TY - JOUR A1 - Soemer, Alexander A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich T1 - Reading amount as a mediator between intrinsic reading motivation and reading comprehension in the early elementary grades JF - Learning and individual differences N2 - Previous research suggests that children's growth in reading abilities is positively related to their intrinsic reading motivation and the amount of spare time reading. Furthermore, a number of previous studies point to the possibility that spare time reading amount mediates the positive association between intrinsic reading motivation and reading comprehension. However, to date, most of the available evidence for a mediation model is either cross-sectional and/or limited to late elementary and secondary school students, whereas the early elementary grades have only rarely been targeted in longitudinal studies. Accordingly, the present study investigated longitudinal relations between intrinsic reading motivation, reading amount, and reading comprehension in the early elementary grades with a particular focus on the potential mediator role of reading amount. Evidence was found for partial mediation by reading amount between reading comprehension and later intrinsic reading motivation. However, there was no evidence for (partial or full) mediation by reading amount between intrinsic reading motivation and later reading comprehension. It is concluded that in the process of becoming more sophisticated readers, early elementary students read more frequently in their spare time, and this makes reading more rewarding for them in the long run. In contrast, the potentially positive effect of spare time reading on later reading comprehension seems to be either non-existent or too weak to be reliably detected over longer time frames. KW - Reading motivation KW - Reading comprehension KW - Elementary school students KW - Longitudinal study Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2018.06.006 SN - 1041-6080 SN - 1873-3425 VL - 67 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Warner, Greta J. A1 - Fay, Doris A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Stutz, Franziska A1 - Wollny, Anna T1 - Being proactive when reading: Academic personal initiative as a predictor of word comprehension development JF - Learning and individual differences N2 - Academic personal initiative (API) has rarely been studied with regard to literacy development. The purpose of this longitudinal study was therefore to examine the unique effects of API on the development of word comprehension as an indicator of word reading. To this end, the effects of previous word comprehension, intrinsic reading motivation, and basic cognitive ability (i.e., processing speed) were controlled for. A total of 1,515 German students participated in a longitudinal assessment starting in Grades 1 to 3, with a second point of measurement nine months later. Latent change score analyses revealed positive associations between API and gains in word comprehension, both in the total sample and at all grade levels. These relations were robust against the effects of previous word comprehension and intrinsic reading motivation. The findings suggest that children play an active role in their own reading development. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Personal initiative KW - Reading motivation KW - Processing speed KW - Word reading KW - Reading development Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.03.012 SN - 1041-6080 SN - 1873-3425 VL - 55 SP - 130 EP - 140 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stutz, Franziska A1 - Schaffner, Ellen A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich T1 - Relations among reading motivation, reading amount, and reading comprehension in the early elementary grades JF - Learning and individual differences N2 - In this study, we examined the associations of intrinsic (i.e., involvement-oriented) and extrinsic (i.e., competition-oriented) reading motivation with reading amount and reading comprehension (at the word, sentence, and text level) in a sample of second- and third-grade elementary students (N = 1053). Cognitive ability and socioeconomic status were taken into account as control variables. Reading amount was assumed to mediate the relation between reading motivation and reading comprehension. Moreover, the potentially moderating role of gender was explored. Structural equation analyses revealed that involvement contributed significantly to reading comprehension, and this relationship was mediated through reading amount. Competition oriented reading motivation was directly and negatively related with reading comprehension. The predictive contributions of reading motivation were confirmed in an alternative model with text-level comprehension as the dependent variable and both word- and sentence-level comprehension as additional predictors. Finally, gender did not moderate the obtained relations. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Reading motivation KW - Reading amount KW - Reading comprehension KW - Elementary students KW - Gender effects Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2015.11.022 SN - 1041-6080 SN - 1873-3425 VL - 45 SP - 101 EP - 113 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Stutz, Franziska A1 - Schaffner, Ellen T1 - Longitudinal relations between reading motivation and reading comprehension in the early elementary grades JF - Learning and individual differences KW - Reading motivation KW - Reading comprehension KW - Elementary school students KW - Longitudinal study Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.08.031 SN - 1041-6080 SN - 1873-3425 VL - 51 SP - 49 EP - 58 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -