B. Kurtzcostes et al., MOTIVATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF READING-COMPREHENSION - A COMPARISON OF FRENCH, CAUCASIAN-AMERICAN, AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS, Applied cognitive psychology, 9(4), 1995, pp. 351-364
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.