Olaug Strand

I am in the early stage of my research-carrier, and in the beginning of my Ph.D.work. The main objective in my study is Reading ability of children age 10-11 in a long time perspective.

“More than any other skill, the ability to read is fundamental to successfully navigating the school curriculum. Moreover, it is central to shaping each individual’s trajectory through life, his or her economic wellbeing, and the ability to actively and fully participate in broader society” (Mullis, 2012, p. 1). This is how the importance of reading skills are emphasized in PIRLS 2011 International Results in Reading (Mullis, 2015). My Ph.D. Thesis is based on the data from PIRLS reading assessments. I am interested in how the reading ability is progressing over time, and especially minority speaking children’s reading skills in their second language. A new extension of PIRLS is released 2016, e-PIRLS. E-PIRLS is an online reading assessment, and its main purpose is to test the children’s ability to read texts and find information online. E-PIRLS consist only of factual prose. I am interested in investigating online reading effects on results (score), particular online reading as a tool for not native speakers. It is also important to find out more about how how the children cope with the two types of assessments and investigate the digital reading effect on deep reading, reading comprehension and reading interest. This objectives is linked to WG1’s focus “(…) on measuring the effect of digital interface features on reading and comprehending performance for young and older adults,” and WG2’s focus on “(…) the influence of digital media on the attitudes of children of all reading ages towards reading and literacy, as well as on the impact of specific features of digitally presented texts on children’s reading development and comprehension.”