Despite a growing research base that explores motivational constructs in reading and their relationship to achievement, nuanced questions remain. The present study examines the complex relationships among attitudes, proficiency, grade, and gender. Attitudes were differentiated by purpose (recreational vs. academic) and medium (digital vs. print),…

Positive and significant correlations ranging from 0.34 to 0.51 were found between self-reported pleasure reading (books, newspapers and magazines) and self-reported competence in speaking, listening, reading and writing English, among teachers in Korea whose responsibilities included teaching English as a foreign language. This result confirms…

In an exploration of methods to advance language acquisition without the inconvenience of participating in an immersion option, the authors discovered research on Free Voluntary Reading (FVR). FVR has made a recent resurgence, especially in the context of language acquisition. Krashen (2004) proposes FVR as the answer to building language…

Using data drawn from the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted in 2009, the present study sought to examine the mediating effects of three kinds of variables in order to account for the relationships between gender and the digital reading performance of students. The three kinds of variables are (1) online reading…

In this study, performance on Author and Magazine Recognition Tests were found to predict second-language vocabulary among high school English-as-a-Foreign-Language students in Korea. Reported free reading in English was also related to vocabulary development, but the effect of the author and magazine recognition tests was independent of free…

Korean people are among the most passionate about reading. The number of new book titles published in South Korea in 2003 was 35,371 and the total number of printed copies was 111,450,224. Its publishing market reached $2.3 billion. To encourage the publishing and printing movement, the Korean government developed a draft law to revitalize the…

Argues that free reading in a second language (such as English) done outside of school makes an important contribution to literacy development and academic achievement. Concludes that free reading is responsible for competence in writing style as well as other aspects of literacy. (four references) (CK)