enjoyment and for school, and both significantly exceeded the moderate-quantity profile. The current findings emphasize the importance of intrinsic reading motivation and the importance of quality of motivation, compared with its quantity.

The role of the library within school-level literacy policies and plans in Australia and the United Kingdom

Libraries are valuable resources that schools can draw upon to enhance their students’ literacy outcomes. However, the role of libraries in supporting student literacy attainment and maintenance may be poorly understood in schools. To determine if libraries are a valued literacy resource within schools, investigation of their incorporation into school-level literacy policies and plans was warranted. Literacy policies and plans from Australia and the United Kingdom were examined using a hybrid content analysis approach to explore if libraries are commonly featured in school literacy policies and plans. Analysis also identified the kinds of libraries that were mentioned, and the roles that libraries play in these documents. Only 34.3% of Australian documents mentioned a library, with UK documents far more likely to include them (74.3%). UK documents were more likely to mention school libraries, classroom libraries, public libraries, mobile libraries, online libraries and book swap areas, while parent libraries were only mentioned in Australian documents. Analysis of roles of libraries found mentions of borrowing and literature exposure; access to a well-resourced facility; reading for pleasure; reading for assessment; environment; research, information literacy and library skills; external expertise, resourcing and outreach; and literacy and literature instruction. UK documents were more likely to include these roles than their Australian counterparts.

Converging Development of English as Foreign Language Listening and Reading Comprehension Skills in German Upper Secondary Schools

Receptive skills in English as a second language are important for students on the verge of entering higher education as this student group (aged 17–19) is expected to apply English regularly in their later life. Previous research in this age group in Germany already implied an increasing overlap between both skills in this age group, although robustness of this effect across student groups with different learning experiences was not tested. We used language assessment data collected from upper secondary schools (i.e., from 17 to 19-year-old students) in Germany to compare correlations at the beginning and the end of upper secondary education in groups of students from (1) language-related versus non-language-related study profiles and (2) from students with frequent versus less frequent self-reported English-language out-of-school learning activities. In all of these groups, correlations were increasing, indicating converging skills in upper secondary education. The results are discussed in terms of implications for current theories of language research.

Reading for entertainment or information reception? Gender differences in reading preferences and their impact on text-type-specific reading competences in adult readers

This study aims at exploring gender differences in text-type-specific reading competences via readers’ gender-specific reading preferences. Women were expected to read more often for the sake of entertainment (entertainment preference), whereas men were expected to read more often to gain information (information preference). We further assumed that individuals who read for entertainment would have higher reading competence in fictional literary texts compared with non-fictional informational texts, and vice versa for individuals who read to gain information. The analysis was based on a sample of 830 adults between 19 and 71 years (M = 31.04; SD = 12.53) from a pilot study of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). A structural equation model confirmed that women and men show different reading preferences during leisure time. The preference to read for entertainment was predictive for reading competence in literary texts; however, the preference to read for information had positive effects on reading competence in both informational and literary texts.

Relations Among Executive Function, Decoding, and Reading Comprehension: An Investigation of Sex Differences

In the current investigation, we used structural equation mediation modeling to examine the relations between executive function (indexed by measures of working memory, shifting, and inhibition), decoding ability, and reading comprehension in a sample of 298 6- to 8-year-old children (N =132 and 166 for boys and girls, respectively). Results for the full sample indicated that executive function was mediated by decoding ability. When sex was examined as a moderator of these associations, there was evidence for a trend suggesting that direct relations between executive function and reading comprehension were stronger for girls compared to boys; no significant differences were found for other direct and indirect relations. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of executive function in supporting underlying integrative processes associated with reading comprehension and emphasize the need to further consider the role of executive function in relation to reading.

Mechanisms mediating the relation between reading self-concept and reading comprehension

Reading self-concept is an important predictor of reading comprehension and vice versa. However, the mechanisms that are at work in this relation have yet to be identified. In line with the self-enhancement approach, we propose that in the reading domain, amount of reading, book choice (text difficulty and book length), and intrinsic reading motivation should function as mediating variables in the relation between reading self-concept and reading comprehension. We tested this hypothesis with longitudinal data gathered from N = 405 German students in Grades 7, 8, and 9. The results showed that reading self-concept had a positive effect on reading comprehension, intrinsic motivation, book length, and amount of reading. However, indirect paths between reading self-concept and reading comprehension were found only for intrinsic motivation, not for amount of reading or book choice. The results are discussed in the context of students’ reading comprehension development, and consequences for research and education are derived.

Leisure Reading (But Not Any Kind) and Reading Comprehension Support Each Other-A Longitudinal Study Across Grades 1 and 9

This study examines associations between leisure reading and reading skills in data of 2,525 students followed from age 7 to 16. As a step further from traditional cross-lagged analysis, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to identify within-person associations of leisure reading (books, magazines, newspapers, and digital reading), reading fluency, and reading comprehension. In Grades 1-3 poorer comprehension and fluency predicted less leisure reading. In later grades more frequent leisure reading, particularly of books, predicted better reading comprehension. Negative associations were found between digital reading and reading skills. The findings specify earlier findings of correlations between individuals by showing that reading comprehension improvement, in particular, is predicted by within-individual increases in book reading.

Erfassung des Lesevolumens in Large-Scale Studien

Zusammenfassung. In diesem Beitrag werden 2 Möglichkeiten der Erfassung des Lesevolumens, wie sie in Large-Scale-Studien meist verwendet werden, verglichen – zum einen ein differenziertes textsortenspezifisches Urteil und zum anderen ein häufig angewendetes Globalurteil zur Einschätzung des Lesevolumens. Zum Vergleich der beiden Urteile liegen Daten des Nationalen Bildungspanels (NEPS) mit einer Stichprobe von N = 5 475 Schülerinnen und Schülern der 5. Klassenstufe und N = 16 425 Schülerinnen und Schülern der 9. Klassenstufe sowie eine Stichprobe aus PISA 2009 von N = 4 979 Schülerinnen und Schülern im Alter von 15 Jahren vor. Insgesamt zeigt sich, dass im NEPS (insbesondere in Klassenstufe 5) das Globalurteil das verlässlichere Instrument darstellt. Für die textsortenspezifischen Urteile zeigen sich u. a. deutliche Bodeneffekte und nur geringe Zusammenhänge mit den Kriteriumsmaßen Lesefreude und Lesekompetenz. Im Vergleich der beiden textsortenspezifischen Urteile in NEPS und PISA zeigt sich ein Vorteil für die in PISA verwendeten Items. Es werden Empfehlungen für den Umgang mit den NEPS-Daten aus den entsprechenden Scientific-Use-Files abgeleitet.

Why do children read more? The influence of reading ability on voluntary reading practices

BACKGROUND

This study investigates the causal relationships between reading and print exposure and investigates whether the amount children read outside school determines how well they read, or vice versa. Previous findings from behavioural studies suggest that reading predicts print exposure. Here, we use twin-data and apply the behaviour-genetic approach of direction of causality modelling, suggested by Heath et al. (), to investigate the causal relationships between these two traits.

METHOD

Partial data were available for a large sample of twin children (N = 11,559) and 262 siblings, all enrolled in the Netherlands Twin Register. Children were assessed around 7.5 years of age. Mothers completed questionnaires reporting children's time spent on reading activities and reading ability. Additional information on reading ability was available through teacher ratings and performance on national reading tests. For siblings reading test, results were available.

RESULTS

The reading ability of the twins was comparable to that of the siblings and national norms, showing that twin findings can be generalized to the population. A measurement model was specified with two latent variables, Reading Ability and Print Exposure, which correlated .41. Heritability analyses showed that Reading Ability was highly heritable, while genetic and environmental influences were equally important for Print Exposure. We exploited the fact that the two constructs differ in genetic architecture and fitted direction of causality models. The results supported a causal relationship running from Reading Ability to Print Exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

How much and how well children read are moderately correlated. Individual differences in print exposure are less heritable than individual differences in reading ability. Importantly, the present results suggest that it is the children's reading ability that determines how much they choose to read, rather than vice versa.

Der Kinder-Titelrekognitionstest (K-TRT)

Zusammenfassung. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir den K-TRT (Kinder-Titelrekognitionstest) vor, ein ökonomisches und objektives Verfahren, um das Lesevolumen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen im Deutschen zu erfassen. Der K-TRT orientiert sich an vergleichbaren Instrumenten aus dem Englischen, die eine Rekognitionsmethode verwenden: Die Probanden sollen angeben, welche Titel sie aus einer Liste von Kinder- und Jugendbüchern kennen. Um Ratetendenzen zu vermeiden, enthält diese Liste auch Distraktor-Titel. Wir stellen dar, wie der K-TRT entwickelt wurde und welche Struktur er hat. Danach berichten wir die Ergebnisse von zwei Validierungsstudien. Studie 1 untersucht die Reliabilität des Verfahrens und die Verteilung der Testwerte in einer altersheterogenen Stichprobe. Studie 2 vergleicht die differenziellen Außenkorrelationen des K-TRT mit dem Wortschatz und der Lesegeschwindigkeit in einer Stichprobe von Schülerinnen und Schülern aus der 2., 4. und 6. Klasse. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für die Reliabilität und Konstruktvalidität des K-TRTs. Alle Items und ihre Kennwerte sind im Artikel aufgeführt.

The Influence of Reading on Vocabulary Growth: A Case for a Matthew Effect

PURPOSE

Individual differences in vocabulary development may affect academic or social opportunities. It has been proposed that individual differences in word reading could affect the rate of vocabulary growth, mediated by the amount of reading experience, a process referred to as a Matthew effect (Stanovich, 1986).

METHOD

In the current study, assessments of written word-reading skills in the 4th grade and oral vocabulary knowledge collected in kindergarten and in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades from a large epidemiologically based sample (n = 485) allowed a test of the relationship of early word-reading skills and the subsequent rate of vocabulary growth.

RESULTS

Consistent with the hypothesis, multilevel modeling revealed the rate of vocabulary growth after the 4th grade to be significantly related to 4th-grade word reading after controlling for kindergarten vocabulary level, that is, above average readers experienced a higher rate of vocabulary growth than did average readers.

CONCLUSIONS

Vocabulary growth rate differences accumulated over time such that the effect on vocabulary size was large.