Promoting reading comprehension and reading motivation in Chinese secondary education poor readers

There is a challenge for the disadvantaged schools in the educational systems incountries of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well asthe disadvantaged schools in China to overcome U+201Ceducational povertyU+201D in reading (EuropeanCommission, 2019, p. 7). The percentage of low achievers was 21.7% in OECD countries in2018, which is higher than the Education and Training 2020 benchmark U+2013 anunderachievement rate of less than 15% (European Commission, 2019; OECD, 2019).Similarly, Wang (2011) found that, in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, a relatively rich region,more than 20.0% of secondary students struggle with reading comprehension, althoughChinese students in developed areas did well in international reading assessment, such as theProgram for International Student Assessment (OECD, 2019). Therefore, it is urgent toinnovate traditional reading teaching to tackle this U+201Ceducational povertyU+201D in reading insecondary schools.Available evidence indicates that reading strategy instruction could be a promisinginnovative approach to studentsU+2019 successful reading (e.g., Lai et al., 2014; Rogiers et al.,2020). However, relatively little evidence can be found about to what extent reading strategyinstruction could cultivate poor readers at secondary schools in mainland China. In Chapter 1of this doctoral dissertation, the present research elaboratesconcepts and theories related toreading strategy instruction, reading comprehension, reading motivation, and metacognitiveawareness of reading strategies (MARS) and brings forwards a conceptual framework for theempirical studies in Chapters 2 to 5. This framework focuses on studentsU+2019 master and use ofreading strategies, and on teachersU+2019 reading strategy instruction, which is hypothesized todirectly improve studentsU+2019 reading comprehension, reading motivation, and metacognitiveawareness of reading strategies, and indirectly improve studentsU+2019 reading comprehensionmediated by their reading motivation and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Theframework also stresses the important role of key sociocultural factors associated withreading comprehension. In the present research, the reading strategies, which were adaptedfrom McEwanU+2019s (2004, 2007) and McEwan-Adkins and BurnettU+2019s (2013) strategy frameworkof seven strategies, included (a) setting reading goals, (b) vocabulary recognition, (c)scanning text, (d) identifying the main idea, (e) searching-selecting, (f) summarizing, and (g)predicting. Based on prior studies and the conceptual framework, four general researchquestions were proposed to guide the present research:1. What is the validity and reliability of a Chinese version of the MetacognitiveAwareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSIU+2013CN)?2. What are the key individual and social factors associated with readingcomprehension in Chinese secondary school students?3. What are the effects of reading strategy instruction on poor readersU+2019 readingcomprehension, reading motivation, and MARS in Chinese secondary schools,considering the mediation of MARS and reading motivation on the relationbetween reading strategy instruction and reading comprehension?4. What are the differential effects of reading strategy instruction following theprinciple of gradual release of responsibility (GRR; Fisher & Frey, 2021; Pearson &Gallagher, 1983; Webb et al., 2019) on reading comprehension and readingmotivation for poor, intermediate, and good readers in Chinese secondary schools?First, a reliable and valid scale (i.e., MARSIU+2013CN) was developed through the processesof forward translation, backward translation, and adaptation of the Metacognitive Awarenessof Reading Strategies Inventory, which was originally created by Mokhtari and Reichard(2002), and was further validated among 2,119 Chinese secondary school students. Athree-factor structure of the MARSIU+2013CN resulted from the exploratory factor analysis, andthe consecutive confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure andreflected good fit indices (U+03C7U+2000/df = 1.613, RMSEA = .035, TLI = .959, GFI = .960, CFI = .966).Internal consistency estimates of the questionnaire were satisfactory. Test-retest reliabilitywas also high (r = .91, p < .01).Second, the present research developed a multilevel comprehensive model which showscritical individual, family, and school correlates of reading comprehension with a randomsample of 1,322 Chinese secondary school students. Based on descriptive statistics calculatedwith SPSS and multilevel model analysis with HLM, the results showed that significantstudent individual correlates of reading comprehension included studentU+2019s gender,autonomous reading motivation (ARM), controlled reading motivation, MARS, significantfamily correlate contained household income, and that significant school correlatescomprised teacherU+2019s qualification and experience. Noticeably, the results indicated thatstudentsU+2019 MARS and ARM were the two most powerful correlates of reading comprehensionamong the significant correlates. Furthermore, teacherU+2019s qualification and experiencemoderated the relation between MARS and reading comprehension.Third, using a pretest-posttest control group experimental design, the present researchexamined the effects of Chinese reading strategy instruction among poor readers in grades 7and 8 in mainland China. A sample of 342 poor readers from five Chinese secondary schoolsparticipated in the intervention study. Students in the experimental condition received explicitteaching of reading strategies, whereas those in the control condition took regular classes.Results showed that the students in the experimental classes significantly outperformed thosein the control classes not only in reading comprehension but also in ARM and MARS. Nosignificant effects could be found on their controlled reading motivation. Furthermore, ARMand MARS partially mediated the effects of this instruction on reading comprehension.Hence, reading strategy instruction can be an effective approach to help poor readers toimprove their reading performance, with ARM and MARS acting as mediators.Finally, the present research explored whether explicit teaching of reading strategiesfollowing the principle of GRR improves studentsU+2019 Chinese reading comprehension and ARMand whether good, intermediate, and poor secondary-school readers enrolled in mainlandChina all benefit from the intervention. A 2U+20002 crossover experiment was set up, involving1,688 Chinese secondary school students from 30 classes, which were randomly assigned toone of two conditions. Students in the experimental condition received reading strategyinstruction following the GRR principle for 18 class periods, while students in the controlcondition received conventional reading instruction during the same time period. This studycollected data on the basis of pretest, posttest, and follow-up test. The results indicated thatreading strategy instruction based on the GRR principle significantly improved studentsU+2019Chinese reading comprehension and ARM. However, this teaching approach affected good,intermediate, and poor readers in different degrees. In particular, poor readers seemed tomake greater progress in both reading comprehension and ARM, as compared to theintermediate and good readers.In general, this research provides evidence that reading strategy instruction could helpto deal with the U+201Ceducational povertyU+201D in reading in secondary schools: It can improve poorsecondary-school readersU+2019 reading comprehension and ARM besides MARS. In particular,given the sizable proportion of poor readers in disadvantaged secondary schools in mainlandChina, the GRR-directed reading strategy instruction can be a promising practice, because itcan promote their reading comprehension and reading motivation by creating a supportive,inclusive, and motivating learning environment, thereby significantly reducing the number ofpoor readers.

Publication year:2022

Accessibility:Embargoed