| Summary: | Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1995. Education Bibliography: leaves 130-139. This study investigated the interrelationships among parental expectations, children's perceptions of parental expectations, children's attitudes toward reading, children's self-concepts as readers and children's reading comprehension. The effects of gender on these variables were also examined. Relationships among these variables provided support for parents and teachers to create positive, realistic expectations, in order to promote maximum reading comprehension. -- Scores obtained from forty children and their parents and or guardians, on instruments measuring the above variables were correlated. As well, analysis of variance tests were performed to determine gender effects for parental expectations, on children's perceptions of parental expectations, attitudes toward reading, self-concepts as readers and reading comprehension. -- An analysis of variance was also used to test for gender effects on children's perceptions of parental expectations, attitudes toward reading, self-concepts as readers and reading comprehension. Significant relationships were found between parental expectations and children's reading comprehension, children's perceptions of parental expectations and their self-concepts as readers as well as between children's self-concepts as readers and their reading comprehension. There were no significant relationships between a) mother's or father's expectations for children's reading and children's reading comprehension, b) parent's, mother's or father's expectations for children's reading and children's attitudes toward reading, c) parent's, mother's or father's expectations for children's reading and children's self-concepts as readers, or d) children's attitudes toward reading and children's reading comprehension. However, significant relationships existed between specific variables within the overall measures. Gender was found to have a significant effect only on parental expectations for children's reading comprehension and children's self-concepts as readers. Parents held higher expectations for females' reading comprehension than for males'. Fathers' expectations affected females' self-concepts as readers more than did mother's expectations. -- Children perceived what their parents expected for them in reading. Their perceptions of parental expectations were related to their self-concepts as readers. Children's self- concepts as readers were related to their reading comprehension. Consequently, this study supports the need for parents to create positive, realistic expectations and to clearly communicate them to children.
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