Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils
The successful early acquisition of reading literacy represents a crucial learning process determining the further course of academic development (Stanovich, 2009). During this process, interactions between children and their proximal social environment are of utmost importance. Therefore, we introd...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00037/full |
| _version_ | 1819210028561727488 |
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| author | Jiří Mudrák Kateřina Zábrodská Lea Takács |
| author_facet | Jiří Mudrák Kateřina Zábrodská Lea Takács |
| author_sort | Jiří Mudrák |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The successful early acquisition of reading literacy represents a crucial learning process determining the further course of academic development (Stanovich, 2009). During this process, interactions between children and their proximal social environment are of utmost importance. Therefore, we introduce a systemic framework for the development of learning potential (e.g., Mudrak et al., 2019a, b; Ziegler and Stoeger, 2017) and explore the interactions between the social and motivational processes associated with reading literacy development in school-age children. We base our analysis on a representative Czech sample of fourth-grade pupils involved in the Progress in International Reading Literacy study (PIRLS, Martin et al., 2017). On the basis of the systemic framework, we hypothesized hierarchical relationships among family socioeconomic status, related developmental resources (including parental support, expectations, and reading resources), children’s reading motivation (including reading engagement and reading confidence), and manifested learning outcomes (including school grades and reading competence). We implemented three structural equation models to test the hypothesized relationships. The first model tested the direct effect of developmental resources on reading competence. The second model included the motivational variables as mediators between resources and competence. The third model included school grades as mediators between resources and motivational variables. Our analyses indicated the good fit of the proposed models. The final model explained 37.8% of the variance in children’s school grades and 46.5% of the variance in reading literacy test scores (compared to 34.8% in the first model). Moreover, parental socioeconomic status was strongly associated with parental expectations, which were associated with reading confidence, partially through the effect of parental expectations on children’s school grades. Reading confidence was the main predictor of reading literacy within the model, followed by the direct effects of parental resources. The results illustrate complex processes through which the family environment affects the development of learning competencies such as reading literacy by providing children with the relevant social and material resources associated with their motivation and school outcomes. We discuss some of the reasons that these relationships may take place and consider their implications for educational practice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T06:04:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-15cc4cb5a92d4403ad52cb4f714103d2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T06:04:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-15cc4cb5a92d4403ad52cb4f714103d22022-12-21T17:57:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-02-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.00037481547Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade PupilsJiří Mudrák0Kateřina Zábrodská1Lea Takács2Charles University, Prague, CzechiaFaculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, CzechiaFaculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, CzechiaThe successful early acquisition of reading literacy represents a crucial learning process determining the further course of academic development (Stanovich, 2009). During this process, interactions between children and their proximal social environment are of utmost importance. Therefore, we introduce a systemic framework for the development of learning potential (e.g., Mudrak et al., 2019a, b; Ziegler and Stoeger, 2017) and explore the interactions between the social and motivational processes associated with reading literacy development in school-age children. We base our analysis on a representative Czech sample of fourth-grade pupils involved in the Progress in International Reading Literacy study (PIRLS, Martin et al., 2017). On the basis of the systemic framework, we hypothesized hierarchical relationships among family socioeconomic status, related developmental resources (including parental support, expectations, and reading resources), children’s reading motivation (including reading engagement and reading confidence), and manifested learning outcomes (including school grades and reading competence). We implemented three structural equation models to test the hypothesized relationships. The first model tested the direct effect of developmental resources on reading competence. The second model included the motivational variables as mediators between resources and competence. The third model included school grades as mediators between resources and motivational variables. Our analyses indicated the good fit of the proposed models. The final model explained 37.8% of the variance in children’s school grades and 46.5% of the variance in reading literacy test scores (compared to 34.8% in the first model). Moreover, parental socioeconomic status was strongly associated with parental expectations, which were associated with reading confidence, partially through the effect of parental expectations on children’s school grades. Reading confidence was the main predictor of reading literacy within the model, followed by the direct effects of parental resources. The results illustrate complex processes through which the family environment affects the development of learning competencies such as reading literacy by providing children with the relevant social and material resources associated with their motivation and school outcomes. We discuss some of the reasons that these relationships may take place and consider their implications for educational practice.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00037/fullreading literacylearningcognitive developmentachievement motivationfamily environmentstructural equation modeling |
| spellingShingle | Jiří Mudrák Kateřina Zábrodská Lea Takács Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils Frontiers in Psychology reading literacy learning cognitive development achievement motivation family environment structural equation modeling |
| title | Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils |
| title_full | Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils |
| title_fullStr | Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils |
| title_full_unstemmed | Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils |
| title_short | Systemic Approach to the Development of Reading Literacy: Family Resources, School Grades, and Reading Motivation in Fourth-Grade Pupils |
| title_sort | systemic approach to the development of reading literacy family resources school grades and reading motivation in fourth grade pupils |
| topic | reading literacy learning cognitive development achievement motivation family environment structural equation modeling |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00037/full |
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