Effects of socio-economic status on reading and writing science texts
Submitted by:
Renáta Kovács
Abstract:
The relationships between the learning of reading and writing skills have been demonstrated (e.g. Parodi, 2006, Abbott et al., 2010). However, because these skills are cultural, the traditions and methods of their instruction may result in variations in their relationships. Also, research has shown the effects of the family background on learning these skills (Fejes & Józsa, 2005). One area affected could be e.g. the language of school subjects (Brevik et al., 2014).This study aims to identify relationships between non/disadvantaged status and the reading and writing performance of 4th grade Hungarian students’ (N=135) on science texts.
Background data (e.g. disadvantaged status and estimation of academic ability levels) regarding students were collected from their teachers. The test administered to students had three subtests, each related to the topic of nutrition, a common element of their curriculum: (1) knowledge of related science vocabulary, (2) comprehension of a reading passage, and (3) composing a short expository text.
The results confirmed that disadvantaged students had significantly lower performances. However, in the regression model tested for the total score as dependent variable, the writing ability levels as estimated by teachers explained the largest percentage of the variance, not family background (total explained variance: 60.91%). Students’ reading and writing performances correlated significantly, but weakly (r=.212; p<.05). The vocabulary subtest correlated strongly with reading, but weakly and not significantly with writing performance.
The findings show that at this grade, the effects of family background are tangible, but teachers seem to contribute them to individual abilities.
Keywords: primary education; disadvantage; reading skills; writing skills; science vocabulary
References:
Abbott, R. D., Berninger, V. W. & Fayol, M. (2010). Longitudinal Relationships of Levels of Language in Writing and Between Writing and Reading in Grades 1 to 7. Journal of Educational Psychology (102) 2. 281-298.
Brevik, L.M., Fosse, B. O., Rødnes, K. A. (2014). Language, learning, and teacher professionalism: An investigation of specialized language use among pupils, teachers, and student teachers. International Journal of Educational Research (68) 46–56.
J. B., Fejes & K., Józsa (2005). A tanulási motiváció jellegzetességei hátrányos helyzetű tanulók körében [The characteristics of the learning motivation of disadvantaged students]. Magyar Pedagógia (105) 2. 185–205.
Parodi, G. (2006). Reading-writing connections: Discourse-oriented research. Reading & Writing Interdisciplinary Journal, 20, 225-250.