Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Chinese Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Reading: Introducing the Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes to Chinese Teachers

Abstract

AbstractThe authors examined the cross‐cultural validation of a Chinese version of the Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes (CSARA) in a sample of 524 students in grades 7–9 in China. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that Chinese adolescents’ attitudes toward reading can be measured in four dimensions—attitudes toward academic print, academic digital reading, recreational print, and recreational digital reading—all of which showed adequate internal consistency reliabilities. Additional validity of the CSARA was supported by its significant positive correlations with reading motivation and strategy use. Additionally, the reading medium seemed to be an important factor affecting Chinese adolescents’ attitudes toward recreational reading but not academic reading. Chinese adolescents perceived recreational digital reading differently than the other types of reading. Findings suggest that the culturally expanded Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes can provide nuanced but practical information that may foster effective and differentiated teaching practices and offer a valuable frame of reference for guiding future studies.