1Motivation and academic performance2Paper OutlinePa.docx

1
Motivation and academic performance 2
Paper Outline
Paper Topic: How does Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation effect
international students in school?
1. Introduction
1. Statement of the topic: Research on intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation and their effects of education is continually
expanding. Although different researchers have studied
academic motivation and performance among international
students, there is still gray area on how motivation influence
academic performance among students studying in foreign
countries.
2. Theoretical Framework: According to different studies,
international students are motivated by the: (1) the desire to
learn; (2) the call for to achieve academic excellence; (3)
authority expectations; (4) peer recognition; (5) worry of
failure; and (6) power motivation (AREEPATTAMANNIL,
2014; Ayub, 2014; Chue & Nie, 2016; Pfost, Artelt, &
Miyamoto, 2018; Takashiro, 2017; UYULGAN & AKKUZU,
2014).
3. Significance of the research: The research finding may help
teachers dealing with international students promote social
changes by helping the students become active in learning.
2. Body
1. Background of the Study: According to different articles,
many factors are researched in relation to international student
education and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; such as:
1. Competence (Chue & Nie, 2016; Takashiro, 2017).

2. social belonging gives them ownership of their environment
(Pfost, Artelt, & Miyamoto, 2018; Chue & Nie, 2016).
3. Autonomy which involves making Reading Social
(Takashiro, 2017; Ayub, 2014).
4. Personality and Student innate curiosity (Takashiro, 2017;
UYULGAN & AKKUZU, 2014; Pfost, Artelt, & Miyamoto,
2018).
5. Self-regulation which involves faculty influence, personal
recognition, and utility for careers (UYULGAN & AKKUZU,
2014; AREEPATTAMANNIL, 2014).
6. self-efficacy and Student Choice of a Variety of Materials
(AREEPATTAMANNIL, 2014; Ayub, 2014).
7. parental influence (Chue & Nie, 2016; Takashiro, 2017;
AREEPATTAMANNIL, 2014).
3. Conclusion
Students’ motivation depends on learning, the students, and the
society. The research finding may help teachers dealing with
international students promote social changes by helping the
students become active in learning. This research gives the
interaction between different issues of academic intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation and the existing relationship between them
and academic performance of international students.

References
AREEPATTAMANNIL, S. (2014). Relationship Between
Academic Motivation and Mathematics Achievement Among
Indian Adolescents in Canada and India. The Journal of General
Psychology, 141(3), 247–262.
Ayub, N. (2014). Effect of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on
Academic Performance. 1-11. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255712855
Chue, K. L., & Nie, Y. (2016). International Students’
Motivation and Learning Approach: A Comparison with Local
Students. Journal of International Students, 6(3), 678-699.
Pfost, M., Artelt, C., & Miyamoto, A. (2018). Reciprocal
relations between intrinsic reading motivation and reading
competence: A comparison between native and immigrant
students in Germany. Journal of Research in Reading, 41(1),
176–196. doi:10.1111/1467-9817.12113
Takashiro, N. (2017). Asian International Graduate Students’
Extrinsic Motivation to Pursue Degrees. Psychological Thought,
10(1), 178–189. doi:10.5964/psyct.v10i1.199
UYULGAN, M. A., & AKKUZU, N. (2014). An Overview of
Student Teachers’ Academic Intrinsic Motivation. Educational
Sciences: Theory & Practice, 14(1), 21-32.
doi:10.12738/estp.2014.1.2013
The Journal of General Psychology, 2014, 141(3), 247–262
Copyright C© 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Relationship Between Academic

Motivation and Mathematics
Achievement Among Indian Adolescents
in Canada and India
SHALJAN AREEPATTAMANNIL
National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological
University
ABSTRACT. This study examined the relationships between
academic motivation—
intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation—and
mathematics achievement
among 363 Indian adolescents in India and 355 Indian
immigrant adolescents in Canada.
Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that
intrinsic motivation, extrin-
sic motivation, and amotivation were not statistically
significantly related to mathematics
achievement among Indian adolescents in India. In contrast,
both intrinsic motivation and
extrinsic motivation were statistically significantly related to
among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. While intrinsic
motivation was a statisti-
cally significant positive predictor of mathematics achievement
among Indian immigrant
adolescents in Canada, extrinsic motivation was a statistically
significant negative predictor
of mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant
adolescents in Canada. Amotivation
was not statistically significantly related to mathematics
achievement among Indian im-
migrant adolescents in Canada. Implications of the findings for
pedagogy and practice are
discussed.

Keywords: academic motivation, amotivation, extrinsic
motivation, Indian adolescents,
Indian immigrant adolescents, intrinsic motivation, mathematics
achievement
IN THE PAST TWO DECADES, UNPRECEDENTED WAVES
OF IMMI-
GRATION have changed the demographic composition of
Canada’s population
(Statistics Canada, 2010). According to the 2006 Census, one in
five of the recent
immigrants to Canada was aged 14 and under (approximately
223,200 children),
while about 167,600 recent immigrants were aged 15 to 24
(Statistics Canada,
2007). Further, according to Statistics Canada (2010), China
and India alone are
the birthplaces of more than 29% of all immigrants to Canada.
In 2009 alone, the
vast majority of immigrant students and their families came
from China (12%)
and India (10%) (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2010),
and it is projected
Address correspondence to Shaljan Areepattamannil;
[email protected] (e-mail).
247
248 The Journal of General Psychology
that, among all the visible minority groups in Canada, South
Asians and Chinese

will still be the largest visible minority groups in 2031
(Statistics Canada, 2010).
The Indian community in Canada is highly concentrated in
Ontario (58%)
and British Columbia (26%), with the majority of Indian
immigrants living in or
near Toronto or Vancouver (68%; Statistics Canada, 2007). In
2001, 23% of the
Indian community were children under the age of 15 years,
while 16% of the Indian
community were aged 15 to 24 years (Statistics Canada, 2007).
The massive waves
of immigration have exacerbated gaps in academic achievement
among children
of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds in Canada (e.g., Anisef,
Brown, Phythian,
Sweet, & Walters, 2008). Although variations in children’s
cognitive abilities
and skills may explain gaps in academic achievement among
children of varied
racial and ethnic backgrounds (Hansen, Liu, & Kučera, 2010),
such abilities and
skills may not fully explain their academic achievement
(Schunk & Zimmerman,
2007), suggesting that noncognitive correlates of academic
achievement, such
as academic motivation, may also play a crucial role in
determining children’s
academic achievement (see Areepattamannil & Freeman, 2008;
Areepattamannil,
Freeman, & Klinger, 2011a, 2011b).
Nonetheless, contemporary theories of academic motivation are
primarily the
offspring of Western theorizing and research, and the research

participants are
predominantly Western, particularly North American and
European, school chil-
dren. Moreover, the burgeoning immigrant student population in
major immigrant
receiving societies across the globe necessitates the need to
broaden the purview
of motivation theories and research to account for the
experiences of these cultur-
ally diverse groups. However, McInerney (2007) posits that
“when motivational
and learning theories are transported to new cultural and social
settings to under-
stand and manage individual and group behaviour, there might
be a mismatch”
(p. 369). Therefore, more empirical research, examining the
relations of academic
motivation to student learning outcomes across cultures, is
warranted. As Gilman,
Huebner, and Furlong (2009) remark,
If the ultimate goal of schools is to educate young people to
become responsible
and critically thinking citizens who can succeed in life,
understanding factors
that stimulate them to become active agents in their own
learning is critical.
(p. 1)
Although there is a growing body of research on academic
motivation and
academic achievement of school children across East Asian
cultures (e.g., Liem &
Nie, 2008), no study to date has examined the relationships
between academic mo-
tivation and mathematics achievement for adolescents in South

Asia, particularly
for Indian adolescents in India in comparison to their Indian
immigrant coun-
terparts in Canada. Furthermore, the Indian adolescents belong
to a moderately
collectivist culture, India, and the Indian immigrant adolescents
have been living
Areepattamannil 249
in a highly individualist culture, Canada, for a while. As
Hofstede, Hofstede, and
Minkov (2010) state:
The purpose of education is perceived differently between the
individualist and
the collectivist societies. In the former, it aims at preparing the
individual for a
place in a society of other individuals. The purpose of learning
is less to know
how to do than to know how to learn. In a collectivist society,
there is a stress on
adaptation to the skills and virtues necessary to be an
acceptable group member.
Learning is more often seen as a onetime process, reserved for
young people, who
have to learn how to do things in order to participate in society.
(pp. 118–119)
Therefore, examining the academic trajectories of Indian
immigrant adolescents
in Canada in comparison to their counterparts in India may help
us to better un-
derstand the impact of travel and relocation from one culture to

another culture
on Indian immigrant adolescents’ academic motivation and
academic achieve-
ment. Given the dearth of research surrounding the academic
trajectories of Indian
adolescents in India and Indian immigrant adolescents in
Canada, the purpose of
the present study was to examine the relationship between
academic motivation
and mathematics achievement among Indian adolescents in India
and Indian im-
migrant adolescents in Canada. Specifically, the study examined
whether or not
academic motivation would predict mathematics achievement
differently among
Indian adolescents in India and Indian immigrant adolescents in
Canada.
Academic Motivation and Mathematics Achievement
Although researchers have propounded various theories to
explicate the re-
lationships between academic motivation and academic
achievement, one of the
well-delineated theories is Deci & Ryan’s (1985, 1991, 2000)
self-determination
theory (SDT). It is a “macro-theory of human motivation,
emotion, and develop-
ment that takes interest in factors that either facilitate or
forestall the assimilative
and growth-oriented processes in people” (Niemiec & Ryan,
2009, p. 134). SDT
postulates that academic motivation is multidimensional in
nature, and comprises
three types of global motivation: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic
motivation, and

amotivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000, 2008). When students
are intrinsically
motivated, they engage in learning activities freely for the
inherent satisfaction,
fun, and enjoyment that they derive from the participation itself
(Deci & Ryan,
2002). In contrast, when students are extrinsically motivated,
they engage in learn-
ing activities for instrumental reasons rather than for intrinsic
reasons (Vallerand
& Ratelle, 2002). Finally, amotivation refers to lack of either
intrinsic or extrinsic
motivation. SDT further posits that both intrinsic motivation
and extrinsic moti-
vation are multidimensional in nature as well (Deci & Ryan,
2002). The tripartite
taxonomy of intrinsic motivation include: intrinsic motivation
to know, intrinsic
motivation to accomplish things, and intrinsic motivation to
experience stimulation
(Vallerand & Ratelle, 2002); and the four types of extrinsic
behavioural regulation
are external regulation, introjected regulation, identified
regulation, and integrated
regulation (Deci & Ryan, 2002).
Despite a large body of research on the links between academic
motiva-
tion and academic achievement, only a small body of research
has examined the
relations of academic motivation to academic achievement

employing an SDT
perspective. Moreover, very few studies have specifically
explored the relations
between academic motivation and mathematics achievement for
school children
from the stance of SDT. For example, Fortier, Vallerand, and
Guay (1995) in-
vestigated the effects of perceived academic self-determination
and perceived
academic competence on autonomous academic motivation and
the influence of
autonomous academic motivation on student performance in
mathematics among
a sample of 263 French-speaking secondary students in Canada.
The authors
found that students’ perceived academic self-determination and
perceived aca-
demic competence positively influenced their autonomous
academic motivation,
which, in turn, had a positive effect on French-Canadian
children’s performance
in mathematics. The latent construct of autonomous academic
motivation in
the study comprised of four separate autonomy indices based on
seven motiva-
tional constructs: amotivation, extrinsic motivation-external
regulation, extrinsic
motivation-introjected regulation, extrinsic motivation-
identified regulation, in-
trinsic motivation-knowlwdge, intrinsic motivation-
accomplishment, and intrin-
sic motivation-stimulation. Similarly, Miserandino (1996),
employing the SDT
framework, demonstrated the impact of perceived competence
and perceived au-
tonomy (i.e., perceived autonomous motivation versus external

motivation) on
mathematics performance among 77 above-average elementary
school children in
the United States. Children with higher perceived competence
and perceived au-
tonomous motivation were found to be more engaged in school
and academics than
did their peers with lower perceived competence and lower
perceived autonomous
motivation.
The findings of these studies generally suggest that intrinsically
or au-
tonomously motivated school children are more likely to
perform better than
their extrinsically motivated peers. Studies that used other
motivational perspec-
tives, such as achievement motivation, achievement goal, and
academic intrinsic
motivation, have also found that intrinsically motivated students
tend to have
higher academic achievement (e.g., Gottfried, Marcoulides,
Gottfried, Oliver, &
Guerin, 2007), higher intellectual performance (e.g., Gottfried
& Gottfried, 2004),
less academic anxiety (e.g., Gottfried, 1990), and mastery-
oriented coping with
failure (e.g., Dweck, 1975). Similarly, intrinsically motivated
students tend to
have enhanced deep or conceptual learning (e.g., Ames &
Archer, 1988), greater
creativity (e.g., Eisenberger & Shanock, 2003), enhanced
cognitive flexibility and
engagement (e.g., Walker, Greene, & Mansell, 2006), enhanced
subjective or psy-
chological well-being (e.g., Burton, Lydon, D’Alessandro, &

Koestner, 2006),
and less extrinsic motivation (e.g., Gottfried, Gottfried, Cook,
& Morris, 2005).
A large body of research has also demonstrated the effects of
extrinsic motivation
Areepattamannil 251
on student learning outcomes. For example, prior research
documents that extrin-
sically motivated students are more likely to have lower
academic achievement
(e.g., Becker et al., 2010), and to engage in surface learning
(e.g., Biggs, 1991).
However, these studies were predominantly conducted in North
America and
Europe, and the participants were primarily White children.
Moreover, no study to
date has examined whether or not the relations between
academic motivation and
academic achievement would change when children relocate
from a collectivist
society to an individualist society. Such an examination is
crucial, given the bur-
geoning immigrant children population in major immigrant-
receiving countries
such as Canada.
Method
Sample
Separate samples were drawn from secondary students in India
and Canada.

Students whose parents agreed for them to participate and who
themselves agreed
to participate in the study completed the research measures. No
incentives were
given for participation in the survey. Participants in the
Canadian sample comprised
of 355 Indian immigrant adolescents (male = 179; female = 176)
from secondary
schools in Central Canada. Participants in the Indian sample
consisted of 363
adolescents (male = 192; female = 171) from English medium
secondary schools
in India, which were more or less on par with secondary schools
in Canada in
terms of infrastructural facilities. The age of the participants in
the Indian sample
ranged from 13 to 18 years, with a mean age of 16.04 years (SD
= 1.16). The
age of the participants in the Canadian sample ranged from 16
to 19 years, with a
mean age of 16.88 years (SD = .89).
Instruments
Demographic Questionnaire
The demographic questionnaire asked respondents to report
their age, gender,
country of origin, and current grades in school.
Mathematics Achievement
The outcome measure in the present study was mathematics
achievement.
Participants were asked to report their mathematics GPA on a 5-
point scale,

ranging from 5 = A (Mostly 90s) to 1 = F (Mostly 50s).
Academic Motivation
Academic motivation was measured with the Academic
Motivation
Scale–high school version (AMS; Vallerand et al., 1992). The
AMS is the
English translation of the Echelle de Motivation en Education
(Vallerand et al.,
1992, 1993). Based on SDT, this 28-item instrument is divided
into seven sub-
scales, reflecting one subscale of amotivation, three ordered
subscales of extrinsic
motivation (external, introjected, and identified regulation), and
three distinct,
unordered subscales of intrinsic motivation (intrinsic motivation
to know, to ac-
complish things, and to experience stimulation). The items were
rated on a scale
ranging from 1 = does not correspond at all to 7 = corresponds
exactly. Each
subscale consisted of four items; thus subscale scores could
range from 4 to 28. A
high score on a subscale indicates high endorsement of that
particular motivation.
Several empirical studies investigating issues related to
motivation have used
both the French (e.g., Guay, Marsh, & Boivin, 2003 ) and
English (e.g., Areepat-

tamannil & Freeman, 2008) versions of the AMS scale.
Furthermore, numerous
studies have explored the measurement properties of the AMS
(e.g., Vallerand
et al., 1992, 1993). Vallerand et al. (1992) reported that
Cronbach’s coefficient
α for the subscales ranged from .83 to .86, with the exception of
the identified
subscale of extrinsic motivation, which had an internal
consistency of .62. In ad-
dition, internal consistency for the subscales ranged from .60 to
.86 with another
English-speaking sample (Vallerand et al., 1993).
Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted in the
present study to
test the fit of the seven-factor structure for the whole sample,
the Indian sample, and
the Indian immigrant sample. The CFA performed on the whole
sample indicated
that the seven-factor model did not fit the data well (χ 2 =
2918.80, df = 336,
p < .001; SRMR = .17; RMSEA = .11; CFI = .86; TLI = .85).
Each of these fit
indices implies poor fit. Similarly, the CFAs performed on the
Indian and the Indian
immigrant samples also revealed that the seven-factor model did
not fit the data
well. Given the poor fit of the seven-factor model, CFAs were
also conducted to
examine the fit of a three-factor model (intrinsic motivation,
extrinsic motivation,
and amotivation). The CFA performed on the whole sample
suggested that the
three-factor model fitted the data well (χ 2 = 7653.66, df = 378,
p < .001; SRMR

= .03; RMSEA = .04; CFI = .97; TLI = .95). The CFAs
performed on the Indian
and the Indian immigrant samples also revealed that the three-
factor model fitted
the data well. Hence, a three-factor model was used in the
current study.
Results
Descriptive statistics and partial correlations (controlling for
gender and age)
are presented in Table 1. Prior to running the main analyses,
independent sam-
ples t-tests were conducted to examine whether or not the
Indian adolescents in
India differed statistically significantly from their counterparts
in Canada with
respect to mathematics achievement, intrinsic motivation,
extrinsic motivation,
and amotivation. The results of independent samples t-tests
indicated that the
Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada had statistically
significantly higher in-
trinsic motivation than did their peers in India, t(716) = -3.48, p
< .001, d = .25;
whereas Indian adolescents in India had statistically
significantly higher extrinsic
Areepattamannil 253
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motivation (t(716) = 1.95, p = .05, d = .15) and amotivation
(t(716) = 1.97,
p = .04, d = .15) than did their counterparts in Canada.
However, no statistically
significant differences were found between Indian adolescents

in India and Indian
immigrant adolescents in Canada with respect to their
mathematics achievement,
t(716) = −1.78, p = .07, d = .13.
To address the purpose of the study, separate hierarchical
multiple regres-
sion analyses were conducted for the Indian and Indian
immigrant samples
(see Table 2). Mathematics achievement was the dependent
variable. The con-
trol variables, age and gender, were entered into the equation in
step 1. The
predictor variables, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation,
and amotivation,
were entered into the equation in step 2. Age and gender entered
into the equation
in step 1 explained a statistically significant amount of the
variance in mathematics
achievement, Adjusted R2 = .11, F (2, 360) = 23.62, p = .000;
Adjusted R2 = .01,
F (2, 352) = 3.69, p = .026, Indian and Indian immigrant
adolescents respectively.
After step 2, with intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and
amotivation also
included in the equation, Adjusted R2 = .12, Fchange (3, 357) =
2.63, p = .050;
Adjusted R2 = .25, Fchange (3, 349) = 37.02, p = .000, Indian
and Indian immi-
grant adolescents respectively. Thus, the addition of these
variables resulted in 1%
(Indian adolescents) and 24% (Indian immigrant adolescents)
increments in the
variance accounted for.
The regression analyses, after accounting for age and gender,

revealed that
intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation were
not statistically
significant predictors of mathematics achievement for the
India. Intrinsic motivation was a positive predictor of
for the Indian immigrant adolescents, whereas extrinsic
motivation was a negative
predictor of mathematics achievement for the Indian immigrant
adolescents. Amo-
tivation was not a statistically significant predictor of
for the Indian immigrant adolescents.
Discussion
The purpose of the present study was to examine the
relationship between
academic motivation and mathematics achievement among
India and Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. The findings
of the study
revealed that intrinsic motivation—an autonomous form of
motivation—was re-
lated positively to mathematics achievement among Indian
in Canada. Reeve and colleagues (2007) posit that “students
learn better and feel
better when they pursue intrinsic rather than extrinsic goals and
when their teachers
facilitate learning associated with intrinsic goals” (p. 233).
The Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada emigrated from a
moderately
collectivist culture, India, to a highly individualist culture,

Canada. Hermans and
Kempen (1998) posit that travel and relocation from one culture
to another culture
may result in an interweaving of cultures—cultural practices of
the home culture
Areepattamannil 255
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may blend with those of the host culture to form a “hybridized
culture.” Similarly,
Fuligni (1998) found among 998 first-, second-, and third-
generation immigrant
adolescents in the United States with Mexican, Chinese,
Filipino, and European
backgrounds that these adolescents’ ethnic labels, attitudes,
values, behaviours,
and their perceived subjective cultures varied as a function of
intercultural con-
tact. Furthermore, prior research demonstrates that immigrant
adolescents’ native
culture values may align more with host culture values with
each passing gener-
ation (e.g., Fuligni, Witkow, & Garcia, 2005). The Indian

in Canada, after spending some years in Canada, may have
changed their collec-
tivist values and attitudes toward school and academics. This
finding is congruent
with the claims of previous research conducted among Indian
students in North
America. For example, Savani, Markus, Naidu, Kumar, and
Berlia (2010) found
that
Indians who had spent more time in the United States were more
likely to construe
mundane actions as choices, a result suggesting that choice
became an important
category of action after Indian students engaged with a cultural
context where
the disjoint model of agency was prevalent. (p. 396)
This may partially explain why academic motivation—intrinsic
motivation
and extrinsic motivation—was predictive of mathematics
achievement among
Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada.
Given the numerous benefits of autonomy-supportive classroom
contexts
in individualist cultures (see Reeve, 2006; Reeve, Ryan, Deci,
& Jang, 2007),
the Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada might benefit from
autonomy-
supportive mathematics teachers who facilitate their students’
autonomous aca-
demic motivation—intrinsic motivation. However, to help
mathematics teachers
become more autonomy-supportive “requires that teachers work
through the steps

of becoming less controlling, wanting to support autonomy, and
learning the
practical ‘how-to’ of classroom autonomy support” (Reeve
2009, p. 172). An
autonomy-supportive motivating style comprises five categories
of instructional
behaviour (Jang, Reeve, & Deci, 2010; Reeve, 2009, 2011;
Reeve & Assor, 2011):
nurturing students’ inner motivational resources; providing
explanatory rationales;
relying on non-controlling and informational language;
displaying patience to al-
low for self-paced learning and personal development to occur;
and acknowledging
the students’ perspectives and feelings.
Meta-analyses have demonstrated the effectiveness of
autonomy-supportive
training intervention programs in developing an autonomy-
supportive motivating
style among teachers (e.g., Su & Reeve, 2010). Hence, pre-
service and in-service
teacher training programs in Canada may need to design and
implement ap-
propriate autonomy-supportive intervention programs with a
view to developing
autonomy-supportive mathematics teachers, who are capable of
nurturing their
Areepattamannil 257
students’ inner motivational resources such as interests,
preferences, psychologi-
cal needs, and intrinsic motivation.

However, teacher autonomy support may not alone foster Indian
immi-
grant adolescents’ intrinsic motivation. Teacher autonomy
support may need to
be supplemented with parental autonomy support. Unlike
controlling parenting,
autonomy-supportive parenting—promotion of children’s
volitional functioning
(Soenens et al., 2007)—is associated with more positive
psychological, develop-
mental, and educational outcomes in adolescents, including
improved academic
achievement (Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2005), greater academic
motivation, and
higher levels of subjective well-being (Chirkov & Ryan, 2001).
The benefits of parental autonomy support underscore the need
for develop-
ing and promoting autonomy-supportive behaviours toward their
children among
the Indian immigrant parents. Autonomy-supportive parenting
behaviours may
include, among others, taking children’s perspectives and
viewpoints, encourag-
ing and supporting children’s initiatives and autonomous
problem solving, and
offering children choices (Grolnick, 2009). Parent training
programs/parenting in-
terventions based on SDT may help parents to become more
autonomy-supportive
(Joussemet, Landry & Koestner, 2008). As well, prior research
demonstrates that
parenting interventions emphasizing autonomy support have led
to considerable
improvements in familial climate and parenting practices

(Fetsch & Gebeke, 1995).
Hence, it is imperative to design such parenting interventions
targeted at fostering
autonomy-supportive parenting, which, in turn, may enhance
students’ intrinsic
motivation.
The findings of the study also indicated that extrinsic
motivation was related
negatively to mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant
adolescents in
Canada. The negative association between extrinsic motivation
and academic
achievement is very well documented in the burgeoning
literature on extrinsic
motivation (e.g., Becker et al., 2010). The finding with regard
to the negative
association between extrinsic motivation and mathematics
achievement reiterates
the need for teachers and parents to support students’ autonomy.
As Reeve (2009)
contends,
When students learn out of curiosity and the desire for optimal
challenge, they are
more engaged in and satisfied with their learning. They further
better understand
the material they are trying to learn and are more likely to stay
in school. (p. 172)
Unlike the Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada, intrinsic
motivation and
extrinsic motivation were not predictive of mathematics
achievement for the Indian
adolescents in India. In other words, academic motivation—
intrinsic motivation

and extrinsic motivation—was not linked to mathematics
achievement among
Indian adolescents in India. This finding may challenge the
cross-cultural/national
generalizability of SDT. Although the proponents of SDT
propound the universal
role of motivational autonomy in human functioning and
academic learning (see
Chirkov, 2009), the critics of SDT posit that SDT constructs
such as autonomy and
autonomy-support are the products of individualist cultures, but
are not important
in collectivist cultures (see Cross & Gore, 2003). Furthermore,
there is growing
evidence that “choice is nonessential to agency among
collectivist populations,
who place a strong emphasis on role obligations to family and
friends” (Miller,
Das, & Chakravarthy, 2011, p. 47). As Miller (2003) further
elaborates,
The tendency of members of collectivist cultures to act
consciously from a sense
of duty suggests that they have less fully internalized social
expectations than
have members of individualistic cultures. They then would be
anticipated to have
a less developed sense of agency and, in general, to experience
less satisfaction
than do members of individualistic cultures who view their
actions as more freely

chosen. (p. 66)
Vast bodies of research have also documented that Indians are
less likely than
North Americans to construe actions as choices (see Miller,
1994; Savani, Markus,
& Conner, 2008; Savani et al., 2010). Thus, the types of
academic motivation
embraced by SDT may not be valid in collectivist cultures, such
as India, where
preferences and choices are not tightly linked (Savani et al.,
2008, 2010).
Limitations
There are three limitations to the current study. First, the study
used self-
report measures to assess Indian immigrant and Indian
adolescents’ mathematics
achievement and academic motivation. There is no consensus
among researchers
as to the validity and reliability of self-report measures.
Second, the study did
not collect data with regard to Indian immigrant and Indian
adolescents’ family
income, parental education, parental occupational status, and
Indian immigrant
adolescents’ age on arrival in Canada. The exclusion of these
confounding vari-
ables may have inflated the parameter estimates. Finally, in
addition to differences
in student characteristics, secondary schools in India and
Canada may vary widely
in terms of classroom, teacher, and school characteristics. The
present study, how-
ever, did not take into account such variations in classroom,

teacher, and school
characteristics.
Despite these limitations, the conspicuous lack of knowledge on
the academic
trajectories of Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada and
India makes it imperative to conduct studies similar to the
present one. Further-
more, in the era of globalization and multiculturalism, it is of
utmost importance
to examine the influence of psycho-educational constructs, such
as academic mo-
tivation, on academic achievement of children and youth across
cultures. A better
and deeper understanding of the academic trajectories of
children and youth across
cultures may enable educators to develop appropriate strategies
to properly engage
them in academic learning, which, in turn, may promote their
academic success.
Areepattamannil 259
AUTHOR NOTE
Shaljan Areepattamannil, PhD, is an assistant professor at the
National In-
stitute of Education, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. His research
interests primarily revolve around psychosocial correlates and
antecedents of stu-
dent engagement and achievement across cultures.

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Original manuscript received June 26, 2013
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Reciprocal relations between intrinsic
reading motivation and reading
competence: A comparison between
native and immigrant students in
Germany
Ai Miyamoto
Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS),
University of Bamberg,
Bamberg, Germany
Maximilian Pfost
Department of Educational Research, University of Bamberg,
Bamberg, Germany
Cordula Artelt
Department of Educational Research, University of Bamberg,
Bamberg, Germany
The present study compares native and immigrant students
regarding the direction and
the strength of the relation between intrinsic reading motivation
and reading
competence. Within the framework of the German National
Educational Panel Study,
4,619 secondary school students were included in the analyses.

The present study
confirmed the reciprocal cross-lagged effects between intrinsic
reading motivation
and reading competence from grades 5 to 7 for native students.
In addition, the effect
of grade 5 intrinsic reading motivation on grade 7 reading
competence was mediated
by grade 6 reading amount. However, for immigrant students,
although the cross-
lagged effect of grade 5 reading competence on grade 7 intrinsic
reading motivation
was significant, the reverse effect was not significant. The
present findings suggest
that intrinsic reading motivation seems to be essential for the
development of reading
achievement for native students whereas it seems to be of less
importance for
immigrant students.
Highlights
What is already known about this topic?
• Intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence are
significantly and
positively correlated with each other.
• The relation between intrinsic reading motivation and reading
competence is
mediated by reading amount.
Copyright © 2017 UKLA. Published by John Wiley & Sons
Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ,
UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
Journal of Research in Reading, ISSN 0141-0423

DOI:10.1111/1467-9817.12113
Volume 41, Issue 1, 2018, pp 176–196
• In comparison to native students, immigrant students show
lower reading
competence despite comparable or even higher levels of reading
motivation.
What this paper adds
• Empirical evidence on the reciprocal effects between intrinsic
reading
motivation and reading competence.
• Empirical support for the significant indirect effect of
intrinsic reading
motivation on reading competence through reading amount
using longitudinal
data.
• Students’ immigration status moderates the direction and the
strength of the
relation between intrinsic reading motivation and reading
competence.
Implications for theory, policy, or practice
• Increase in reading competence seems to lead to higher levels
of intrinsic
reading motivation regardless of students’ immigration
background.
• Promoting students’ intrinsic reading motivation seems to lead
to better

reading competence for native students but not for immigrant
students.
• Especially with regard to immigrant students, educators should
take the
availability of adequate reading opportunities into account.
Reading motivation has been defined as ‘the individual’s
personal goals, values, and
beliefs with regard to the topics, processes, and outcomes of
reading’ (Guthrie & Wigfield,
2000, p.405). Reading motivation is suggested to be a
multidimensional construct which is
composed of different aspects including intrinsic and extrinsic
reading motivation
(Wigfield, 1997). Intrinsic reading motivation is defined as
individuals’ disposition to read
because the process of reading is rewarding and satisfying in
itself (Schiefele, Schaffner,
Möller, & Wigfield, 2012). In comparison, extrinsic reading
motivation is created when
individuals read for incentives that are external to the reading
activity such as reading for
recognition or grades (Schiefele et al., 2012). Extrinsic reading
motivation also contains
instrumental motives for reading such as influences from
parents, schools, or peers
(Becker, McElvany, & Kortenbruck, 2010).
Previous research has consistently shown that students’ intrinsic
reading motivation is
positively related to reading competence. This is found to be
true even after taking into
account students’ reasoning ability, decoding speed, prior
reading achievement, gender,
and family background (Andreassen & Bråten, 2010; Guthrie et

al., 2007; Retelsdorf,
Köller, & Möller, 2011; Schaffner, Philipp, & Schiefele, 2014;
Wang & Guthrie, 2004).
Despite strong empirical evidence for the positive association
between intrinsic reading
motivation and reading competence, most of the evidence is
based on correlational studies.
Thus, the causal direction of the relation between intrinsic
competence still remains a topic of discussion.
Moreover, previous studies have consistently shown that
immigrant students tend to
underachieve compared to native students in reading in
Germany (Kigel, McElvany, &
Becker, 2015; Stanat & Christensen, 2006). Thus, it is highly
relevant for current research
to better understand the nature of the relation between intrinsic
reading motivation and
reading competence especially for immigrant students. Taken
together, the purpose of
the present study is to investigate the relation between intrinsic
reading motivation and
reading competence from a longitudinal perspective in a sample
of native and immigrant
students in Germany.
READING MOTIVATION AND READING COMPETENCE 177
Copyright © 2017 UKLA
The direction of the relation between intrinsic reading
motivation and reading competence

Previous research suggests three theoretical models for the
direction of the relation between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence: the self-
enhancement model, the
skill-development model, and the reciprocal effects model
(Calsyn & Kenny, 1977; Guay,
Marsh, & Boivin, 2003). The self-enhancement model suggests
that intrinsic reading
motivation is a precursor of reading competence. Intrinsically
motivated readers tend to
improve their reading competence by spending more time on
reading, using more complex
reading strategies, and preferring to read more challenging texts
(Schiefele et al., 2012).
Empirical support for the self-enhancement model is provided
by Guthrie et al. (2007)
who investigated reciprocal effects between intrinsic reading
motivation and reading
competence over a 3-month period in a sample of fourth grade
students. They found a
significant effect of indicators of intrinsic reading motivation
(interest in reading,
preference for choice, and involvement) on reading competence
growth, but they did not
obtain a significant effect of reading competence on growth in
reading motivation.
Moreover, Retelsdorf et al. (2011) found that indicators of
intrinsic reading motivation
(particularly reading for interest) significantly predicted reading
comprehension growth
from grades 5 to 8 even after controlling for cognitive skills,
family characteristics, and
demographic variables. However, Retelsdorf et al. (2011) did
not examine the reverse
effects of reading comprehension on reading motivation.

In contrast to the self-enhancement model, the skill-
development model (Calsyn &
Kenny, 1977; Guay et al., 2003) indicates that intrinsic reading
motivation is a
consequence of reading competence. Students with better
reading skills may experience
more positive emotions while reading (e.g., enjoyment) due to
better understanding of a
text, and this could increase their intrinsic reading motivation.
In contrast, students with
poor reading skills may feel more negative emotions (e.g.,
frustration), and this could
decrease their intrinsic reading motivation.
The skill development model is supported by Becker et al.
(2010) who showed that
although grade 3 reading competence significantly predicted
grade 4 intrinsic reading
motivation, grade 4 intrinsic reading motivation did not
significantly contribute to grade
6 reading competence. However, Becker et al. (2010) also
mentioned that due to the high
stability of reading competence from grades 3 to 6 in their
study, it cannot be strictly
concluded that intrinsic reading motivation has no effect on
reading competence.
Finally, in order to reconcile the self-enhancement model with
the skill-development
model, the reciprocal effects model (Guay et al., 2003) proposes
that intrinsic reading
motivation is an antecedent as well as a result of reading
competence. Although from a
theoretical and empirical perspective, the reciprocal-effects
model seems to be the most

convincing (Morgan & Fuchs, 2007), only a few longitudinal
studies (McElvany,
Kortenbruck, & Becker, 2008; Schaffner et al., 2014; Schiefele,
Stutz, & Schaffner,
2016) have provided empirical support for this model.
In a sample of second and third graders, Schiefele et al. (2016)
observed reciprocal
cross-lagged effects between an indicator of intrinsic reading
motivation (reading
involvement) and reading comprehension at the word and
sentence levels. However,
although the cross-lagged effect of reading comprehension at
the passage level on intrinsic
reading motivation was significant, the reverse cross-lagged
effect was not found to be
significant. McElvany et al. (2008) also observed reciprocal
cross-lagged effects between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading comprehension from
grades 3 to 4. However, from
grades 4 to 6, they obtained neither a significant effect of
intrinsic reading motivation on
178 MIYAMOTO, PFOST & ARTELT
reading competence nor a significant effect of reading
competence on intrinsic reading
motivation. Furthermore, McElvany, Becker, and Lüdtke
(2009), who analysed the same
data set as McElvany et al. (2008), also did not find a
significant effect of grade 4 intrinsic
reading motivation on grade 6 reading comprehension even after

accounting for
vocabulary, reading amount, and various family background
characteristics. Finally,
Schaffner et al. (2014) observed reciprocal effects between
and reading competence from grades 5 to 6 for students from
academic track schools,
but not for students from nonacademic track schools.
Reading amount as a mediator
In order to investigate the direction of the relation between
and reading competence, it is also important to consider
possible mediating processes
of this relation. Reading amount, often measured by frequencies
of reading, is found to
explain the effect of intrinsic reading motivation on reading
competence (Schaffner,
Schiefele, & Ulferts, 2013; Stutz, Schaffner, & Schiefele,
2016). The mechanism of
how intrinsically motivated students tend to improve their
reading comprehension
through an increased amount of reading involves the following
steps. First, intrinsically
motivated readers tend to genuinely enjoy reading because it is
rewarding and satisfying
in itself (Schiefele et al., 2012). Second, readers’ positive
emotions experienced during
the reading processes may reinforce them to seek more reading
activities in the future.
This assumption is also empirically confirmed that readers with
higher intrinsic reading
motivation tend to read more often than readers with lower
(Guthrie, Wigfield, Metsala, & Cox, 1999; Wigfield & Guthrie,

1997). Finally, students
who spend more time on reading for pleasure tend to become
more competent readers
(Pfost, Dörfler, & Artelt, 2010). This may be due to an increase
in readers’ prior
knowledge of text topics which is found to be a strong predictor
of reading competence
(Artelt, Schiefele, & Schneider, 2001; Guthrie et al., 1999), or
because of the
automatisation of basic reading skills (e.g., decoding speed,
comprehension strategies,
and metacognition) that are also shown to facilitate reading
comprehension (Andreassen
& Bråten, 2010; Artelt et al., 2001).
However, previous studies which have examined the mediating
role of reading amount
seem to show inconsistent results. In a sample of elementary
school children (grades 2
to 5), some studies have found mediation effects of reading
amount on the relation between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading comprehension
(Schaffner et al., 2013; Stutz et al.,
2016) while others have not (De Naeghel, Van Keer,
Vansteenkiste, & Rosseel, 2012;
Wang & Guthrie, 2004). In these studies, although intrinsic
reading motivation was related
to reading amount, the reading amount did not significantly
contribute to reading
competence (De Naeghel et al., 2012; Wang & Guthrie, 2004).
Until this time, only a few longitudinal studies (Becker et al.,
2010; McElvany et al.,
2008; Schaffner & Schiefele, 2016) have examined indirect
effects of intrinsic reading
motivation on reading competence through reading amount.

Schaffner and Schiefele
(2016) investigated effects of intrinsic reading motivation on
the word and sentence level
comprehension before and after 6 weeks of summer vacation in
a sample of third graders.
Their results revealed that the effect of intrinsic reading
motivation on the post-vacation
reading comprehension was mediated by reading amount when
controlling for the
pre-vacation reading comprehension.
McElvany et al. (2008) investigated mutual relations among
intrinsic reading
motivation, reading amount, and reading comprehension from
grades 3 to 6. They found
a significant but small indirect effect of grade 3 intrinsic
reading motivation on grade 6
reading comprehension through grade 4 reading amount (β =
.02, p < .05). Using the
same data set as McElvany et al. (2008), Becker et al. (2010)
also observed a significant
indirect effect of grade 4 intrinsic reading motivation on grade
6 reading comprehension
through grade 4 reading amount. However, this indirect effect
disappeared when extrinsic
reading motivation and grade 3 reading achievement were added
to the model. Although
grade 4 intrinsic reading motivation positively and substantially
predicted grade 4 reading
amount, this reading amount did not significantly contribute to

grade 6 reading
competence.
The results of Becker et al. (2010) may differ from that of
McElvany et al. (2008)
possibly because of the inclusion of extrinsic reading
motivation and the different measures
used for intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence.
In addition, although
McElvany et al. (2008) included all relevant variables in grades
3, 4, and 6, Becker et al.
(2010) included intrinsic reading motivation and reading
amount only in grade 4 and
reading competence in grades 3 and 6.
Theoretically, it is plausible to assume that intrinsically
motivated students tend to read
more often, and their frequent reading behaviour leads to better
reading competence.
However, the previous studies seem to show mixed results.
These inconsistent results
may be due to the mostly cross-sectional nature of the studies.
Moreover, the introduction
of potential moderators might help clarify these inconsistent
relationships.
The role of students’ immigration background as a moderator
In spite of the strong empirical support for the relation between
and reading competence, a moderating role of various students’
background variables on
this relation is not well understood (Schaffner et al., 2014).
Specifically, in Germany,
students’ immigration background seems to play an important
role in predicting their

reading competence as immigrant students tend to show
significantly lower reading
achievement than their native peers (Kigel et al., 2015; Stanat &
Christensen, 2006).
According to the PISA framework (OECD, 2010), 15-year-old
immigrant students lag
more than 50 score points on average in reading achievement
behind native students in
Germany. Such native–immigrant achievement gap in Germany
can be largely explained
by socio-economic status, educational levels of parents, and
languages spoken at home
(Marx & Stanat, 2012). However, even when taking into account
socio-economic status
and cultural capital, the negative effect of students’ immigration
status on text
comprehension and vocabulary was found to remain significant
(Kigel et al., 2015).
Despite lower reading achievement, immigrant students in
Germany tend to have similar
or even higher intrinsic reading motivation than native students.
Kigel et al. (2015) showed
that native and immigrant students did not significantly differ in
the levels of intrinsic
reading motivation. In addition, students’ immigration status
positively predicted intrinsic
reading motivation in grades 4 and 6 when taking into account
prior motivation,
vocabulary, and text comprehension. Moreover, Villiger,
Wandeler, and Niggli (2014)
found that students’ immigration status was either uncorrelated
or positively correlated
with indicators of intrinsic reading motivation (reading
enjoyment and reading curiosity)

in a sample of German-speaking students in Switzerland.
Immigrant students’ similar or even higher levels of motivation
despite their lower
achievement in comparison to native students, sometimes called
the aspiration–
achievement paradox (Salikutluk, 2016), can be explained by
the immigrant optimism
hypothesis (Kao & Tienda, 1995). In line with this hypothesis,
immigrants often move to
other countries with the aim of socio-economic improvement,
and they seem to perceive
their child education as the key to their upward mobility. For
instance, parents of Turkish
origin in Germany reported that they wish their children to
obtain opportunities for better
future outcomes through attaining higher educational
qualifications (Relikowski, Yilmaz,
& Blossfeld, 2012). Compared to native parents, immigrant
parents tend to possess
significantly higher educational expectations for their children.
Higher parental educational
expectations often go along with children’s positive learning
attitudes such as high levels of
reading motivation (Villiger et al., 2014).
Although many studies have examined differences in reading
achievement at mean-levels, no studies to authors’ knowledge
so far have directly

examined the differences in the relation of these variables
between native and immigrant
students in a German context. However, it is highly relevant for
current research to draw
attention to students’ immigration background when examining
the relation between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence due to its
high practical relevance
for curricula aiming to strengthen reading skills of immigrant
students.
The present study
The present study intends to answer the following research
questions: 1) Do intrinsic
reading motivation and reading competence have reciprocal
effects on each other? 2) Is
the effect of intrinsic reading motivation on reading competence
mediated by reading
amount? 3) Do native and immigrant students differ in the
direction and the strength of
the relation between intrinsic reading motivation and reading
competence? As a reciprocal
relation between intrinsic reading motivation and reading
competence is most likely
(Morgan & Fuchs, 2007), we hypothesised that intrinsic reading
competence will significantly predict each other from grades 5
to 7. In addition, consistent
with previous research (e.g., Stutz et al., 2016), we also
hypothesised that the effect of
grade 5 intrinsic reading motivation on grade 7 reading
competence will be significantly
mediated by grade 6 reading amount.
Furthermore, we expect significant and positive reciprocal
effects between intrinsic

reading motivation and reading competence for both native and
immigrant students. We
also expect a significant positive indirect effect of intrinsic
reading motivation on reading
competence through reading amount for both native and
immigrant students. This is due
to the assumption that the psychological and behavioural
mechanisms of how intrinsic
reading motivation and reading competence influence each other
should not be different
for native and immigrant students.
The present study also takes into account the types of school
track as a control variable.
In Germany, school tracks can be largely divided into either an
academic track which
typically prepares students for higher education, or a
nonacademic track which emphasises
more on practical education and vocational training. Of
secondary school students in
Germany, 34.2% enroll in academic track schools whereas the
remaining students attend
nonacademic track schools (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2016).
In previous research, school tracks have been found to moderate
the relation between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence. Schaffner
et al. (2014) investigated

the influence of different track schools on the reciprocal
relations between intrinsic reading
motivation and reading competence from grades 5 to 6. Their
results revealed that
significant reciprocal relations between intrinsic reading
competence were observed only for academic track students.
Neither intrinsic reading
motivation nor reading competence significantly predicted each
other for nonacademic
track students. Hence, it is crucial to consider the possibility
that the strength of relations
between intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence
may significantly differ
between different school tracks. As immigrant students are less
likely to attend academic
track schools and are instead largely concentrated in
nonacademic track schools
compared to their native peers in Germany (Autorengruppe
Bildungsberichterstattung,
2010), students’ immigration status may confound with the
types of school track. Thus,
it is necessary to separate the effect of school tracks from the
effect of students’
immigration background on the relation between intrinsic
competence.
Method
Data and sample
The analyses of the present study used data from the German
National Educational Panel
Study (NEPS), Starting Cohort Grade 5.1 The NEPS is a
framework with a multi-cohort

longitudinal design, and their goal is to examine educational
processes and outcomes in
different developmental stages of a life course (Blossfeld,
Roßbach, & von Maurice,
2011). The sampling procedure of the participants includes the
following steps. First,
regular schools at lower secondary level were randomly
sampled. Then, grade 5 classes
within the selected schools were randomly chosen. Finally, two
classes were selected per
school, and all students of selected classes were invited to
participate in the study. This
sampling procedure ensured that the sample is representative of
secondary regular school
children in Germany.
Participants were asked to fill out the questionnaires and take
various competence tests.
The main sample of students (n = 4,619) were tested at three
time points: in the beginning
of grade 5 in 2010 (T1), in the beginning of grade 6 in 2011
(T2), and in the beginning of
grade 7 in 2012 (T3). At T3, in addition to the main sample,
more than 2,000 participants
were newly recruited to participate in the study as a refreshment
sample. However, this
sample was not included in our analyses as students in this
sample did not participate in
the study at T1 and T2. The average age of the main sample was
M = 10.50 (SD = .62)
years at T1, M = 11.48 (SD = .60) years at T2, and M = 12.59
(SD = .67) years at T3. Males
were slightly over represented within our sample (51.6%)
Students’ immigration background was defined based on the
birthplaces of students and

their parents. Students were asked to indicate their own and
their parents’ countries of
birth. The countries of birth were then coded as either Germany
or other countries. When
a student was born in Germany and he/she has at least one
parent who was also born in
Germany, he/she was categorised as native students (coded as
0). When a student was born
outside of Germany (first generation immigrants), he/she was
grouped as immigrant
students (coded as 1). When a student was born in Germany but
both of his/her parents
were born outside of Germany (second generation immigrants),
he/she was also grouped
as immigrant students (coded as 1).
We considered first and second generation students as
immigrant students because
previous research including the PISA framework (e.g., OECD,
2010) consistently suggests
that these groups of students seem to be significantly
disadvantaged in reading
achievement compared to students of native-born parents. Thus,
it was important to draw
attention to these groups of students in our study. In total, our
analyses focused on data
of 3,907 native students and 712 immigrant students. In our
sample, immigrant students
tend to have lower educated parents than native students as
immigrant parents had shorter

education years (M = 12.27, SD = 2.53) than native parents (M
= 14.19, SD = 2.22). Of
immigrant students, 46.3% spoke only or mostly non-German
languages at home.
Instruments
Intrinsic reading motivation. Intrinsic reading motivation was
measured with five items
taken from the reading enjoyment and reading for interest
subscales of the Habitual
Reading Motivation Questionnaire (Möller & Bonerad, 2007), a
German adaptation of
the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ). The selection
of these items was based
on the decisions of experts in the NEPS core team. In the
selection processes, the experts
aimed to cover the breadth of the construct by eliminating the
items which share similar
aspects. Some items were also removed if they were location
specific (e.g., at school or
at home) in order to address the construct in a general context.
Furthermore, to measure
the construct across a wide range of age groups, the length and
the linguistic level of the
items were also taken into account.
The selected items include the following statements: 1) ‘I enjoy
reading books’, 2) ‘I
think that reading is interesting’, 3) ‘I like reading about new
things’, 4) ‘I am convinced
that I can learn a lot by reading’, and 5) ‘Reading is important
to understand things right’.
All items were answered on a four-point rating scale from 1 (do
not agree at all) to 4
(completely agree). The higher scores indicated higher intrinsic

reading motivation. One
item (‘If I had enough time, I would read even more’) was
removed from the scale as it
may confound with the measure of reading amount. Intrinsic
reading motivation was
measured at T1 (grade 5) and at T3 (grade 7). Reliabilities of
the scale were good for native
students (ω = .86, α = .88 at T1; ω = .88, α = .89 at T3) and for
immigrant students
(ω = .87, α = .89 at T1; ω = .88, α = .90 at T3).
Reading competence. The reading comprehension test
administered in the NEPS is intended
to measure the functional understanding of written texts in a
typical everyday situation. This
concept of reading competence is also in line with the reading
literacy concept of the PISA
framework, that is, ‘the capacity to understand, use and reflect
on written texts, in order to
achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and potential,
and to participate in society’
(OECD, 2002). Various text comprehension theories (e.g.,
Kintsch, 1998) were taken into
account by the NEPS framework for assessing reading
comprehension (see Gehrer,
Zimmermann, Artelt, & Weinert, 2013, for more information on
theoretical considerations
for the test). The NEPS also meets the demand for constructing
a reading competence test
that measures the same construct across all age groups (Gehrer
et al., 2013).
The measurement invariance was checked across various
subgroups (e.g., gender,
socioeconomic status, and immigration background) in order to
make sure that the test

captures the same construct regardless of students’ various
demographic characteristics.
First, differential item functioning (DIF) was calculated based
on a multi-group IRT model,
in which main effects of the subgroups and differential effects
of the subgroups on item
difficulty were estimated. Following this, the differences in the
estimated item difficulties
between the subgroups were assessed. Finally, the model fit was
examined by comparing
the models with and without the DIF (Pohl, Haberkorn, Hardt,
& Wiegand, 2012).
The test consisted of five types of continuous texts with
approximately 200 to 550 words
each (i.e., informational, commenting or augmenting, literacy,
instructional, and advertising
texts). Each text involved three kinds of comprehension tasks
including finding information
in texts, drawing text-related conclusions, and reflecting and
assessing an overall message
of a text. The majority of tasks used a multiple-choice format
whereas some tasks used a
decision-making or a matching format. Decision-making tasks
required students to assess
whether each statement was correct or incorrect, whereas
matching tasks involved selecting
and assigning titles to different sections of a text (see Gehrer,
Zimmermann, Artelt, &

Weinert, 2012, for more detailed descriptions and sample items
of the test).
The test was administered at T1 (grade 5) and T3 (grade 7). It
consisted of 32 items at T1
and 40 items at T3. The measurement invariance of the
competence scores from two
occasions was supported, and the test was linked in order to
allow a direct comparison
of the competence scores across time (Fischer, Rohm, Gnambs,
& Carstensen, 2016). At
T3, respondents were administered different test versions
depending on their scores at
T1. Low-ability respondents received a test with less difficult
items, whereas high-ability
respondents received a test with more difficult items. Students’
reading comprehension
scores were provided in the form of weighted maximum
likelihood estimates (WLEs).
The use of WLE score over sum/average score is highly
recommended by the NEPS
psychometricians as it takes into account the difficulties of each
item. According to the
NEPS technical report (Pohl et al., 2012), reliabilities of the
test were satisfactory at T1
(WLE reliability = .77) and at T3 (WLE reliability = .78 for the
low-ability test, and .76
for the high-ability test).
Reading amount. Reading amount was measured with a single
item asking how much time
per day students normally read outside school. This self-
reported question was answered
with five options (1 = not at all, 2 = up to half an hour, 3 =
between half an hour and
1 h, 4 = 1 to 2 h, and 5 = more than 2 h). In the NEPS, reading

amount was measured
at three time points. The test–retest reliability of this single
item scale was sufficient
(.48 from T1 to T2, and .53 from grades T2 to T3).
Control variable: types of school track. Students were asked
whether they attended
academic track schools which prepare students for higher
education, or nonacademic track
schools which emphasise on vocational training. In total, 1,880
native and 284 immigrant
students attended academic track schools whereas 1,213 native
and 289 immigrant students
attended nonacademic track schools. The remaining students
who attended neither
academic nor nonacademic track schools (e.g., comprehensive
schools) were excluded
from the analyses.
Statistical analyses
Prior to the multi-group analyses of structural equation models,
measurement invariance
tests were conducted across time and groups for intrinsic
reading motivation. Then, we
estimated a multi-group cross-lagged panel model for testing
the reciprocal relations
between intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence.
In this model, intrinsic

reading motivation in grades 5 and 7 were represented as latent
variables, while reading
competence in grades 5 and 7 were treated as manifest
variables. Furthermore, we specified
a multi-group structural equation model for testing indirect
effects of grade 5 intrinsic
reading motivation on grade 7 reading competence through
grade 6 reading amount while
controlling for grade 5 reading competence. In this model,
reading amount was added as a
manifest variable.
First, all path coefficients of these models were compared
between native and immigrant
students. Then, in order to take into account the types of school
track as a potentially
confounding variable, we compared the following four groups
of students: 1 = native
students in nonacademic track schools, 2 = immigrant students
in nonacademic track
schools, 3 = native students in academic track schools, and 4 =
immigrant students in
academic track schools.
In order to examine whether each observed effect was
significantly different between
groups, we compared an initial model in which each observed
effect was freely estimated
and a model which constrained each effect to be equal between
groups. Then, we
conducted a chi-square different test to see whether these two
models were significantly
different from each other. If the initial model was significantly
better than the constrained
model, we concluded that the observed effect was significantly
different between groups.

All models were estimated with the maximum likelihood
estimation using the lavaan
package of program R 3.2.1 (Rosseel, 2012). The average rate
of missing values per
variable was 10.82%. All missing values were dealt with the
full information maximum
likelihood (FIML) method option in lavaan.
Results
Descriptive statistics
Table 1 represents means and standard deviations of all relevant
variables of native and
immigrant students. Both groups of students did not
significantly differ in the levels of
intrinsic reading motivation in grades 5 and 7. Native students
significantly outperformed
immigrant students in reading competence in grades 5 and 7.
There were moderate to large
effects of the differences in students’ immigration background
on reading competence.
Table 1. Mean values and standard deviations of all variables
for native and immigrant students.
Total (n = 4619) Native (n = 3907) Immigrant (n = 712) Effect
size
Variables Min Max M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) d
IRM (G5) 1.00 4.00 3.15 (0.78) 3.15 (0.77) 3.15 (0.79) .00
IRM (G7) 1.00 4.00 2.80 (0.82) 2.81 (0.82) 2.75 (0.86) .07
RA (G6) 1.00 5.00 3.09 (1.42) 3.13 (1.41) 2.91 (1.45)** .15

RC (G5) �4.59 4.07 0.04 (1.26) 0.14 (1.25) �0.56 (1.14)** .56
RC (G7) �3.52 5.75 0.74 (1.37) 0.84 (1.35) 0.21 (1.35)** .47
Note. Native = native students. Immigrant = immigrant students.
IRM = intrinsic reading motivation. RA = reading
amount. RC = reading competence. G5 = grade 5. G6 = grade 6.
G7 = grade 7.
**Significantly different from native students at p < .01.
Finally, immigrant students read significantly less frequently
compared to native students.
There was a small effect of the differences in students’
immigration status on reading
amount.
Inter-correlations among all variables for native and immigrant
students are indicated in
Table 2. Attending upper track schools was significantly and
positively associated with
intrinsic reading motivation, reading amount, and reading
competence from grades 5 to 7
for native and immigrant students. Students in more
academically advanced school tracks
seem to have higher intrinsic reading motivation, reading
amount, and reading competence
than those in less advanced school tracks regardless of students’
immigration status.
Furthermore, intrinsic reading motivation, reading amount, and
reading competence were
significantly and positively correlated with each other for both

native and immigrant
students.
Measurement invariance testing
Prior to the analyses, we conducted measurement invariance
tests of intrinsic reading
motivation across time (grade 5 and grade 7) and groups (native
and immigrant students).
Given that the purpose of the present study is to directly
compare path coefficients across
groups, the assumption of the least restricted model (configural
invariance) and the
second least restricted model (metric invariance) have to be met
(Milfont & Fischer,
2010).
Fit indices of the configural invariance model were satisfactory
across time (χ2 = 135.81,
df = 8, p = .000, CFI = .997, RMSEA = .062) and groups (χ2 =
753.96, df = 60, p = .000,
CFI = .975, RMSEA = .071). Thus, the general factor structure
of intrinsic reading
motivation was considered to be the same across time and
groups. Fit indices of the metric
invariance model were also good across time (χ2 = 233.58, df =
12, p = .000, CFI = .994,
RMSEA = .066) and groups (χ2 = 764.27, df = 68, p = .000, CFI
= .974, RMSEA = .067).
In addition, the imposition of constraints of factor loadings did
not significantly deteriorate
the approximation of the data across time (ΔCFI = .003,
ΔRMSEA = � .004) and groups
(ΔCFI = .001, ΔRMSEA = .004). Thus, all path coefficients in
the models can be compared
across time and groups.

Table 2. Inter-correlations of all variables for native and
immigrant students.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
(1) School —
(2) IRM (G5) .19 / .22 —
(3) IRM (G7) .16 / .20 .47 / .44 —
(4) RA (G6) .21 / .16 .39 / .33 .48 / .36 —
(5) RC (G5) .38 / .47 .25 / .22 .30 / .31 .32 / .29 —
(6) RC (G7) .43 / .52 .25 / .17 .37 / .31 .35 / .29 .60 / .64
Note. First correlation refers to native students, and second
correlation refers to immigrant students. School = types
of school track. IRM = intrinsic reading motivation. RA =
reading amount. RC = reading competence. G5 = grade
5. G6 = grade 6. G7 = grade 7. All correlations were
statistically significant at p < .01.
Reciprocal relations between intrinsic reading motivation and
reading competence
The estimated multi-group cross-lagged panel model showed a
good fit ( χ2 = 1,075.25,

df = 100, p = .000, CFI = .967, RMSEA = .065, SRMR = .046).
The results of all
standardised path coefficients for the model can be found in
Figure 1. Consistent with
our hypothesis, we observed significant and positive cross-
lagged effects of grade 5
reading competence on grade 7 intrinsic reading motivation for
both native ( β = .19,
p < .01) and immigrant students ( β = .22, p < .01). As expected,
there was also a
significant positive cross-lagged effect of grade 5 intrinsic
reading motivation on grade 7
reading competence for native students ( β = .13, p < .01).
However, contrary to our
hypothesis, the effect of grade 5 intrinsic reading motivation on
grade 7 reading
competence was not significant for immigrant students ( β =
.02, p > .05). This effect
was also found to be significantly weaker for immigrant
students than for native students
(Δχ2 = 7.26, df = 1, p < .01).
A mediating role of reading amount
The specified mediation model showed a good fit ( χ2 = 374.14,
df = 36, p = .000,
CFI = .979, RMSEA = .064, SRMR = .039). The results of all
path coefficients for the
model are presented in Figure 2. As expected, the effect of
motivation on grade 6 reading amount was significant for both
native ( β = .45, p < .01)
and immigrant students ( β = .38, p < .01). Furthermore, as
hypothesised, the effect of
grade 6 reading amount on grade 7 reading competence was
significant for both native

( β = .18, p < .01) and immigrant students ( β = .10, p < .01).
However, this effect was
found to be significantly lower for immigrant students than for
native students (Δχ2 = 4.64,
df = 1, p < .05). In addition, both groups had significant
indirect effects of grade 5 intrinsic
Figure 1. Multi-group cross-lagged panel model analysis
(standardised path coefficients β). For each path, the
first coefficient refers to native students, and the second
coefficient refers to immigrant students. IRM = intrinsic
reading motivation. RC = reading competence. *p < .05; **p <
.01.
reading motivation on grade 7 reading competence through
grade 6 reading amount. This
indirect effect was also found to be significantly lower for
immigrant students ( β = .04,
p < .01) than for native students ( β = .08, p < .01, Δχ2 = 7.78,
df = 2, p < .05).
The influence of academic or nonacademic track schools
In order to exclude the influence of school tracks on the tested
models, we replicated and
compared the models among the following four groups: 1)
native students in nonacademic
track schools, 2) immigrant students in nonacademic track
schools, 3) native students in
academic track schools, and 4) immigrant students in academic

track schools. The multi-
group cross-lagged panel model showed a good fit ( χ2 =
980.34, df = 208, p = .000,
path coefficients for this
model are presented in Figure 3.
The cross-lagged effects of grade 5 reading competence on
motivation was significant and positive for native and
immigrant students in academic track
schools ( β = .16, p < .01; β = .21, p < .01, respectively) as well
as in nonacademic track
schools ( β = .16, p < .01; β = .15, p < .05, respectively).
However, the cross-lagged effect
of grade 5 intrinsic reading motivation on grade 7 reading
competence was found to be
significant only for the native group and not for the immigrant
group. This was true for
both academic track schools ( β = .10, p < .01 for native
students; β = �.03, p > .05 for
immigrant students) and nonacademic track schools ( β = .14, p
< .01 for native students;
β = .01, p > .05 for immigrant students). Furthermore, this
effect was found to be
significantly lower for immigrant students than for native
students in nonacademic track
schools (Δχ2 = 3.96, df = 1, p < .05).
The multi-group mediation model showed a good fit ( χ2 =
332.65, df = 76, p = .000,
path coefficients for the
model are presented in Figure 4. Grade 5 intrinsic reading
motivation had significant
positive effects on grade 6 reading amount for native and

immigrant students regardless
of their track schools (academic: β = .44, p < .01; β = .36, p <
.01, respectively;
Figure 2. Multi-group structural equation model analysis
(standardised path coefficients β). For each path, the first
coefficient refers to native students, and the second coefficient
refers to immigrant students. IRM = intrinsic
reading motivation. RA = reading amount. RC = reading
competence. *p < .05; **p < .01. The effects of previous
reading competence (grade 5) were controlled for the model.
nonacademic: β = .38, p < .01; β = .35, p < .01, respectively).
Moreover, grade 6 reading
amount had significant positive effects on grade 7 reading
competence for native and
immigrant students in academic track schools ( β = .16, p < .01;
β = .17, p < .01,
Figure 4. Multi-group structural equation model analysis
(standardised path coefficients β). ‘N’ indicates
nonacademic track schools, whereas ‘A’ indicates academic
track schools. For each path, the first coefficient refers
to native students, and the following coefficient refers to
immigrant students. IRM = intrinsic reading motivation.
RA = reading amount. RC = reading competence. *p < .05; **p
< .01. The effects of previous reading
competence (grade 5) were controlled for the model.
Figure 3. Multi-group cross-lagged panel model analysis

(standardised path coefficients β). ‘N’ indicates
nonacademic track schools, whereas ‘A’ indicates academic
track schools. For each path, the first coefficient refers
to native students, and the following coefficient refers to
immigrant students. IRM = intrinsic reading motivation.
RC = reading competence. *p < .05; **p < .01.
respectively). However, in nonacademic track schools, the
effect of grade 6 reading amount
on grade 7 reading competence was significant only for native
students ( β = .18, p < .01)
and not for immigrant students ( β = .05, p > .05). In addition,
this effect was found to be
significantly lower for immigrant students than for native
students (Δχ2 = 4.93, df = 1,
p < .05).
There was a significant and positive indirect effect of grade 5
intrinsic reading
motivation on grade 7 reading competence through grade 6
reading amount for native
students regardless of their school tracks ( β = .07, p < .01 for
academic tracks and
β = .07, p < .01 for nonacademic tracks). This indirect effect
was significant for immigrant
students in academic track schools ( β = .06, p < .01) but not in
nonacademic track schools
( β = .02, p > .05).
Supplementary analyses on the influence of the language use for

reading
Because the items for intrinsic reading motivation and reading
amount were not language
specific, it is unknown whether immigrant students answered
these questions with
reference to reading in their first language or in German. To
find this out, we conducted
supplementary analyses based on the item that addresses the
language use for reading
books. This question was asked only for students who learned
other languages than
German as a family language in their childhood. In fact, the
majority of these students
(88.2%) answered that they read only or mostly in German.
Nevertheless, we replicated
the mediation model with the students who read only or mostly
in German (n = 2,435)
and students who read only or mostly in other languages (n =
147) in order to see if the
language use for reading has any effects on the relations among
intrinsic reading
motivation, reading amount, and reading competence. Students
who answered that this
question did not apply to them (n = 180) were excluded from
the analyses.
The model showed a good fit ( χ2 = 171.89, df = 36, p = .000,
CFI = .980, RMSEA = .054,
SRMR = .043). The results showed that within a group of
students who read only or mostly
in German, intrinsic reading motivation positively predicted
reading amount ( β = .38,
p < .01), and reading amount positively predicted reading
competence ( β = .14,
p < .01). In addition, there was a significant and positive

indirect effect of intrinsic reading
motivation on reading competence through reading amount for
this group ( β = .05,
p < .01). However, within a group of students who read only or
mostly in non-German
languages, intrinsic reading motivation did not significantly
predict reading amount
( β = .06, p > .05), and reading amount also did not significantly
contribute to reading
competence ( β = �.06, p > .05). There was also no significant
indirect effect of intrinsic
reading motivation on reading competence through reading
amount ( β = �.00, p > .05).
Discussion
The aim of the present study was to investigate reciprocal
relations between intrinsic
reading motivation and reading competence from a longitudinal
perspective in a sample
of native and immigrant students in Germany. We hypothesised
reciprocal effects between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence for both
groups. We also expected
that the effect of intrinsic reading motivation on reading
competence would be mediated
by reading amount for both groups.
Are intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence
reciprocally related?

The present study provides empirical support for reciprocal
effects between intrinsic
reading motivation and reading competence for secondary
school native students. This is
in line with the findings of McElvany et al. (2008) and
Schiefele et al. (2016) who also
confirmed reciprocal effects between intrinsic reading
motivation and reading competence
in a sample of elementary school children. The present study
also provides empirical
evidence for the mediating role of reading amount in the effect
of intrinsic reading
motivation on reading competence for native students. This is
consistent with previous
research suggesting that when students are intrinsically
motivated, they tend to read more
frequently and therefore improve their reading competence
(Becker et al., 2010; McElvany
et al., 2008; Schaffner & Schiefele, 2016; Schaffner et al.,
2013; Stutz et al., 2016).
However, the present findings are not consistent with the study
of Guthrie et al. (2007)
who found the relation between intrinsic reading motivation and
reading competence to be
unidirectional for fourth grade students. Although they observed
a significant effect of
students’ intrinsic reading motivation on reading competence
growth, they did not find a
significant effect of reading competence on growth in reading
motivation. However, the
present study differs from their study in various ways which
may have led us to different
results. For instance, Guthrie et al. (2007)’s study had much
smaller sample size (n = 31)

and shorter time span (12 weeks) than our study. In addition,
was measured based on interviews in their study. Finally,
Guthrie et al. (2007) mentioned
that all students participated in the reading intervention
program which was designed to
increase both intrinsic reading motivation and reading
comprehension.
The present study did not provide empirical evidence for
reciprocal effects between
intrinsic reading motivation and reading competence for
immigrant students. Our findings
indicate that for immigrant students, although greater reading
skills may lead to an increase
in intrinsic reading motivation, higher intrinsic reading
motivation does not seem to
contribute to the development of reading competence. This is in
line with the
skill-development model, which suggests that intrinsic reading
motivation is a consequence
of reading competence rather than a precursor (Calsyn & Kenny,
1977; Guay et al., 2003).
However, when we examined the mediating role of reading
amount, we found a small but
significant indirect effect of intrinsic reading motivation on
reading competence through
reading amount for immigrant students. Thus, it cannot be
strictly concluded that intrinsic
reading motivation has no effect on reading competence for
immigrant students.
Does attending different school tracks matter?
The present findings confirmed reciprocal effects between
intrinsic reading motivation and

1Motivation and academic performance2Paper OutlinePa.docx

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