Print Exposure of Taiwanese Fifth Graders: Measurement and Prediction
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Print Exposure of Taiwanese Fifth Graders: Measurement and Prediction Su-Yen Chen1 • Sheng-Ping Fang2
Ó De La Salle University 2015
Abstract Since Taiwanese readers have international and multicultural reading interests and habits, this study aims to develop a Chinese title recognition test, a translated title recognition test (TTRT), and a Chinese author recognition test as measures of print exposure for fifth graders in Taiwan, and to investigate the relative extent to which print-exposure scores, diary estimates of reading time, reading attitude, and activity preference help predict performance on number of Chinese characters recognized and reading comprehension score. The sample consisted of 318 (153 boys and 165 girls) fifth graders in 11 classes from three elementary schools in Northern Taiwan. Data analysis was performed by Pearson moments correlation and hierarchical regression analysis. We found that, TTRT and TRT composite scores had substantial prediction power for vocabulary size beyond the book-reading time estimates and print-disposition variables, and for reading comprehension beyond vocabulary size, the book-reading time estimates, and print-disposition variables. Our findings corroborate those of previous Western studies on the linkage between print exposure and reading abilities. At the same time, they invite more conversation about evaluating the various instruments used in the area of reading habits, reading disposition, and print exposure, and provide a
& Su-Yen Chen [email protected] 1
Institute of Learning Sciences, National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, 101, Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Rd., Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan, ROC
2
Department of Chinese Literature, National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, 101, Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Rd., Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan, ROC
rationale for developing an instrument of print exposure for children from non-English speaking countries. Keywords Print exposure Reading performance Instrument development Primary school Taiwan
Researchers have used a variety of methods to assess individual differences in out-of-school reading amount: selfreported questionnaires, daily activity diaries, and printexposure checklists. A print-exposure checklist follows a quick-probe logic, in which names of best-selling authors or titles of popular books function as probes. Guessing is not an advantageous strategy, because it is easily detected and corrected by an examination of the number of foils checked. As a proxy of reading volume, the print-exposure checklist is based on an assumption that a person who reads frequently will know more about literature and therefore will recognize more correct items than a respondent who reads less often. According to Stanovich and West’s (1989), a print-exposure checklist minimizes the complications associated with social desirability in self-reporting; it is also easier to administer and saves time as compared with diary estimates of absolute reading time. Two print-exposure checklists, the author recognition test (ART) and the titl
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