There is an absence of cross-cultural qualitative research exploring sociocultural factors affecting reading motivation. To address the gap, the present study adopted the Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development to investigate factors impacting reading motivation across American and Japanese fourth grade students. Additionally, we…

Self-construal refers to how individuals view themselves independently from others (Independent self-construal) or interdependently with others (Interdependent self-construal). Although the self-construal theory claimed a connection between self-construal and motivation, none of studies explored the relation between self-construal and reading…

This cross-cultural study investigated country and gender differences among American (U.S.A.) and Japanese students' reading motivation. Fourth-grade students (94 from the United States and 102 from Japan) were administered a reading motivation questionnaire. Study results indicated American students had higher reading motivation than Japanese…

Motivation and engagement play a crucial role in literacy development and achievement. However, the construct of reading engagement has become blurred and ambiguous, both in research and in discussions of practice. In order to guide future research and to extend our existing understanding of reading engagement into classroom practice, this study…

We examined early elementary children's reading motivation in four different countries. Results revealed that reading motivation is a stable construct in countries like Chile, Finland, Greece, and the United States. Motivation to read followed similar patterns across the countries, with increased scores at the end of the school year. This trend…

Given the increasing number of immigrant students in the USA initially schooled in Mexico, Central America, and South America, and the dearth of investigations examining the beliefs of teachers from Mexico, Central America, or South America, an exploration of Latin American teachers' conceptions may inform policy-makers and researchers about…

Beginning with the premise that pleasure is a driving force in life, this article examines the relationships between pleasure, schooling and society across the past century. Through the examination of school texts, narratives, and histories of literacy instruction, a case is made that part of the move away from keeping pleasure at the heart of…

A team of researchers revised the Motivation to Read Profile for use with adolescents. Instruments to assess adolescents' in- and out-of-school reading motivations were administered. A survey adapted for adolescents was administered to 384 teens at eight sites throughout the United States and Trinidad, and 100 students were interviewed using a…

Virtually all public libraries in the United States provide some type of summer library reading program during the traditional summer vacation period. Summer library reading programs provide opportunities for students of many ages and abilities to practice their reading skills and maintain skills that are developed during the school year. Fiore…

Examines changes in first- and second-graders' reading motivation across the course of a school year in the United States and Finland. Explores possible developmental patterns in early reading motivation that operate universally across cultural contexts. Finds that in both countries first-graders' reading motivation increased significantly across…

In developed countries like the United States and Britain, the continuing challenge for educators is to sort through the choices of an all-you-can-eat school system and teach the basic skills. Despite so-called universal education, an alarming number of people still fail to reach even basic levels of literacy. The "literacy hour" was…