Children's Attitudes toward Reading: A National

Children's Attitudes toward Reading: A National Survey Author(s): Michael C. McKenna, Dennis J. Kear, Randolph A. Ellsworth Source: Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Oct. - Nov. - Dec., 1995), pp. 934-956 Published by: International Reading Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/748205 Accessed: 26/05/2009 16:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ira. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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Reading Research Quarterly Vol. 30, No. 4 October/November/December 1995 01995 International Reading Association

Michael C. McKenna

(pp. 934-956)

Georgia Southern University,Savannah, Georgia, USA

DennisJ. Kear Randolph A. Ellsworth Wichita State University,Kansas, USA

Children's attitudes A national survey

toward

reading:

lyfavorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object"(p. 6, original emphasis). Alexander and Filler's (1976) reading-specific definition is consonant with the perspective that attitude can be conceptualized along a continuum with positive and negative extremes. Reading attitude, they suggested, is "a system of feelings related to reading which causes the learner to approach or avoid a reading situation"(p. 1). Within the rubic of such general definitions, specific dimensions or types of reading attitude are often discussed, and empirical support for their discrete existence is persuasive. McKenna and Kear (1990) conducted a factor analysis indicating the psychological reality of two dimensions: attitude toward recreational reading and attitude toward schoolrelated, academic reading. When the number of dimensions is increased, there is a natural tendency for them to overlap, as research into the eight-dimension Survey of Reading Attitudes (Engin, Wallbrown, & Brown, 1976) has indicated (Blaha & Chomin, 1981; Wallbrown, Brown, & Engin, 1978). A somewhat extreme approach to the task of providing multiple definitions of attitude is to delineate reading attitude into subtypes according to interests. Thus, one may have an attitude toward reading science fiction that differs considerably from one's attitude toward reading romantic fiction. It is still consistent to assume, however, that individuals also possess a global attitude toward reading in general. In this respect, it is common to speak of attitudinalhierarchies, in which the objects of attitudes range from general to specific (Rajecki, 1990). One may, for example, have a positive global attitude toward reading as well as a positive atti-

the role of attitude in developing readers is important for two principal reasons. First, attitude may affect the level of ability ultimately attained by a given student through its influence on such factors as engagement and practice. Second, even for the fluent reader, poor attitude may occasion a choice not to read when other options exist, a condition now generally known as aliteracy. Although the necessity of understandingattitude is unquestioned for these reasons, progress toward such understandinghas been slow. Research into methodologies and correlatesis frequently contradictory,a situation that is the likely result of (a) psychological theories that fail to define and account for what Athey (1985, p. 527) has termed "shadowy variables"associated with attitude;(b) psychometricallyinadequate instrumentsthat have been relied upon in the past to examine attitudinalquestions; and (c) overgeneralizationbased on small and idiosyncratic samples. This study was undertaken to address these problems and to explore anew some of the central issues associated with attitudetoward reading. It is importantto acknowledge, however, that the approach to attitudeassessment employed here has inherent limitationsand that furtherinvestigationusing other paradigms is needed to adequately understandthe complex processes through which children acquire attitudestoward reading.

Understanding

Background Theoretical perspectives Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) defined attitude generally as "a learned predisposition to respond in a consistent-

934

ABSTRACT

Children'sattitudestowardreading:A nationalsurvey of a stratified THISSTUDY thereadingattitudes nationinvestigated al sampleof 18,185U.S.childrenin Grades1 through6. Students twosubscales to a grouppictorial responded ratingscale,comprising devotedto attitude towardreadingforrecreational andforacademic purposes.Scoreswereanalyzedon the basisof gender,grade Results level,ethnicity, readingability,andtheuse of basalreaders. model inwhichsocialfactorsandexa of readingattitude supported overtime.Findings the included pectations shapeattitudes gradually on avandacademic following.First,recreational readingattitudes, to becomemorenegative butsteadigradually, erage,wereobserved the school at ly, throughout elementary years,beginning a relativeSecond,the ly positivepointandendingin relativeindifference. trendtowardmorenegativerecreational wasclearlyrelatattitudes ed to abilityandwassteepestforleastablereaders.Theattitudinal

gap amongabilitylevelswidenedwithage, thoughforacademic of ability. readingattitudethenegativetrendwassimilarregardless attitudes thanboys Third,girlsas a grouppossessedmorefavorable atallgradelevels,towardbothrecreational andacademic In reading. the caseof recreational attitude,thisgapwidenedwithage,while in the case of academicattitude,it remainedrelativelyconstant. Thesegenderdifferences to ability.Fourth, to be unrelated appeared ethnicitywas observedto playlittlerolein the negativetrendsin eitherrecreational oracademicreadingattitude. Fifth,theextentof a teacher's relianceon basalreadersdidnotappearto be meaningoracademic Ingeneral, fullyrelatedto recreational readingattitude. thesefindingsaresupportive of theMcKenna modelof readingattitudeacquisition.

Las actitudesde los nitos bacia la lectura"Unestudionacional ESTE ESTUDIO haciala lecturade unamuesinvestig6lasactitudes tranacionalestratificada de 18.185nifiosestadounidenses de 19a 6Q a unaescalapict6rica de rangos grado.Losestudiantes respondieron dos sub-escalas referidas a actitudhaciala lectura que comprendia con finesrecreativos Lospuntajes academicos. se y con prop6sitos analizaron sobrela basedel genero,grado,grupoetnicode pertelectoray el usode textosbMsicos de lectura(basal nencia,habilidad Losresultados dansustentoa un modelode actitudlectoreaders). raen el quelos factoressocialesy lasexpectativas vanmodelando las actitudesa travesdel tiempo.Losresultados ingradualmente Enprimerlugar,lasactitudes recrecluyenlos siguienteshallazgos. ativasy academicas haciala lectura,en promedio, se volvieronmais negativasen formagradual,peroestable,a lo largode la escuela comenzando en un puntorelativamente primaria, positivoy finaliEnsegundolugar,la tendencia zandoen unaindiferencia relativa. haciaactitudesrecreativas masnegativasestuvoclaramente relacionadaconla habilidad en los lectorescon y fuemaspronunciada

masproblemas. Labrechaactitudinal entrenivelesde habilidad auen cuantoa laactitudacadmicala ment6conlos afios;sinembargo tendencia de la habilidad. negativafuesimilar, independientemente Entercerlugar,las nifiascomogrupotuvieronactitudes masfavorablesquelos nifiosen todoslosgrados,tantohacialalecturarecreativacomoacademica. Enel casode laactitudrecreativa, estabrecha aument6conlaedad,mientras queen el casode laactitudacademirelativamente Estasdiferencias de genero constante. ca,permaneci6 no parecieron estarrelacionadas Encuartolugar, con la habilidad. el grupoetnicode pertenencia no desempefi6 un rolimportante en las tendenciasnegativashacialasactitudesde lecturarecreativa o Enquintolugar,la dependencia academica. del docentede los textos basicosno pareci6estarrelacionada con la significativamente actitudde lecturarecreativa ni academica. Engeneral,estoshallazde adquisici6n de actitudes hagos danapoyoal ModeloMcKenna ciala lectura.

EinelandesweiteStudie zumLesen" Kindermeinungen DIESE STUDIE von Stichprobe befaltesichin einerlandesweiten Schulkindern derKlassen1 bis 6 mitden 18,185amerikanischen zum Lesen.Sie antwortetenmit einer bildlichen Einstellungen enthieltbeziglich der Skalierung,die zwei Unterskalierungen Einstellungenzum Lesenzu Zweckender Erholungund der Die Ergebnisse wurdennachGeschlecht, KlassenWeiterbildung. undLesefihigkeit Esergab stufe,ethnischer Zugehdrigkeit analysiert. sichein Erklirungsmodell, nachdemsozialeFaktoren undErwartungendie Einstellungzum Lesenin Stufenformt.Die Befunde wurdedie Einstellung in derGrundstufe zeigtenfolgendes:Erstens zu Freizeit-undBildungslektOre imDurchschnitt allmihlich,aber konstantnegativer,setztedabeian einemrelativpositivenPunkt ZweitenshingdasAusklamein undendetein Unentschlossenheit. memderLektiire ausdenFreizeitbeschiftigungen deutlichmitden zusammen undwarfir die wenigbefihigtenLeser Lesefihigkeiten

sichmitdem klarzu zeigen.DieseEinschitzungsdifferenz verstirkte dernegativeTrendunabAlter,wobeisichftordie Bildungslektiire hingigvon denFihigkeitenzeigte.Drittenszeigtedie Gruppeder MidchenaufallenAltersstufen als die der positivere Einstellungen undBildungslekttire. In derFreizeitJungen,undzwarzu Freizeitsichdie Differenz, wihrendsie in derBildverstirkte einschitzung relativkonstantblieb.DieseGeschlechtsunterschiede ungshaltung scheinennichtmitderLeseftihigkeit Viertens zusammenzuhingen. nureine geringeRollein der spieltedie ethnischeZugeh6rigkeit sowohlvonBildungsalsauchFreizeitlektOre. negativen Beurteilung aufdie LeserderGrundstufe ohne FtnftensschienderLehrerbezug beiderLesehaltungen zu sein. InsEinflugauf die Einschitzung derLeseeingesamtstiitzendie BefundedasModelldes Erwerbs schitzungvonMcKenna.

935

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