Age‐related changes in reading attitudes of young children: a cross‐cultural study

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Preschool Reading Attitudes Scale (PRAS) was administered to 2201 young children, from three to five years of age, in early childhood programs from several regions of the United States. The scale is categorized into four areas related to children's reading environment. School Reading Activities, Non‐school Reading Activities, Library Reading Activities and General Reading Activities. A validation sample revealed highly significant differences at all age levels between students receiving positive and negative teacher ratings of reading attitudes. The basic design involved three factors, age, sex, and ethnicity, and an analysis of variance was applied to total scores and subscores. The results showed significant outcomes for age and ethnicity, in addition to an age X ethnicity interaction. The results suggest that there are significant attitudinal differences between three‐year‐olds as opposed to four‐ and five‐year‐olds as well as age dependent differences among the ethnic groups.