The Dutch government has called for a “reading offensive” to ensure a drastic change in the reading development of Dutch high school students. This urgent call is a response to the significant drop...Show moreThe Dutch government has called for a “reading offensive” to ensure a drastic change in the reading development of Dutch high school students. This urgent call is a response to the significant drop of students’ reading ability over the past years. The “reading offensive” focuses primarily on making sure that students will read more. However, previous research suggests that reading selfconcept is a crucial aspect of reading ability, next to reading behavior and gender. This research study therefore examined reading behavior and gender in the relationship between reading self-concept and reading ability. Students from the first two grades in high school (N = 158; Mage = 13.11 years; SD = .69) completed online questionnaires and read two maze-texts. To analyze the data several correlations, a Pearsons chi-square test and hierarchical multiple regressions were performed. The correlations showed a relationship between reading self-concept and reading ability, but no gender differences within these two variables. Girls did read more than boys, although this was a small effect. There was no moderating effect of gender on the relationship between reading self-concept and reading ability. However, the relationship between reading self-concept and reading ability was moderated by reading behavior. Students with a low self-concept who considered themselves as ‘leisure readers’ had lower reading ability scores than students with a low self-concept who considered themselves as ‘non-leisure readers’. The difference between leisure and non-readers in regard to their reading abilities corresponds with a Matthew-effect and the “bad is stronger than good”-hypothesis, implying that negative experiences in reading have worse consequences than positive experiences, with self-concept being considered as a crucial counterpart of interventions improving reading ability, before improving reading ability and thereby improving reading behavior. Implications and suggestions for interventions and follow-up research are discussed.Show less
The inconsistency paradigm of Beker, Van den Broek and Lorch (2013) defines a theory about the activation and use of previously read information in other texts. In their research this theory is...Show moreThe inconsistency paradigm of Beker, Van den Broek and Lorch (2013) defines a theory about the activation and use of previously read information in other texts. In their research this theory is proven for adults and the current research examines whether children learn from reading texts. Working memory, instruction, reading ability and grade were included to test the influence on the learning effect. The research group contained 39 grade 4-students (groep 6) and 43 grade 6-students (groep 8) from several primary schools. During the research two tests were conducted: a reading task on the laptop and a working memory task. The reading ability was measured through national standardized tests provided by the teachers. In the reading task texts with an inconsistency were preceded by either a text with or without an explanation. During the task the reading time of an inconsistent target sentence was measured. This would show whether information from a prior text was activated during reading. Half of the group got the instruction to use the information of the first text in the second text, the other half did not get this instruction. The results showed that the target sentence was read faster when the explanation was read first (F(1,81) = 10.45, p = .002). Differences in working memory capacity did not influence the learning effect, neither did reading ability, instruction or schoolgrade. Children learn from reading texts and activate and use this information in other reading situations. Explanations for and implications of the results are provided.Show less
This research examines the effects of working memory capacity and reading ability on learning from texts. Learning can be defined as the retrieval of knowledge from long-term memory so that it is...Show moreThis research examines the effects of working memory capacity and reading ability on learning from texts. Learning can be defined as the retrieval of knowledge from long-term memory so that it is active in working memory and can be applied in new situations. The research group contained 50 students: eleven men and 39 women, from Leiden University. During the research, three tests were conducted: a reading task on the laptop, a working memory task and a task for reading ability. The reading task on the laptop contained 32 texts presented in four different conditions. During the task, reading and reaction times were measured. The results showed that phrases that were in accordance with the rest of the text were read faster than sentences that were inconsistent with the rest of the text (t(49) = -3.10, p = .003), although an explanation for the inconsistency was read in an earlier text. The students responded equally quickly on the probes in all four conditions (F(2.57, 125.93) = 1.99, p = .129). Finally, differences in working memory capacity does not influence the reading times (lower capacity t(9) = -1.15, p = .280; higher capacity t(10) = -1.69, p = .122) and does not influence the reaction times (F(3, 57) = .74, p = .531). And neither does reading ability influence the reading times (lower ability t(13) = -1.58, p = .139; higher ability t(12) = -1.77, p = .102) and the reaction times (F(2.21, 55.19 = 1.38, p = .261). Previously read information seems not to be stored in long-term memory and retrieved as knowledge when reading new texts. Memory and reading ability seem not to affect learning from texts.Show less
