Educational Research

ISSN: 0013-1881 (Print) 1469-5847 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rere20

The relationship between young children’s

enjoyment of learning to read, reading attitudes,
confidence and attainment

Sarah P. McGeown, Rhona S. Johnston, Jo Walker, Kathryn Howatson, Ann

Stockburn & Paul Dufton

To cite this article: Sarah P. McGeown, Rhona S. Johnston, Jo Walker, Kathryn Howatson, Ann
Stockburn & Paul Dufton (2015) The relationship between young children’s enjoyment of
learning to read, reading attitudes, confidence and attainment, Educational Research, 57:4,
389-402, DOI: 10.1080/00131881.2015.1091234

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2015.1091234

Published online: 28 Sep 2015.

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 Educational Research, 2015
Vol. 57, No. 4, 389–402, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2015.1091234

The relationship between young children’s enjoyment of learning to

read, reading attitudes, confidence and attainment
Sarah P. McGeowna*, Rhona S. Johnstonb, Jo Walkerc, Kathryn Howatsonc, Ann
Stockburnc and Paul Duftonc
a
School of Education, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; bDepartment of Psychology,
University of Hull, Hull, UK; cNorth Yorkshire Educational Psychology Service, Northallerton,
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UK
(Received 3 November 2014; final version received 25 August 2015)

Background: While there is a considerable body of research exploring the

relationship between older primary school children’s reading attitudes, confidence
and attainment, there is a noticeable lack of research with younger children.
Furthermore, there is relatively little research exploring the extent to which children’s
reading attitudes, confidence and attainment are related to their enjoyment of learning
to read.
Purpose: To understand the relationship between young children’s reading attitudes,
reading confidence, enjoyment of learning to read and reading attainment.
Sample: Two hundred and three children (103 boys) with an average age of 6 years
and 9 months (.32 years standard deviation) participated in this study. Children were
from 11 primary schools in England, located within a wide range of socio-economic
neighbourhoods.
Design and methods: All children completed questionnaires examining their attitudes
to reading, reading confidence (using Progress in International Reading Literacy
Study items) and enjoyment of learning to read. Children also completed an
assessment of word reading. All assessments were administered individually.
Results: Children’s attitudes to reading, reading confidence and enjoyment of learn-
ing to read correlated with their word reading skill; however, only reading attitudes
and reading confidence predicted variance in reading success. With regard to gender
differences, girls reported more positive reading attitudes than boys, even after
controlling for differences in reading skill.
Conclusions: Results highlight that the relationship between children’s reading skills
and the affective aspects of learning to read develops from a young age. Therefore,
methods of reading instruction need to foster affective aspects of reading, in addition
to developing cognitive skills to best support young children’s reading development.
Keywords: reading; attitudes; confidence; gender

Introduction
An increasingly strong and varied body of research examining children’s attitudes
towards reading is developing, due to evidence that both cognitive and affective factors
are associated with children’s reading skill and development (e.g. Anmarkrud and
Bråten 2009; Baker and Wigfield 1999; Becker, McElvany, and Kortenbruck 2010;
Bouffard et al. 2003; Conlon et al. 2006; Guthrie et al. 1999; Katzir, Lesaux, and Kim

*Corresponding author. Email: s.mcgeown@ed.ac.uk

© 2015 NFER
 390 S.P. McGeown et al.

2009; Logan, Medford, and Hughes 2011; Medford & McGeown 2012; McGeown,
Norgate, and Warhurst 2012; Taboada et al. 2009; Wigfield and Guthrie 1997). Indeed,
there is a substantial body of literature demonstrating a consistent relationship between
children’s attitudes towards reading and reading attainment. For example, a number of
large-scale studies and meta-analyses have shown that children with more positive
attitudes towards reading have better reading skills (e.g. Clark 2014; Clark and De
Zoysa 2011; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al. 2012; Petscher 2010;
PIRLS 2001, 2006). Furthermore, the relationship between children’s reading compe-
tency beliefs and reading skills has also been demonstrated in several studies (Chapman
and Tunmer 1995, 1997; Katzir, Lesaux, and Kim 2009). On the other hand, research
examining children’s enjoyment of learning to read and how this relates to their reading
attainment is negligible, as is research examining the relationship between children’s
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enjoyment of learning to read, reading attitudes and reading confidence.

Reading attitudes
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) defines students’ attitudes
toward reading as ‘students’ views on reading for enjoyment and appreciating books’
(PIRLS 2006). While McKenna et al. (2012) notes that there are numerous definitions
of reading attitudes, definitions typically focus on children’s affective response towards
reading. For example, Chapman and Tunmer (1995) defined reading attitudes as
‘feelings toward and affinity for reading’, while other researchers have highlighted that
reading attitudes may have consequences for reading behaviour. For example, Smith
(1990) defined attitude to reading as ‘a state of mind, accompanied by feelings and
emotions, that make reading more or less probable’ (Smith 1990, 215) and Alexander
and Filler (1976) defined it as ‘a system of feelings related to reading which causes the
learner to approach or avoid a reading situation’ (Alexander and Filler 1976, 1). Indeed,
there is a significant body of research demonstrating that children with more positive
attitudes to reading typically read more frequently (Logan and Johnston 2009; Sainsbury
and Schagen 2004; see also Schiefele et al. (2012) and Wigfield and Guthrie (1997) for
similar relationships between reading motivation and reading frequency).
Despite the benefits of positive reading attitudes for attainment and engagement in
reading activities, research demonstrates that, on average, children’s attitudes towards
reading become increasingly negative with age (Kush and Watkins 1996; McKenna,
Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al. 2012; Sainsbury and Schagen 2004). Further-
more, these declines exist regardless of ability level, though higher ability children
generally show less of a decline in attitudes to recreational reading (McKenna, Kear,
and Ellsworth 1995). Declines in reading attitudes are present for both boys and girls
(Kush and Watkins 1996; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al. 2012),
though girls’ attitudes to recreational reading generally remain more stable over time.
Due to evidence of diminishing attitudes toward reading with age, it is crucial to iden-
tify ways to protect children’s initial positive attitudes towards reading. Indeed, Baker
and Scher (2002) note that young children appear to be more positive in their outlooks
and beliefs regarding reading; however, maintaining these positive attitudes appears to
be challenging.
Reading attitude research also reports quite consistent gender differences. Indeed,
there is a considerable body of evidence demonstrating that girls, on average, have more
positive attitudes towards reading (Clark 2014; Coles and Hall 2002; Kush and Watkins
1996; Logan and Johnston 2009; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al.
 Educational Research 391

2012; Sainsbury and Schagen 2004). These gender differences have been demonstrated
in large international studies, illustrating that they exist regardless of language, culture,
education system, orthography or method of reading instruction (PIRLS 2001).
However, there is some evidence to suggest the absence of gender differences in reading
attitudes among younger children (Baker and Scher 2002).
Compared to research examining the reading attitudes of older primary school-aged
children, there is comparably less of a focus on younger beginning readers, although
there are some exceptions (e.g. Baker and Scher 2002; Saracho and Dayton 1989,
1991). Both of the large-scale studies by Saracho and Dayton (1989, 1991) were carried
out with very young children (aged 3–5); the former to examine the dimensions of read-
ing attitudes of young children and the latter to explore age, gender and ethnicity differ-
ences. Interestingly, age-related changes did not mirror those found with older children
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as, in general, children’s attitudes towards reading became more positive with age. In
addition, no gender differences were found. Baker and Scher (2002) similarly reported
no gender differences in reading attitudes among children aged 6. As highlighted by
Saracho and Dayton, research examining the reading attitudes of young children is cru-
cial as one of the goals of initial reading instruction should be to ensure young children
develop positive attitudes toward reading. As affective aspects of reading have been
shown to influence reading skill and engagement (e.g. Baker and Wigfield 1999;
Becker, McElvany, and Kortenbruck 2010; Guthrie et al. 1999; Wang and Guthrie 2004;
Wigfield and Guthrie 1997), developing positive attitudes towards reading arguably sets
a child on the right path towards becoming a successful, independent and active reader.

Reading confidence
PIRLS (2006) defines reading confidence as student’s perception of themselves as good
or poor readers. The term reading confidence is often used interchangeably with terms
such as reading competency beliefs or reading self-concept, which similarly refer to
‘estimates of how good one is at a given activity’ (Wigfield et al. 1997, 451). Both
longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have demonstrated relationships between reading
confidence and reading skill (e.g. Chapman and Tunmer 1995, 1997; Katzir, Lesaux,
and Kim 2009; Wigfield et al. 1997), though these relationships have been shown to
grow stronger with age (Chapman and Tunmer 1995, 1997). Furthermore, there is also
evidence of age-related declines in children’s reading competency beliefs (e.g. Bouffard
et al. 2003; Wigfield et al. 1997).
Gender differences have also been noted. For example, the PIRLS study (2001),
showed that, in most participating countries, a larger proportion of girls reported a higher
reading self-concept than boys. However, these gender differences in reading self-concept
were not as wide or as consistent as the gender differences in reading attitudes (PIRLS
2001). Indeed, gender differences in reading competency beliefs do not appear to be as
consistent as gender differences in reading attitudes. For example, Bouffard et al. (2003)
found no evidence of gender differences in children’s self-perceptions of confidence in
reading from Grade 1–3 (ages 7–9). Similarly, Baker and Scher (2002) found no gender
differences in Grade 1 children’s reading competency beliefs (though notably no gender
differences in reading attitudes either); however, see Wigfield et al. (1997), who found
that girls reported higher competency beliefs in reading.
As with reading attitude, a child’s reading confidence is likely to influence their
reading behaviours (e.g. interest and persistence with reading activities; see Katzir,
Lesaux, and Kim 2009 for a discussion). A child who feels they are an able and
 392 S.P. McGeown et al.

competent reader will be more likely to read and persevere with a challenging text,
whereas a child who feels they are unable or lacking in ability will be more likely to
avoid the reading activity. Therefore, children’s perceptions of their own ability may
affect the level of investment or effort they put into a task (see Bouffard et al. 2003).
Clearly, therefore, it is crucial to develop both positive attitudes to reading and reading
confidence at a young age.
Bouffard et al. (2003) highlights research suggesting that young children’s evalua-
tions of their competencies are typically inflated at the beginning of school; however
the reasons for this are not necessarily clear. Bouffard et al. (2003) point to research by
Ruble, Grosouvsky, Frey, and Cohen (1992) who suggest that young children’s inflated
evaluation of their competencies could be due to the fact that young children may be
more likely to make judgements consistent with their desires. They also cite research by
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Nicholls (1978, 1979), who suggested that young children are more likely to equate
effort with ability, and hence, if they have tried hard, may be more likely to positively
evaluate their own abilities, regardless of the outcome. Bouffard et al. (2003) also high-
light research by Flammer (1995), who notes that teachers usually give young children
positive feedback to encourage them from a young age, possibly leading to inflated
perceptions of ability.
As stated from the outset, there is a considerable body of research demonstrating a
relationship between children’s reading attitudes, competency beliefs and attainment;
however, fewer studies have examined whether these relationships hold similarly for
boys and girls, although there are some exceptions. For example, Coddington and
Guthrie (2009) found that while first-grade boys’ motivation was significantly associated
with their word identification skills, this association was not found for girls. Among
older primary school-aged children, Logan and Medford (2011) found that boys’ reading
motivation and competency beliefs were more closely associated with their reading
skills compared to girls. Previously, Logan and Johnston (2009) had found that while
boys’ attitudes to reading were significantly related to their reading skill, girls’ attitudes
were not. Oakhill and Petrides (2007) also found that boys’ performance in national
reading tests was more closely related to their level of interest in the passage topic com-
pared with girls’ performance. Similarly, Ainley, Hillman, and Hidi (2002) found that
girls were more likely than boys to persist with a text that was of lower topic interest,
suggesting that their interest level does not influence their effort level to the same extent
as boys.
These studies collectively suggest that boys’ reading motivation, attitudes and inter-
est may be more closely associated with their reading skill. However, more research is
necessary to examine whether these results will be replicated when studied across differ-
ent age groups and different populations of children, and using different measures.
Therefore, more studies including examinations of gender differences in the strength of
the relationship between reading attitudes, competency beliefs and attainment are
necessary.

Enjoyment of learning to read

While there is a considerable body of research which has focused on children’s reading
attitudes and competency beliefs, and how these relate to reading skill, very little con-
sideration has been given to the relationship between children’s enjoyment of learning
to read and how this may relate to initial reading attainment and children’s affect
towards reading. Katzir, Lesaux, and Kim (2009) highlighted the importance of
 Educational Research 393

considering both affective and contextual factors and how these relate to children’s
reading (though focused on the child’s home literacy environment). Nevertheless, chil-
dren’s method of reading instruction may be considered a contextual factor influencing
their reading attitudes, competency beliefs and attainment. Indeed, it is theoretically
likely that children’s enjoyment of their method of reading instruction and process of
learning to read will correlate with their attitudes to reading, reading competency beliefs
and reading attainment. Putman and Walker (2010) argued that greater focus is given to
the cognitive skills that support reading (e.g. letter sound knowledge, phonological
awareness) and less is given to the affective aspects of reading and how these may
influence children’s reading development. They suggest that early reading instruction
and additional support/interventions should be focused on developing both the cognitive
skills that support reading as well as stimulating children’s interest and enjoyment of
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reading. Lever-Chain (2008) also maintains that there is a greater need to examine the
process of reading acquisition from the perspective of the child, similarly highlighting
that a predominantly skills-based approach to understanding reading neglects the impor-
tance of motivational factors for reading development. These views are shared by others
(e.g. Guthrie and Wigfield 1999; Katzir, Lesaux, and Kim 2009; McGeown 2013).
Indeed, there is evidence, though primarily among older children, that both cognitive
and affective factors significantly predict independent variance in children’s reading skill
(e.g. Logan, Medford, and Hughes 2011; Medford and McGeown 2011; Taboada et al.
2009). These affective aspects (e.g. attitudes, motivation, confidence) of reading may
have indirect or direct influences on children’s reading skill; indirect through greater
time engaging in reading activities (Baker and Wigfield 1999; Becker, McElvany, and
Kortenbruck 2010; Guthrie et al. 1999; Wigfield and Guthrie 1997) and direct through
greater cognitive engagement during reading (Wang and Guthrie 2004).
At present, there appears to be a lack of research examining younger children’s
enjoyment of learning to read and how this relates to their reading attitudes, confidence
and attainment. However, research studies examining a similar research question has
been carried out. For example, Lau and Chen (2013) asked a large number (n = 1654)
of Chinese students (Grade 10) to rate their perceptions of their reading instruction, their
reading motivation and competency beliefs. Lau and Chen (2013) found that student’s
reading competency beliefs, intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation correlated posi-
tively and significantly (albeit relatively weakly) with their perceptions of their reading
instruction.
There has also been research drawing comparisons between different methods of
instruction. For example, Bottomley et al. (1998) compared the reading attitudes and
reading confidence of children (aged 9–12) who had learnt to read by one of three types
of instruction (whole language, literature based or basal-reader orientated). In general,
the literature-based approach resulted in higher reading attitudes. However, no differ-
ences were found for reading confidence. In an observational study, Turner (1995) com-
pared children’s voluntary use of motivated behaviours (strategy use, persistence,
attention control) in either basal or whole language classrooms during reading tasks.
However, it was found that the strongest predictor of motivation was the nature of the
reading task; instructional condition had very little influence on children’s use of
motivated behaviours.
Other researchers have created reading programmes specifically aimed at enhancing
children’s reading motivation and attitudes to reading (e.g. CORI: Guthrie, Wigfield,
and VonSecker 2000; Guthrie et al. 2004; Wigfield et al. 2004 and SEM-R: Reis et al.
2007). These studies have found positive, but sometimes modest improvements in
 394 S.P. McGeown et al.

children’s reading skills and affective aspects of reading when compared against
instructional approaches not aimed specifically at fostering positive attitudes (although
see Reis et al. 2008).
In the present study, the focus was not on examining how children’s method of read-
ing instruction influenced their reading attitudes and competency beliefs, as all children
had learnt to read by the same approach. Rather, the emphasis was on children’s
reported enjoyment of learning to read and how this correlated with their reading
attitudes, confidence and attainment.
In the initial years of school, reading instruction is typically focused more on
developing children’s word recognition skills (rather than reading comprehension). How-
ever, the teaching of word recognition may take different forms (e.g. whole word or
phonics approach). In England, the dominant approach to the teaching of reading is
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phonics, as the national curriculum in England (Department for Education (DfE) 2013a;
2013b) is aligned to a phonics-based approach. All children in the present study were
learning to read using a phonics method based on a programme called Letters and
Sounds (DfES 2007). This is a synthetic phonics approach, where children are taught
very early on to sound and blend unfamiliar words in order to read them; children were
taught to spell words by segmenting them into phonemes and writing down the letters.
Although, according to the synthetic phonics method, all words should be taught phoni-
cally, with attention being drawn to the difficult-to-decode parts of irregularly spelt
words, the children were taught to recognise high-frequency words and irregular words
by sight.

Aims and predictions

The present study examines young (6–7-year-old) children’s reading attitudes, confi-
dence and enjoyment of learning to read and how these relate to each other and reading
attainment. It was predicted that even at this age, young children’s reading attitudes and
confidence would correlate with their reading attainment, and predict variance in their
reading attainment. If gender differences were found in these relationships, it was
expected that boys’ attitudes and confidence would be more closely associated with their
reading attainment. Furthermore, it was predicted that gender differences favouring girls
would be found in reading attitudes (but not in reading skills or confidence). Finally, it
was predicted that children’s enjoyment of learning to read would correlate with their
reading attainment, reading confidence and attitudes to reading.

Method
Participants
Two hundred and three children (50.7% male) aged 6 years 1 month–7 years 4 months
(mean age 6 years 9 months, .32 standard deviation (SD)) participated in this study. The
children were from 11 mixed-sex (approximately 50% male) schools in the north of
England. The majority of schools were close to large towns or in rural areas; no inner
city schools participated. With regard to socio-economic background, indices of depriva-
tion were calculated for each school by means of using school postcodes, (all 32,482
neighbourhoods in England have been ranked on several deprivation topics: income,
employment, health, education, barriers to housing and services, crime and living envi-
ronment; Offices for National Statistics, UK). Based on these topics, indices of depriva-
tion for the schools in this study ranged from just under 3000 to just under 30,000,
 Educational Research 395

with an average across the 11 schools of 16,861 (for comparison, the most deprived
neighbourhood in England = 1 and least deprived = 32,482). Therefore, schools were
located within a wide range of socio-economic neighbourhoods. Children were tested in
the first term of their third year at school (Year 2).

Materials
Questionnaire
A 13-item questionnaire was used to assess children’s attitudes to reading, confidence in
their reading skills and their enjoyment of their method of reading instruction. The five
reading attitudes items (e.g. I enjoy reading) and four reading confidence items (e.g.
reading is very easy for me) were taken from PIRLS (2006). The wording of the ques-
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tions was exactly as in the original PIRLS research; however, a pictorial Likert scale
was used in order to be age appropriate (see also McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995;
Saracho and Dayton 1989, 1991). In addition, four items were created to measure enjoy-
ment of learning to read (e.g. I like learning to read; I like learning about letters and
sounds at school; Learning about letters and sounds was boring; Learning to read is
difficult). The questionnaire took approximately 10 min to complete.

Reading attainment
Reading attainment was measured with a single word reading test which consisted of 20
regular one syllable words. These words tested the phonics content specified in Letters
and Sounds (DfES 2007) for this age group. It included consonant–vowel–consonant
words, e.g. hem; words with adjacent consonants, e.g. flick; consonant digraphs, e.g.
shorn; and vowel digraphs (including split digraphs), e.g. soon, pine. In an unpublished
study, scores on this test were found to correlate highly with the British Ability Scales
(BAS) Word Reading Test (Elliott, Smith, and McCulloch 1997), r(108) = .76, p < .001;
the BAS test consists of a mixture of regular and irregular words.

Procedure
Ethical approval was sought and granted from the Department of Psychology Ethics
Committee, University of Hull. Permission was then sought from the parents to include
their child(ren) in the study. Children were tested individually on the word reading test,
and the children’s responses were noted and scored for accuracy. For the questionnaire,
the children and tester read the questions together and the tester noted the child’s answer
to each question. The questionnaire was also administered on an individual basis.

Results
Firstly, descriptive statistics and score distributions were examined (see Table 1).
Analyses of variance were carried out to examine gender differences in children’s
reading attitudes, confidence, enjoyment of learning to read and reading attainment (see
Table 1 for means and SDs). Girls reported significantly more positive attitudes towards
reading; F(1, 201) = 17.49, p < .001, g2p = .08, more confidence in their reading skills; F
(1, 201) = 5.23, p < .05, g2p = .03 and more enjoyment of learning to read; F(1, 201)
= 7.05, p < .01, g2p = .03. Gender differences were also found on the word reading test;
F(1, 198) = 8.64, p < .01, g2p = .04. Following conventional approaches for g2p in
 396 S.P. McGeown et al.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics (also split by gender).

Boys Girls
Full sample (n = 203) (n = 103) (n = 100)
Mean SD Skew Kurtosis Mean SD Mean SD
Reading attitudes 3.16 .63 −.593 −.278 2.98 .71 3.34 .48
Reading confidence 3.17 .65 −.704 .511 3.07 .71 3.28 .58
Enjoy learning to read 3.28 .68 −.911 .345 3.11 .76 3.41 .56
Word reading 13.88 5.20 −.473 −1.00 12.86 5.74 14.98 4.36

analysis of variance, a small effect size is .02, a medium effect size is >.06 and a large
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effect size is >.10 (Cohen 1988). Therefore, it is important to note that some of these
differences were small.
After controlling for gender differences in reading skill, girls’ reports of attitudes
towards reading were still significantly higher; F(1, 198) = 11.42, p < .001, g2p = .06.
However, the gender differences favouring girls in confidence in reading skills and
enjoyment of learning to read was no longer significant, p > .05.
The PIRLS reading attitudes and PIRLS reading confidence items from 2001 and
2006 were then compared with the data, as the same items had been used in the present
study. However, it is important to note that due to the lack of comparability of the sam-
ples and the changes made to the instruments, direct comparisons with the PIRLS find-
ings are not possible, and therefore conclusions based on the comparison cannot be
drawn (see the limitations section for further discussion). Nevertheless, this contrast
allowed age comparisons to be considered in relation to the large cohorts in PIRLS
2001 and 2006. Using the PIRLS criteria, high levels of reading attitudes and reading
confidence were indicated by an average greater than 3 through 4; medium levels were
indicated by an average of 2 through 3; and low levels by an average of 1 to less than
2. A larger proportion of children in the present study reported high levels of reading
attitudes and reading confidence when compared against both the PIRLS 2001 and 2006
cohorts (see Table 2).
Correlations between children’s reading attitudes, confidence and enjoyment with
reading skill were then tested (see Table 3).
In general, children’s attitudes towards reading, reading confidence and enjoyment
of learning to read were positively associated with their word reading skill.
Correlations were then carried out for boys and girls separately (see Table 4). Both
boys’ and girls’ attitudes to reading, reading confidence and enjoyment of learning to
read were associated with their reading skill.

Table 2. Comparison of attitudes and confidence scores with data in PIRLS 2001 and 2006 for
England, split by percentage of high, medium and low responses.
Attitudes Attitudes Attitudes
PIRLS PIRLS present Confidence Confidence Confidence
2001 2006 study PIRLS 2001 PIRLS 2006 present study
High 44.0 40.0 68.4 33.0 42.0 70.4
Medium 43.0 45.0 27.6 58.0 51.0 26.6
Low 13.0 15.0 3.9 9.0 7.0 3.0
 Educational Research 397

Table 3. Correlations between reading attitudes, reading confidence, enjoyment of learning to

read and word reading skill.
Reading attitudes Reading confidence Enjoy learning to read
Reading attitudes –
Reading confidence .33** –
Enjoy learning to read .40** .34** –
Word reading skill .34** .35** .27**
**p < .01.

Table 4. Correlations between reading attitudes, reading confidence, enjoyment of learning to

read and word reading skill (split by gender).
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Reading Reading Enjoy learning to Word

attitudes confidence read reading
Reading attitudes – .37** .30** .35**
Reading confidence .25** – .44** .25**
Enjoy learning to .40** .25* – .14
read
Word reading .28** .38** .30** –
Note: Boys scores presented bottom left, girls scores presented top right.
*p < .05; **p < .01.

Table 5. Regression analysis predicting word reading skill, with reading attitudes, confidence
and enjoyment of learning to read as predictors (also split by gender).
Full sample Boys Girls
Final β Std. error Final β Std. error Final β Std. error
Reading attitudes .222** .59 .134 .79 .299** .95
Reading confidence .246** .56 .299** .74 .146 .85
Enjoy learning to read .102 .55 .175 .69 −.016 .84
R2 .191 .204 .138
**p < .01.

Finally, multiple regression analysis was carried out to examine the extent to which
reading attitudes, confidence and enjoyment of learning to read predicted word reading
skill.
Overall, children’s general reading attitudes and confidence predicted significant
variance in their word reading skill; enjoyment of their method of reading instruction
did not (see Table 5).

Discussion
The present study was designed to examine whether the relationship between reading
attitudes, reading confidence and early reading attainment would be found among young
children in the early stages of learning to read, and whether gender differences would
also be observed at this young age. Furthermore, the relationship between young chil-
dren’s enjoyment of learning to read and their early reading attitudes, confidence and
attainment was a core interest. In general, children were positive in their reading
 398 S.P. McGeown et al.

attitudes, confidence and enjoyment of learning to read, which is common among young
children in the early stages of learning to read (Baker and Scher 2002). Consideration
of the present study’s findings in relation to the PIRLS data (2001, 2006) suggests that
children in the present study had, on average, very positive attitudes towards reading
(although direct comparisons with the PIRLS data are not possible; see the limitations
section for further discussion). These comparisons with 10-year-old children are consis-
tent with past research demonstrating a decline in reading attitudes and confidence with
age (e.g. Bouffard et al. 2003; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al.
2012; Wigfield et al. 1997).
Gender differences favouring girls were present in attitudes to reading, reading
confidence and enjoyment of learning to read (consistent with Clark 2014; McKenna,
Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; PIRLS 2001, 2006). However, these gender differences were
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relatively small and, after accounting for word reading differences, the gender differ-
ences in reading confidence and enjoyment of learning to read were no longer signifi-
cant. Consistent with PIRLS (2001), the gender difference in reading confidence was
narrower than in reading attitudes; also consistent with Logan and Johnston (2009),
whereas the gender difference in reading attitude was wider than the difference in attain-
ment. Therefore, there was, at this young age, some evidence of gender differences in
the affective aspects of reading (inconsistent with Baker and Scher 2002).
Furthermore, the association between children’s attitudes to reading, reading confi-
dence, enjoyment of learning to read and reading skill was present at a young age; chil-
dren’s reading confidence showed the strongest relationship with reading attainment.
Again, these results are consistent with past literature on the topic (Chapman and Tunmer
1995, 1997; Clark and De Zoysa 2011; Conlon et al. 2006; Katzir, Lesaux, and Kim
2009; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al. 2012; Petscher 2010; PIRLS
2001, 2006), but add to the scant literature exploring the relationship between these fac-
tors specifically with young children. In addition, children’s reading attitudes and confi-
dence significantly predicted their word reading skill, and all three affective aspects of
reading explained 19.1% of the variance in early word reading success. It is interesting,
however, that their enjoyment of learning to read did not independently predict variance
in their word reading skill. However, children’s reported enjoyment of learning to read
did correlate with their more generic reading attitudes, confidence and attainment. This is
of particular interest, as very little research has examined this previously.

Relevance to educational practice

We suggest that the results of the present study have implications for those working in
education. Firstly, teachers should be aware that gender differences in some of the affec-
tive aspects of reading may be relatively narrow but do start to emerge at a young age;
therefore increased awareness that boys may be in need of greater support to maintain
and enhance their reading attitudes is important, in addition to methods to do this (e.g.
via the provision of gender appropriate books and materials, providing more male read-
ing role models, supporting parents to increase the quality and quantity of shared book
reading activities at home with their sons, see Clark and Burke 2012).
Teachers should also be aware of the relationship emerging between young chil-
dren’s reading skills and their reading attitudes, confidence and, to a lesser extent,
enjoyment of learning to read. Recognising that these are related to each other suggests
that all need nurturing, and a focus on one (e.g. reading skill) at the expense of the
other (e.g. reading attitudes) is unlikely to be in a child’s best long-term interests.
 Educational Research 399

The results also have implications for methods of reading instruction; children’s
enjoyment of their method of reading instruction correlated with their attitudes to read-
ing, reading confidence and, to a lesser extent, reading skills. Therefore, it is important
that methods of reading instruction are developed to foster the development of positive
reading attitudes in addition to reading skills. The children in the present study were, in
general, very positive about their phonics method of reading instruction. It would be
interesting to examine an experimental sample of 10-year-olds taught by the same phon-
ics method in a few years’ time (Letters and Sounds, DfES 2007) to see whether their
positivity levels differ from those found in the 2001 and 2006 PIRLS surveys. Given
evidence of rising reading standards with this approach (DfE 2013a, 2015), it is possible
that there may be some gain in positivity with this method.
From a methodological perspective, the present study also suggests that question-
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naires can be used successfully to assess the affective aspects of reading in young chil-
dren (if age appropriate and with adult support). The opportunity to use questionnaires
with children this age provides opportunities for larger scale studies exploring these
factors in more depth (see also Baker and Scher 2002).

Limitations
Given the cross-sectional nature of the study, it is not possible to determine causality.
Indeed, there is increasing evidence that the relationship between reading skill and the
affective aspects of reading is reciprocal (Morgan and Fuchs 2007). While cross-sec-
tional studies have predominantly been used to inform this area (Chapman and Tunmer
1995; Conlon et al. 2006; Katzir, Lesaux, and Kim 2009; Logan and Johnston 2009;
Logan and Medford 2011; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth 1995; McKenna et al. 2012),
there is undoubtedly a need for more longitudinal research (e.g. Bouffard et al. 2003;
Kush and Watkins 1996) to better understand the nature of the relationship between
children’s reading development and these affective aspects of reading.
In addition, this study adopted questionnaires and quantitative analyses to study the
relationship between children’s reading attitudes, confidence and attainment. The results
of the study indicate that there are significant associations between these factors, even
among young children, suggesting this is an important area to carry out future research.
Future research, however, should also make use of alternative methods of data collection
and analysis (i.e. qualitative analyses from focus groups or interviews) to allow a more
in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the role of children’s attitudes and
confidence in the early stages of learning to read.
Finally, although comparisons have been discussed in relation to PIRLS, a direct
comparison is not possible for a number of reasons. Firstly, PIRLS is a large nationally
representative survey; the present study was conducted in only 11 schools in a single
region in England. Secondly, a pictorial Likert scale was adopted in this study to make
the questionnaire age appropriate; however, it is not possible to determine the influence
this may have had on children’s responses. Therefore, any points made with regard to
comparisons with PIRLS should be considered with caution.

Conclusions
The present study suggests that the relationship between children’s attitudes to reading,
reading confidence and early reading attainment appears at a relatively young age.
Furthermore, there was evidence of gender differences (specifically in reading attitudes)
 400 S.P. McGeown et al.

among these early readers. Teachers involved in early literacy instruction need to be
aware of the relationship emerging between these factors and the importance of
developing and promoting both cognitive and affective aspects of reading.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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