Learning to Read

Abstract

Being literate is fundamental for learning most school subjects. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducts a regular cycle of studies of children's reading literacy and the factors associated with literacy acquisition in countries around the world. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) focuses on the reading attainment of children in their fourth year of schooling and the experiences at home and at school that help them learn how to read well. Designed specifically to measure trends in reading attainment, PIRLS is conducted every five years. The first PIRLS assessment took place in 2001, the second in 2006, and the next is planned for 2011. More than fifty of the countries and regions participating in PIRLS 2001 also took part in the 2006 study, Hong Kong being one such region. Involvement enabled education authorities in the countries and regions to monitor trends in reading attainment across the five-year period from 2001 to 2006. Hong Kong students made substantial progress in 2006 compared with their performance in 2001. In PIRLS 2001, Hong Kong students obtained a mean score of 528 for overall reading attainment and ranked fourteenth out of thirty-five countries and regions. The overall mean reading score in PIRLS 2006 was 564, and Hong Kong was ranked second, only one point below Russia; Singapore ranked fourth; and Taiwan twenty-second. From 2001 to 2006, the number of students reading novels and nonfiction reading material outside school increased, and there was an improvement in the percentage of students reaching high levels in the Index of Students' Attitudes Toward Reading (SATR) and Index of Students' Reading Self-Concept (SRSC). A higher level of parental engagement with their children in reading activities at home was also reported. More teachers had become aware of the importance of students' developing good reading habits. They were offering a wider range of reading materials and reading activities in the classroom. Children were encouraged to choose their own reading material and to read for pleasure. Many schools now had their own written policies on the teaching of reading and their own school reading curriculum. Many schools were providing facilities for children to read before school and during lunchtime, and more and more were involving parents in the promotion of after-school reading activities.