The relation between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension development and difficulties in rural Chinese primary school students : a longitudinal study /

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Student Theses

2023

Yu, Liyan

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

Reading comprehension, which is crucial for obtaining and processing information, is affected by various cognitive and non-cognitive skills. My study investigates the effects of one set of non-cognitive skills, i.e., emotional intelligence, on reading comprehension by addressing four sub-research questions: 1) Does a bi-directional relationship exist between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension in Chinese elementary learners?; 2) Can emotional intelligence influence reading comprehension through word reading, vocabulary knowledge, and working memory?; 3) Are there variations in the mechanisms linking emotional intelligence and reading comprehension among children with different parental migration statuses?; and 4) Do poor comprehenders demonstrate insufficient emotional intelligence? Participants were 689 Chinese third graders (341 girls; mean age = 8.75 years) from eight rural primary school in China. Of these, 275 were one-migrating-parent children, 147 were two-migrating-parents children, 257 were non-migrating-parent children, and 10 were children who did not report any parental migration status. Students were classified into three groups (poor, normal, and good comprehenders) using a regression technique. The regression equation used age, non-verbal reasoning, and word reading at Wave 1 to predict reading comprehension at Wave 1. Among the students, those who scored below the lower 70% confidence intervals of the regression line were classified as poor comprehenders (N=56); those who scored above the upper 70% confidence intervals were classified as good comprehenders (N=53); and those who fell within the lower and upper 25% confidence intervals were classified as normal comprehenders (N=200). While tracking these participants from grade three (i.e., Wave 1) to grade four (i.e., Wave 2), I measured their emotional intelligence and reading comprehension at Waves 1 and 2 and their word reading, vocabulary knowledge, and working memory at Wave 1. Initially, the cross-lagged panel model revealed a one-way relationship between emotional intelligence at Wave 1 and reading comprehension at Wave 2. The mediation model then showed the ways in which emotional intelligence contributed to reading comprehension through three mediators: word reading, vocabulary knowledge, and working memory. Next, the multigroup analysis demonstrated that the impact of emotional intelligence on reading comprehension varied depending on parental migration status, with greater influence observed for non-migrating and one-migrating-parent children compared to two-migrating-parents children. Finally, a MANOVA analysis indicated that poor comprehenders scored lower in certain emotional intelligence, specifically self-emotions appraisal and others-emotions appraisal, compared to good comprehenders. Supporting the lattice model of reading, social constructivism, and the resource allocation model, these results enhance our understanding of the correlation between emotional intelligence and reading comprehension, the underlying mechanisms that link emotional intelligence to reading comprehension, and the emotional intelligence of poor comprehenders. In addition, the findings suggest that interventions that target emotional intelligence in children may effectively improve reading comprehension outcomes, particularly for children with one- or non-migrating-parent status. Thus, it is important for educators and policymakers to recognize the role of emotional intelligence in reading comprehension and to prioritize the development of emotional intelligence in educational settings

LG51.H43 Dr 2023eb Yul

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/VqM0sQyo