ERIC Number: EJ951731
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1057-3569
EISSN: N/A
Are Attitudes toward Writing and Reading Separable Constructs? A Study with Primary Grade Children
Graham, Steve; Berninger, Virginia; Abbott, Robert
Reading & Writing Quarterly, v28 n1 p51-69 2012
This study examined whether attitude toward writing is a unique and separable construct from attitude toward reading for young beginning writers. Participants were 128 first-grade children (70 girls and 58 boys) and 113 third-grade students (57 girls and 56 boys). We individually administered to each child a 24-item attitude measure that contained 12 items assessing attitude toward writing and 12 parallel items for reading. Students also wrote a narrative about a personal event in their life. A factor analysis of the 24-item attitude measure provided evidence that generally supported the contention that writing and reading attitudes are separable constructs for young beginning writers, as it yielded 3 factors: a writing attitude factor with 9 items, a reading attitude factor with 9 parallel items, and an attitude about literacy interactions with others factor containing 4 items (2 items in writing and 2 parallel items in reading). We obtained further validation that attitude toward writing is a separable construct from attitude toward reading at the third-grade level, where writing attitude made a unique and significant contribution beyond the other 2 attitude measures to the prediction of 3 measures of writing: quality, length, and longest correct word sequence. At the first-grade level, none of the 3 attitude measures predicted students' writing performance. Finally, girls had more positive attitudes concerning reading and writing than boys. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Grade 1, Grade 3, Primary Education, Writing Attitudes, Attitude Measures, Factor Analysis, Reading Attitudes, Beginning Reading, Beginning Writing, Reading Writing Relationship, Evaluation Criteria, Evidence, Females, Males, Gender Differences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 1; Grade 3; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A