Literacy interest and reader self-concept when formal reading instruction begins

The present study examines the associations among literacy interest, reader self-concept and emergent literacy skills at the very start of formal reading instruction in 1171 five- and six-year-olds. The results indicate that emergent literacy skills are directly related to reader self-concept but not to literacy interest. Further, interest moderated the relationship between emergent skills and self-concept. School starters with high literacy interest demonstrated strong reader self-concept, even if their emergent literacy skills were poor. These results suggest that the early motivational dynamics associated with the emergence of reading skill may be more complex than previous research has found them to be. The observed dynamics may have implications for the emergence of reading skill during this specific period of changing developmental context.