The purpose of this study was to investigate possible relationships between television viewing habits and the reading achievement of first grade children. Research has been done which links television viewing time and enhanced language acquisition and vocabulary development for the very young child. Other research has shown that if the older child continues to be a heavy television viewer, his academic achievement may actually suffer. Evidence concerning the relationship of television viewing habits and early academic achievement has been limited, however. This study was designed to investigate this relationship.The research sample consisted of eighty first graders in the consolidated school district of a small Midwestern suburban community. The sample was selected from the population of non-retained first graders near the end of the 1979-80 school year. All of the six first grade classrooms in the school system participated. Inclusion of the children in the sample from the total group of first graders was based on returning the completed television survey forms and parental permission slips for release of their test scores. The subjects were predominately from Anglo-American, middle-class families.Three assessment measures were employed in the study. The Otis-Lennon Test of Mental Ability was used to obtain IQ scores, and subtests from the SRA Achievement Series was utilized as the measure of reading achievement. These two standardized tests were administered by the schools as part of their regular testing program. The television survey was the instrument used to measure the television viewing habits of the subjects during a sample week. This instrument was constructed specifically for this investigation.The results of the three measures were analyzed for statistical significance by computing a partial correlation coefficient. Through the use of the partial correlation, the variable of IQ was controlled statistically. Three major null hypotheses, each of which included four null subhypotheses, were tested.Hypothesis 1: There is no relationship between early reading achievement and the amount of entertainment television viewing time, controlling for IQ. Data were analyzed separately for boys and girls and for vocabulary and comprehension achievement. A significant negative relationship was found between the reading comprehension achievement scores of boys and amount of entertainment television viewing. This led to the rejection of subhypothesis 1.2 which stated that there is no relationship between entertainment viewing time and reading comprehension achievement for boys. Other subhypotheses under hypothesis 1 were not rejected.Hypothesis 2: There is no relationship between early reading achievement and the amount of informational television viewing time. Data were analyzed separately for boys and girls and for vocabulary and comprehension achievement. No significant relationships were found, therefore, hypothesis two was not rejected.Hypothesis 3: There is no relationship between early reading achievement and the time spent watching television with a parent. Data were analyzed separately for boys and girls, and for vocabulary and comprehension achievement. A significant negative relationship was found between reading comprehension achievement scores for boys and time spent watching television with a parent. This led to the rejection of subhypothesis 3.2 which stated that there is no relationship between time spent watching television with a parent and reading comprehension achievement for boys. Other subhypotheses under hypothesis three were not rejected.It was concluded that for these boys there is a negative relationship between reading comprehension achievement and entertainment television viewing time which was anticipated. A similar negative relationship with time spent televiewing with a parent was not anticipated. No statistically significant relationships were found between television viewing habits and early reading achievement for girls. No statistically significant relationships were found between informational television viewing time and early reading achievement for either sex. It was recommended that studies be undertaken to further investigate the area of television viewing time as it relates to early reading achievement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-120). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-129). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.S. in Education)--Shenandoah University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Richard Wagner, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Mar. 2, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Education Management))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90). Also available online.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010. / This study explores the reading experiences of grade four children from an affective perspective. The poor state of reading in the present South African climate incites individuals to be concerned about young children who may not acquire reasonable levels of reading proficiency for daily living or tertiary education. The decline of reading in the home, the lack of emphasis on reading in some schools, the decrease in children‟s motivation to read and South Africa‟s poor literacy performance in international studies are all reasons for concern. Literature suggests that reading comprises both a cognitive and an affective component. Reading, in other words is not merely a mental skill, it is also influenced by emotions. Research shows that whether the cognitive aspects of reading are achieved will be determined by a child‟s affective disposition. In South African reading studies, a greater emphasis is placed on the cognitive aspects of reading. Not enough voice has been given to the children to find out about their personal feelings about reading. There are, however, international affective studies, but they cannot be applied fully to the South Africa context. This study, therefore, attempts to fill these gaps by focusing on the affective aspects of children‟s reading by interviewing the children themselves. A qualitative research design was used to explore children‟s feelings about reading. The semistructured interview was used as the main instrument. In addition three techniques, viz. thoughtbubble drawings, storytelling and selection of reading material (four activities, each followed by an informal interview) were employed. Even though each child expressed his/her emotions in a variety of ways, the analysis is presented according to the dominant emotions as exemplified by each child. Some of the emergent findings were that children preferred to read loudly as compared to reading silently, children generally displayed a positive attitude toward reading and children showed an interest in reading material that was based on popular culture. The study concludes with recommendations for teachers and recommendations for further study.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to the reading ability of beginning kindergarten children. The study purported to investigate the following major components: One, the relationship between two specified sets of variables. Set I included: (1) letter naming; (2) visual discrimination; (3) auditory discrimination; (4) oral language; (5) chronological age; and (6) mental age. Two, the relationship between reading as measured by word call and comprehension, and sex and socioeconomic status was investigated. Three, the relationships between reading and the environmental and developmental characteristics of beginning kindergarten children were examined through child and parent interviews.A word call and comprehension test was developed and given to 1,858 beginning kindergarten children of thirty-one public schools of Delaware County, Indiana. A stratified random sampling procedure was employed. The strata were determined by a combination of raw scores on word call and comprehension according to the various ranges in scores and the number of children available representing each range. An attempt was made to provide proportional sampling for each sex.The instruments used in the sample were: (1) a self-constructed letter naming test; (2) Gates-MacGinitie Readiness Skills Test (visual discrimination subtest) ; (3) Wepman Auditory Discrimination Zest ; (4) Slosson Intelligence Test for Children and Adults (SIT); (5) The Minnesota Scale for Paternal Occupation; (6) eight puppets to elicit oral language samples measured by the T-unit; (7) Child Interview Questionnaire; and (8) Parent Interview Questionnaire. All tests and instruments were administered individually.The data obtained from the Child Interview Questionnaire included: (1) experiences; (2) interests; (3) responsibilities and behaviors; (4) language-speaking experiences; (5) reading-writing experiences; and (6) parent attitudes. The data obtained from the Parent Questionnaire included: (1) family background; (2) home environment; (3) physical--motor skills; (4) behavioral characteristics; (5) preschool language-speaking experiences; (6) preschool reading experiences; and (7) parental attitudes and opinions. The analysis was made on the total sample; comparisons between the upper and lower quartile of the sample were made where appropriate.The statistical procedure used to analyze the data of this study was the canonical correlation which measures the relationship between two sets of variables and permits assessment of the interrelationships among them. One canonical correlation was significant which yielded a chi squared of 97.997 with twelve degrees of freedom value of (p <.0001).The correlation between Set I and Set II variables in this study was .8730 with 38.11 percentage of explained variance in Set I accounted for by variables in Set IT.Variables letter naming, visual discrimination, and mental age tended to have the highest correlation or greatest weight with variables word call and comprehension with letter naming as the major contributor. This would tend to confirm the use of letter naming as a predictor of reading achievement. The five most influential factors that encouragedchildren to take an interest in reading in this study were: being read to; seeing others read; having reading. materials available; viewing television; and curiosity.Children in the upper quartile of the sample who manifested greater degrees of reading ability than children in the lower quartile of the sample tended to come from higher socioeconomic classes; more reading materials were available; family members were seen reading; spoke in sentences earlier; and had less difficulty with verbal fluency or expression.Parents of children in the upper quartile of the sample encouraged interest in reading most often through incidental. learning situations rather than deliberate attempts to teach reading skills. Most parents indicated that they did not foresee any special school related problems because of their child's reading ability prior to kindergarten; children would continue reading on their own; would gain self-confidence; would become better students; and would experience success.Most parents in this study generally felt capable of helping their children with reading. Parents generally believed that children should learn to read prior to kindergarten provided they are: interested; reading occurs naturally; there is ability and potential; and no force is used.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.