Predicting reading motivation and achievement: The role of family and classroom environments in Greater China

•Parental reading attitudes were related to reading achievement in Macau and Taipei.•Parental reading attitudes were associated with students’ motivation to read.•Perceptions of reading instructional practices were linked to motivation to read.•Multiple group multilevel structural equation modeling was used. This study investigated the relationships between parental reading attitudes, students’ perceptions of reading instructional practices, reading motivation and achievement in Greater China. The study used the Hong Kong, Macau, and Chinese Taipei samples of PIRLS 2016 and included 11,734 fourth grade students. The results of multiple-group multilevel SEM revealed a positive relationship between parental reading attitudes and student reading achievement in Macau and Chinese Taipei, although the link was found to be non-significant in Hong Kong. The association between students’ perceptions of reading instructional practices and reading achievement was slightly negative at the student level but non-significant at the classroom level. Both parental reading attitudes and students’ perceptions of reading instructional practices were positively related to student reading motivation.