MOTIVATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF READING-COMPREHENSION - A COMPARISON OF FRENCH, CAUCASIAN-AMERICAN, AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

The relationships between adolescents' reading comprehension and their metacognitive knowledge and self-system beliefs were studied in three groups of subjects: French nationals, Caucasian Americans, and Africa n Americans. Subjects were tested on measures of reading comprehension , metacognitive knowledge about reading processes, attributional belie fs, and academic self-concept. Correlation and regression analyses ind icated cultural differences in the predictors of reading comprehension among the three groups. For French and Caucasian Americans, reading c omprehension scores were related to metacognitive knowledge, academic self-concept, and attributions of success to ability. However, metacog nition and motivational beliefs were mostly unrelated to comprehension performance for African Americans. Results are discussed in terms of verification of a model of motivational influences on performance, of cultural and ethnic group differences in beliefs, and the implications for generalizability of research results.