Reading motivation is a fundamental basis for reading behavior and performance. For learners, interest is an exceedingly important component of reading motivation. Prior research has shown that students’ text-based interest varies significantly between texts. However, it is still unclear why one text elicits greater interest over another. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether different text characteristics, such as text genre, topic, and protagonists’ gender, are systematically related to students’ text-based interest. Furthermore, we examined differences between girls and boys. We used data from a sample of 504 fourth-grade elementary school students to answer these questions. Eight texts were manipulated experimentally with respect to text genre, topic, and protagonists’ gender. Students were assigned randomly to read one of the eight texts. Structural equation models showed that students’ text-based interest was related to text genre, topic, and students’ gender. Moreover, students’ gender interacted significantly with text topic and protagonists’ gender, with boys less interested in texts with a more female-typed text topic and in texts with female protagonists. The findings imply that text characteristics might help educators select reading material to encourage students’ text-based interest. The results are discussed in terms of research and educational practice.

中文翻译：

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基于文本的兴趣中的性别差异：作为潜在变量的文本特征

阅读动机是阅读行为和表现的根本基础。对于学习者来说，兴趣是阅读动机的一个极其重要的组成部分。先前的研究表明，学生对文本的兴趣因文本而异。然而，目前尚不清楚为什么一个文本比另一个文本引起更大的兴趣。因此，在本研究中，我们调查了不同的文本特征，如文本类型、主题和主人公的性别，是否与学生的基于文本的兴趣系统相关。此外，我们检查了女孩和男孩之间的差异。我们使用来自 504 名四年级小学生的样本数据来回答这些问题。八个文本在文本类型、主题和主角性别方面进行了实验性操作。学生被随机分配阅读八篇文章之一。结构方程模型表明，学生对文本的兴趣与文本类型、主题和学生性别有关。此外，学生的性别与文本主题和主角的性别有显着的交互作用，男孩对女性类型较多的文本主题和女性主角的文本不太感兴趣。研究结果表明，文本特征可能有助于教育工作者选择阅读材料，以激发学生对文本的兴趣。结果在研究和教育实践方面进行了讨论。男孩对更多女性类型的文本主题和女性主角的文本不太感兴趣。研究结果表明，文本特征可能有助于教育工作者选择阅读材料，以激发学生对文本的兴趣。结果在研究和教育实践方面进行了讨论。男孩对更多女性类型的文本主题和女性主角的文本不太感兴趣。研究结果表明，文本特征可能有助于教育工作者选择阅读材料，以激发学生对文本的兴趣。结果在研究和教育实践方面进行了讨论。