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…

This paper used meta-analysis to synthesize the relation between visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition based on the empirical results from 34 studies published from 1991 to 2011. We obtained 234 correlation coefficients from 64 independent samples, with a total of 5,395 participants. The meta-analysis revealed that visual skills as a…

This article presents the reports from the international research correspondents (IRCs) on the topic of teacher preparation through an informal polling using a questionnaire, consisting of 10 items related to the issue of teacher preparation, in eight countries. The participating IRCs include: (1) Jan Turbill of Australia; (2) Shelley Peterson of…

Investigates the role of phonetics for children learning to read Chinese. Reveals that children name phonetically regular Chinese characters more accurately than irregular ones; phonetic-related errors were the most dominant type. Suggests Chinese youngsters rely on phonetics for sound cues in naming Chinese characters; phonological awareness…

This is a compilation of reports from international research correspondents on the topic of emergent reading. The report includes 14 separate reports on Nigeria, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Estonia, Italy, Canada, Mexico, United States, Argentina, and Chile. Overall, reports on the topic of emergent readers have…

Reports on a study conducted in Hong Kong with adult readers indicating that highly educated Chinese/English readers used phonological encoding, but that less-educated Chinese-only readers did not. Speculates on the reasons why. (FL)

Compares 83 good readers and 76 poor readers on their ability to use reading strategies in Chinese reading comprehension and on various reading motivation variables. Finds poor readers scored lower than good readers in using all reading strategies, and had lower intrinsic motivation in reading than good readers. Discusses implications of these…

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of cognitive load management using vocabulary definitions in reading passages for readers of English as a second language (ESL) with different levels of expertise who were attending school in Hong Kong. Experiment 1 found that vocabulary definitions integrated within a passage (integrated…