Do children with better reading competence read more, or do avid readers increase their reading competence? This highly relevant question has been discussed for many years, yet conclusive results are rare. Previous studies suffer from small sample sizes or omitted variable bias, rendering their findings questionable. We provide new insight using…

Over the last years, the hashtag #BookTok has been viewed more than 100 billion times on TikTok. Hence, both scholars and practitioners have plead for integrating #BookTok in the literacy classroom, expressing the hope that this digital subculture might flip adolescents' conceptions of reading and improve their reading motivation. This article…

Background: A significant number of secondary school students struggle with comprehending texts proficiently. Enhancing their reading comprehension requires knowledge about how this ability is related to various motivational and behavioural characteristics. The central aim of this study was therefore to investigate the (in)direct relationships…

As leisure-time reading among adolescents declines in the western world, stakeholders try to increase students' motivation for school-related reading. We examine the relationship of students' autonomous and controlled reading motivation with their amount and experiences of school-related reading in four school subjects, controlling for students'…

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…

In comparison with younger children, older students tend to be less motivated to read. A literature class that fails to motivate students is one aspect that has often been discussed in this regard. Using data from 405 German ninth graders, we examined how students' book reading is related to intrinsic situational and intrinsic habitual reading…

Research on the gendered reading habits and preferences of boys and girls presents them as very different. This study focuses on the gendered reading habits and preferences of Singapore adolescent students (aged 12 to 17) to examine if such polarity exists in their reading habits. Drawing on survey data from 4830 adolescents in five secondary…

The aim of this study was to investigate whether high school students' writing self-efficacy perceptions differ based on their gender, grade level, type of high school and the number of books they read annually. A total of 585 students (Females = 270; and Males = 315) studying in the ninth and tenth grade classes from high schools of different…

Background: Preparing children for mainstream school occurs in systems that act as an overarching context. The perspectives of stakeholders influence how they prepare children for mainstream education. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the contextual factors that affect school readiness as identified by stakeholders.…

The authors examined the dimensions of reading engagement for rural ninth-grade students who participated in a supplemental literacy intervention for students who struggled with school-based reading. Using a comparative case study approach, researchers investigated the ways in which engagement was characterized and undermined within the context of…

Background: Owing to the dearth of reading practices within the South African literacy landscape, many learners neither engage in productive reading habits, nor exhibit a positive attitude towards English First Additional Language (EFAL) reading. Consequently, many learners experience reading challenges, which negatively impact on their academic…

This author describes a reading project using Kindles that was designed to increase the reading habits of 9th graders. With a selection of 500 titles for classroom usage, students were encouraged to read any book they chose--in addition to those required for their school term. Isero states that, in the past, many of his students would not risk…

Parent support for reading is one of the many elements that may play a role in the development and sustainment of children's reading motivation; to date, however, research has focused much more on the role that parents play in their preschool and primary-grade children's reading than in their older children's reading. Thus, this paper examines the…

This article describes a pilot study conducted with 10 identified avid adolescent readers who completed the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) (Pitcher, Albright, DeLaney, Walker, Seunarienesingh, & Moggie, 2007) that includes both a survey to determine students' self-concept and value of reading and an interview that sheds light on what…

Reading ability is fundamental to teaching and learning (AFT 2004). This study assessed the reading ability of 25 in-service science educators at the University of Limpopo for three science texts: Grades 7, 8 and 9, using a cloze test and exploring materials that educators read. The scores were categorised as being independent, instructional and…