Mediation of Reading Enjoyment between Teacher Feedback and Reading Achievement: Cross-Cultural Generalizability across 75 Countries/Economies

Abstract

Teacher feedback in reading class is closely associated with students’ reading achievement. However, the underlying mechanisms of their relationship has been underexplored, especially in cross-cultural contexts. Using Control Value Theory of Achievement Emotions (CVTAE), this study tested the cross-cultural generalizability of reading enjoyment as a mediator between teacher feedback and reading achievement among 536,848 15-year-olds from 75 countries/economies in PISA 2018. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) results showed that students who perceived more teacher feedback gained more enjoyment in reading activities, and thus scored higher in reading. This relationship was confirmed in 73 out of 75 countries/economies. However, at the school level, this association existed in only 25 of 75 countries/economies. These findings indicate cross-cultural generalization of reading enjoyment as a mediator between teacher feedback and reading achievement only at the student level, which not only provides cross-cultural evidence for CVTAE, but also sheds light on reading instruction of adolescents.