A Cross-Cultural Perspective of Early Literacy Motivation

Abstract This study examines changes in first- and second-graders' reading motivation across the course of a school year in two countries, the United States and Finland, in order to explore possible developmental patterns in early reading motivation that operate universally across cultural contexts. The most significant finding was that in both countries, first-graders' reading motivation increased significantly across the course of the school year while second-graders' reading motivation did not. This finding is particularly interesting since children begin elementary school at age 6 in the United States and age 7 in Finland. Thus, gains in reading motivation occurred during the first year of schooling for both countries, regardless of age and cultural differences. This finding sheds new light on the relationship between the initial acquisition of reading skills and reading motivation in that learning to read during the first year of school, in itself, may be a powerful motivator.