Reading Media Matters: Longitudinal Associations Between Motivation, Print or Digital Reading Habits, and Comprehension

• In Event: The Dynamics of Cognition and Motivation in Reading, Recall, and Comprehension

Abstract

Extensive research has documented the positive relations between reading motivation, leisure reading habits and text comprehension. Our study looks at those associations and differentiates between print and digital leisure reading habits, using a longitudinal design in a large sample of 4-5th grade students. Intrinsic reading motivation at T1 was positively associated with higher print leisure reading, which in turn was positively related to text comprehension skills one year later at T2, after controlling for text comprehension levels at T1. External reading motivation at T1 was positively associated with higher digital reading leisure reading, which in turn was negatively associated with text comprehension at T2. Exposure to texts with different linguistic qualities at different media may explain such pattern of results.

Authors

• Lidia Altamura, Universitat de València

• Johannes Naumann, University of Wuppertal

• Cristina Vargas, University of Valencia

• Amelia Mañá, University of Valencia

• Ladislao Salmerón, University of Valencia