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Teachers' reading attitude is important for affecting their students' reading, yet the prevalence of aliteracy is high among teachers. The present study aims to examine whether there are individual differences in pre-service teachers' reading attitudes ( n = 253) at the time of enrollment in teacher education in Belgium, and whether these differences explain differences in reading behavior and perceived reading competence. Using Cluster Analysis three attitude profiles were identified. Personally-oriented readers (26.9%) appeared to be the more solitary readers, whereas socially-oriented readers (33.6%) were most willing to interact with others about reading. Both profiles were comparable in reading frequency and self-competence beliefs in reading. The profile low-affect readers (39.5%) seemed the most reluctant and aliterate readers. Overall, this study stresses the importance of acknowledging individual differences in reading attitude when designing teacher education courses that provide teachers with the tools and willingness to foster their fellow teachers' and students' reading enthusiasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' reading preferences develop in social contexts, and parents shape such environments. Assuming a process of transmission across generations, we analyzed the role of mothers' attitudes toward reading and reading behavior. A sample of 380 ninth-grade students completed a questionnaire to assess their attitudes toward reading (with respect to utility and enjoyment) and to collect details about their extracurricular reading behavior. Mothers were interviewed and asked to provide comparable information about their own reading behavior and attitudes. Results showed substantial positive relations between mothers' and students' attitudes toward reading and reading behavior, although the effects were small in magnitude. Taken together, even when children reach adolescence, socialization effects from parents can be found in the domain of reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utility value as a subcomponent of expectancy-value models of motivation has been confirmed as a predictor of achievement(-related behavior) in the context of mathematics and science. Research on language-related domains, in contrast, has been scarce, and little is known on how utility value affects reading behavior and achievement. Therefore, the present study aimed at researching the interrelations of utility of reading, other reading motivational constructs, reading achievement and reading behavior. The German dataset of PISA 2009, comprising data of 9461 students of grade 9, was used. Structural equation models show that utility of reading is a motivational factor related to but distinct from self-concept and intrinsic task value, that it is related to reading achievement, and that this relation is mediated by reading behavior. While this indicates a starting point for reading motivation interventions, limitations regarding the assessment of utility of reading and regarding the cross-sectional study design are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigated the role of extracurricular reading behavior in the development of reading literacy. Whereas previous research has focused mostly on bivariate relations between one or several measures of these two variables, the present study analyzed the role of several reading activities together. Furthermore, it assessed distinct patterns of extracurricular reading behavior composed of traditional print media and new forms of reading on the Internet. Participants were 1226 secondary school students from the Bamberg BiKS longitudinal study. Results confirmed the importance of traditional book reading for the development of reading comprehension and vocabulary. In contrast, online activities such as e-mail or chatting related negatively to reading achievement. Furthermore, students could be classified to five distinct latent classes in terms of their extracurricular reading behavior. The role of reading traditional print media for students' literacy development as well as possible reasons why it cannot be compensated adequately by online reading activities are discussed critically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]