Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Differences in Reading Motivation Between American and Japanese Students

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2021

Abstract

This cross-cultural study investigated country and gender differences among American (U.S.A.) and Japanese students’ reading motivation. Fourth-grade students (94 from the United States and 102 from Japan) were administered a reading motivation questionnaire. Study results indicated American students had higher reading motivation than Japanese students on most dimensions, including Self-Efficacy, Challenges, Curiosity, Importance, Involvement, Recognition, Grades, Competition, and Social. We found that culture may impact students’ reading motivation and discuss how individualistic and collectivistic cultures influence students’ reading motivation. Contrasting with the existing research, this study did not show any significant gender differences in reading motivation across the two countries. The null effect of gender needs to be re-examined in future studies.

Comments

© The Author(s) 2021.

Publication Title

Journal of Literacy Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X211030455

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