1. HKPISA Reading habit, reading attitude and reading literacy performance in Hong Kong and Finland Presented by Paul Sze and Esther Ho PISA International Conference, Nov 21-22 2003, Hong Kong

2. Structure of Presentation Part One: To provide a profile of HK students’ reading attitude and reading habits Part Two: To further explore the relationship between students’ reading habits and their reading performance

3. Profiling HK Students’ Reading Attitude and Habits Interest in Reading: How interested are our students in reading? Reading self-concept: How do our students perceive their literacy ability in their L1? Reading diversity: What types of materials do our students read? Reading engagement: How often do our students read? How keen are they about reading?

4. A Profile of HK Students’ Reading Attitude and Habits HK has the fourth highest index in interest in reading among the PISA countries/regions. HK is second lowest in reading self-concept. HK is highest in reading diversity. HK is third highest in reading engagement.

5. How does HK’s reading profile compare with that of the top- performing countries?

6. Countries chosen for comparison AustraliaCanadaFinland (Hong Kong) IrelandJapanKorea New Zealand Sweden United Kingdom United States

7. Reading Interest (1)

8. Reading Self-concept (2)

9. Reading for Enjoyment (3)

10. Reading Diversity (4)

11. Hong Kong in the Comparison Group HK is highest in interest in reading HK almost lowest in reading self-concept HK highest in reading diversity HK is third in reading engagement(based on reading time, reading diversity and reading attitude)

12. Observation and Question Compared with the top-performing countries, HK’s students: are quite interested in reading; read a wide range of materials; do take time to read for enjoyment. Why is it that at the same time, our students’ reading self-concept is so low?

13. How does HK’s profile compare with that of Finland?

14. Reading Interest vs Performance (5)

15. Reading Interest and Reading Performance Reading performance grows steadily with interest in reading, both in HK and Finland. The correlation is even greater in Finland.

16. Reading Self-Concept vs Performance (6)

17. Self-concept and Performance There is a correlation between reading self-concept and reading performance. The correlation is even stronger in Finland.

18. Reading Attitude Students in both HK and Finland are positive towards reading. But more students in HK (51%) read only when they have to, than in Finland (26%) More students in HK read for instrumental purposes (49%), than in Finland (35%)

19. Reading Engagement and Reading Performance In Hong Kong, little difference between the less engaging groups; but performance increased greatly for the more engaging groups. In Finland, clear relationship throughout.

20. Reading Performance and Other Factors Finland students spend more time reading each day than HK students do. Students in Finland are surrounded by more books at home than HK students. In both HK and Finland, there is a significant correlation between reading performance and (1) reading diversity, (2) time spent on reading, and (3) number of books at home.

21. Gender gap in Reading Performance (15)

22. Gender and Reading Performance big gender gap among low achievers in both HK and Finland. Among high achievers, big gender gap in Finland, but little difference in HK.

23. Background: Hong Kong vs Finland

24. Reading Habit: Hong Kong vs Finland

25. Effects of Student Background and School Context on Students’ Reading Literacy in Hong Kong

26. Effect of Student Background in HK (18) Girls higher than boysGirls higher than boys Immigrant lower than localImmigrant lower than local Living with a single parent (mother only) higher than other family structure.Living with a single parent (mother only) higher than other family structure. Parents’ occupational status & education no significant impact on reading Parents’ occupational status & education no significant impact on reading

27. Effects of Student Background and School Context on Students’ Reading Literacy in Finland

28. Effects of Student Background in Finland (19) All student background variables are significant.All student background variables are significant. Girls much better than boysGirls much better than boys + association with Parents’ occupation and education.+ association with Parents’ occupation and education. - association with Single-parent families- association with Single-parent families - association with number of siblings- association with number of siblings - association with immigrant students- association with immigrant students

29. Effect of Reading Habit on Students’ Reading Literacy in Hong Kong

30. Effects of Reading Habits in HK (21) Reading for Enjoyment is the most significant factorReading for Enjoyment is the most significant factor Reading regularly (for example 30 to 60 minutes daily) for enjoyment is importantReading regularly (for example 30 to 60 minutes daily) for enjoyment is important Reading homework (for example 1-3 hour per week) has positive impactReading homework (for example 1-3 hour per week) has positive impact Number of books at home is important too.Number of books at home is important too.

31. Effect of Reading Habit on Student’s Reading Literacy in Finland

32. Effect of Reading Habits in Finland (22) Enjoyment and Diversity in reading had the strongest positive effect.Enjoyment and Diversity in reading had the strongest positive effect. Reading regularly (30-60 min daily) has positive contribution. Why too much is not good in Finland?Reading regularly (30-60 min daily) has positive contribution. Why too much is not good in Finland? Reading homework had negative impact. Why?Reading homework had negative impact. Why? Number of Books at home is not important in Finland.Number of Books at home is not important in Finland.

33. Challenges for Hong Kong (24) High interest, high performance, but low self- concept. Why?High interest, high performance, but low self- concept. Why? Instrumental in their motivation to read. emphasis on skills than enjoyment.Instrumental in their motivation to read. emphasis on skills than enjoyment. What can we learn from Finland ?What can we learn from Finland ?