Reading For Pleasure Research Articles

Battling With Books: The Gamification of an EFL Extensive Reading Class

Background Extensive reading (ER) classes have become a popular way to promote reading in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms because ER supports the idea of reading for pleasure. However, reading in the classroom can still become stale if students have little chance to reflect on what they have read or if they become burdened by the reading requirements. Aim In an attempt to create a more energetic ER classroom, we converted the classroom into a game-based environment with the aim of promoting L2 reading enjoyment and motivating students to read in a more focused manner . Method As for specifics, 55 female Japanese university students—divided into two groups based upon English proficiency—participated in a social book reading game called Bibliobattle whereby students discussed their favorite books in small groups. Three iterations of the game were incorporated into the ER classroom as a way to enliven reading activities. Results The game proved largely successful. From the data obtained in the debriefing questionnaires, students mentioned that they were motivated by the activities through reflection on their book’s content and through the sharing of specific details about what they had read with their peers. Although both groups of students indicated their motivation to play the game, this was especially true for the lower level readers—a group that had demonstrated more apathy towards ER in the past. Based upon our experiences while running the game, we recommend that Bibliobattles be implemented as specialized events in the ER classroom as a means to help stimulate a love for reading in a second language; however, it should also be noted that student preparation for such battles is time-consuming, so the number of battles per semester should be limited to a maximum of two per semester.

DELAMINATED CELLS FOR NANO-ENABLED INKJET PRINTABILITY

Nanometer scale cells delaminated from oil palm fruit bunch (EFB) microfiber cell walls were coated on commercial A4 and laboratory sheets prepared from virgin fibers. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed the cells as translucent laminae of fibrils (TRX) bound together in a 5 nm to 100 nm thick web with dendritic edges. Coating of TRX onto the commercial A4 paper improved inkjet printability by up to 80%. The nano-enabled printability occurred as a summed effect of TRX forming (1) a canopy on or “loose-masking” of the protruding inorganic fillers, (2) capillary bridging of micro-voids formed by TRX fibrillary ends, (3) partial bridging of micro-gaps, (4) masking of the fiber surface, and (5) nano-grip arising from dendritic ends slipping into the micro-voids. The TRX-coated virgin pulp network revealed improved nano-enabled coverage by significantly reducing the stray and by print uniformity. The results provided an insight into the possibility of interfacing TRX with the paper surface for an improved inkjet print and economy through high-precision printing, also providing a pleasurable reading experience.

Literary socialisation through education. A comparative study of Swedish and French upper secondary school students’ reception of a narrative text

Different ways of teaching literature in school are often a result of tradition, cultural heritage, and the underlying assumptions of the motivating reasons for studying literature at all. This paper presents results from a comparative study of Swedish and French upper secondary school students’ reception of a narrative text and discusses the impact of literary socialisation in relation to curricula. In the first part of the paper, Swedish and French upper secondary school students’ written comments on a short story are analysed in terms of literary socialisation, comprehension and interpretation. The study displays differences in the way the students interact with the text. The French students pay more attention to literary aspects, such as style and language, whereas Swedish students tend to focus more on content and extratextual aspects. In the second part of the paper, the Swedish curriculum for the subject Swedish for upper secondary school is analysed. The study argues that a combination of analytic and emotional reading seems to be the most efficient way to create skilful readers. Reading for pleasure in a school context is challenged by the strong framing provided by knowledge requirements and examinations. The study concludes that this paradox of literature education can be met by focusing on the reading experience as a point of departure for in-depth literature studies.

Review: Can’t Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop’s Blockbuster Year, by Michaelangelo Matos

Review: <i>Can’t Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop’s Blockbuster Year</i>, by Michaelangelo Matos

An investigation of the reading culture: the role of libraries to promote reading culture in Pakistan

Abstract The library’s goal is to promote the culture of reading. Not only does the library promote the culture of reading, but also it facilitates access to books for those who love reading. Thus, through the library, its visitors can enjoy not only their lives, but also it allows them to spend their time intellectually. This program has been designed to help people discover the joy of the written word. The primary goal of fostering a love of reading among library patrons is to make it an enjoyable and rewarding pastime. As a result, it is critical to raise awareness about the value of reading for pleasure rather than only learning material for tests and encourage students to make reading a habit. Library Week, which is held each year during the academic session in high school, is one of the ways that libraries can help spread the word about the importance of reading and healthy reading culture. The relevant literature has been assessed in light of the topic by searching both published and unpublished relevant research works. Tylor and Francis Group, ERIC, Emerald, Elsevier, LISA, LISTA, ProQuest Research papers, and Wiley Online Library are addressed as relevant databases. The current study’s findings may also aid in better planning school library services and dealing with the required, complicated, and ever-increasing requirements for book selection, acquisition, and integration. The findings are also aid in the modification and enhancement of educational policy.

Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

Children’s Leisure Reading in the Nahḍah

Abstract Children made up a substantial segment of the literate public that emerged during the Arab nahḍah period. Of these, an apparent minority applied skills they acquired in school to reading for pleasure or satisfying juvenile curiosity. This study explores the novel practice of Arab youth leisure-time reading as reported in retrospective memories and autobiographies. It reveals that during the nahḍah’s early decades, the inventory of Arabic readings fit for children was strikingly limited—unlike the multitude of books that were available to adults—a reality that forced curious boys and girls from different classes to make do with adult books for their after-school reading. This article examines cultural factors for that scarcity (primarily the status of children in society) and economic ones (e.g., publishers’ business concerns) and considers its implications. Probing a seemingly marginal section of a wider scene, it sheds light on hitherto neglected facets of the Arab transition from widespread illiteracy to extensive literacy at this point in history.

Postawy uczniów wobec czytania po polsku i po angielsku – studium przypadku uczniów uczących się języka angielskiego jako drugiego języka w szkole podstawowej. Badanie pilotażowe

The aim of this article was to investigate students’ attitudes towards reading in Polish and English. Two self-constructed questionnaires were administered to 48 ESL (English as a second language) pupils (26 boys, 22 girls) of primary school. The first questionnaire consisted of 15 questions about various attitudes, problems and opinions on reading books. The content of the survey’s questions also raised issues related to reading in Polish and English, and emotions connected to reading. The second questionnaire consisted of 5 follow-up questions. The results indicate that pupils simply like reading for pleasure and reading makes them feel good. However, they do not fancy long and difficult words. They enjoy adventure books and stories about animals. Pupils like adults reading books to them. However, there is a significant diffrence between boys and girls – boys like when adults read to them, girls – do not. They prefer reading by themselves. Reading to children evokes in a classroom a nice and friendly atmosphere, combined with an effect of surprise. The children react positively to a teacher, listen to them with interest and get involved in a lesson by repeating the text that has been read to them. When it comes to reading in English students confirmed that they read books in that language. The pupils enjoyed the lessons where the teacher read English books to them.

STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TOWARDS SELF-SELECTED READING IN EXTENSIVE READING CLASS

Extensive Reading is a method in which the participant engages in the activity by reading more books from a greater variety of genres outside of the classroom to read for pleasure. As a result, pupils may choose the reading content that they are interested in reading. The following were the goals of the research named Students' Responses to Self-Selected Reading in Extensive Reading class, which was conducted: 1) To determine the kinds of reading students choose in Extensive Reading class, and 2) To observe the student's reactions to self-selected Reading in Extensive Reading class, the following research was conducted: By the academic year 2020/2021, the students of the English Education Department at one of Cimahi's colleges were in their third semester, which served as the primary topic of this research. It was decided to utilize a descriptive qualitative approach for this investigation. Document analysis, as well as interviews, were used in the data collection process. The results revealed that students choose various readings for Extensive Reading, including short stories, novels, articles, news, books, biographies, song lyrics, and other kinds of material. Regarding the study second research question, the student's answers to self-selecting for Extensive Reading were consistent, with the following replies: it was easier; the students were happier, and there was no burden in deciding to do it. According to the research findings, the students chose more kinds, and they were pleasant to work with and seemed to enjoy themselves.

LESZEK KOCZANOWICZ, ANXIETY AND LUCIDITY: REFLECTIONS ON CULTURE IN TIMES OF UNREST

In the book entitled Anxiety and Lucidity. Reflections on Culture in Times of Unrest Leszek Koczanowicz reflects upon the phenomena of fear and anxiety in essential areas of life, both for the individual as well as the community. He adopts an interdisciplinary perspective so characteristic of an insightful researcher of culture. Fear and anxiety, as he argues, are intrinsic to modernity - the inability to get rid of them is characteristic of modern man. Koczanowicz puts his thoughts on paper in a demanding fashion, which does not, however, obscure the pleasure of reading these well-written and intelligent texts. The author's knowledge is vast, which transpires in the reviewed publication.

Reading for pleasure among Iraqi college EFL students

This study was carried out to explore the pleasure reading practices and preferences of sample Iraqi college EFL students. This study seeks to fill the gap in researchs concerning pleasure reading in Iraq since the Iraqi college EFL students' practices and preferences of reading for pleasure have not been explored yet. To do this, the study employed a questionnaire for collecting data. A sample of 177 Iraqi college EFL female students of department of English language of College of Education for Women of Al Iraqyia University in Baghdad volunteered to fill in the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the quantitative data from the questionnaire. The findings indicate that the majority of the participants read for pleasure weekly. It was also found that the participants preferred to read song lyrics, books of fiction, and articles posted on social media or websites over other types of reading texts. The research findings also showed that some of the participants read 1-2 hours per week and very few of the participants read 4-5 hours weekly. All the participants faced problems when practicing reading for pleasure and these difficulties can be attributed to several factors, such as watching TV/DVD/online

“I Don't Want a Book That's Going to Make Me Sad or Stressed Out, Especially in This Day and Age”: Fiction Reading (and Healing) in a Pandemic

AbstractTo understand the roles of fiction reading in mitigating readers' stress during the COVID‐19 pandemic, this study explores readers' motivations, preferences, and reading behaviors. Through an open‐ended online survey posted on social media platforms and an online reading community, the researchers collected 76 responses from adult fiction readers. Through qualitative coding, three prominent themes were identified: escapism, re‐reading behavior, and access and format. Readers actively escape into fictional worlds, often through re‐reading books, to cope with the pandemic. Also, cost and available channels of access shape readers' selection of fiction book format. These themes highlight elements of fiction reading that are pertinent to emotionally‐strained individuals, which can provide insight for reference and recommendation services. By advancing researchers' understanding of pleasure reading behaviors and the important selection criteria for fiction readers during stressful times, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in Readers Advisory (RA) and information behavior.

Gender differences in the reading habits of secondary school students of Osun State public schools

The research evaluated among secondary school students the time spent in reading and the reading materials preferred. The purpose for which they read was also identified. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted which focused on public secondary schools of Osun State, Southwest, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 1101 senior secondary school students from 12 public schools covering the 6 educational zones of Osun State. A 20 item Reading Habit Scale was used. The questionnaire was administered with the aid of a research assistant and retrieved immediately from the volunteers after completion. One thousand and seventy-nine copies of the questionnaire were analyzed, 43% of the respondents were boys while 57% were girls. Only 18.6% of the respondents were daily long-time readers (&gt;1 to 6 hours per day) which comprised 17% of the boys and 20% of the girls. Boys more than girls read past questions and solutions while girls more than boys read textbooks and subject teachers note. Boys (98%) more than girls (97%) indicated they read in order to get better grades in tests and examinations. Conversely, girls more than the boys read for a better understanding of topics taught by the teacher and for pleasure (84:76%). A statistically significant gender difference exists with respect to “reading for pleasure” (x=8.92, p=0.003). Most of the students have poor reading habits with respect to daily reading time. Girls were more daily long-time readers and also read for pleasure.

Literature Counts: The Feelings of Overwhelmed

Literature Counts: The Feelings of <i>Overwhelmed</i>

Foreword

The Covid-19 pandemic imposes a new way of life on us, and in this new reality, we try in every way to find positive aspects for language studies in particular and science in general. One of such aspects is the switch to online scientific meetings and conferences, which have therefore become more accessible also to language enthusiasts from more remote locations. Besides, the already ongoing digitalization of linguistics in different respects, from teaching and learning materials, linguistic data collection, and others, only seems to accelerate in the situation. And finally, as unfortunate as it is, it nevertheless offers numerous new insights into our social lives. The summer issue of Volume 11 is dedicated though not limited to such insights. In the first article “A Comparative Corpus-Based Content Analysis of Head of Government Addresses in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Japan and Western Countries” by Nagisa MORITOKI ŠKOF discussed the speakers’ perspectives and political orientation in public addresses made by heads of government in Japan, the USA, New Zealand, Germany, and Slovenia in response to the coronavirus disease. Following, SAWADA Hiroko and INOUE Rizu in their article “Network for Supporting Education of Foreign Children During Covid-19: Language Assessments as a Tool for Promoting Community Integration” introduce problems of the present Japanese education system, which does not adequately support children whose mother language is not Japanese. Their action research project in collaboration with several schools and one university proposed a support system through online media that would soften the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The third article in this issue was written by Oleg KALININ. “Comparative Analysis of Coronavirus Metaphoric Representation in Chinese and Russian Online Media” compared the coronavirus metaphorical image in the online media of China and Russia to find out that their basic difference is in discussing or not discussing the positive outcome of the coronavirus battle, which consequently impacts the public opinion. WANG Aiqing’s “Causation in Classical Chinese during the Warring States Period and in the Han Dynasty” explores causation in Classical Chinese and shows that the strategies to form causation structures are compatible with a prosodic theory, according to which agentive and causative constructions involving covert causative verbs are prosodic words, while those involving overt causative verbs exhibit properties of phrases. The article “’I Am Not Punjabi, My Parents Are’: Degradation of the Language of Dominant Majority” by Sham HAIDAR, Tehreem WALI, Tehreem TAHIR, and Mehwish PARVEEN discuss the present status and explore the predicament of the Punjabi language based on the findings that the Punjabi speakers themselves disown their language and the Punjabi identity due to social, economic, religious, and political reasons. Last but not least, Mária IŠTVÁNOVÁ in her article “On The Use of Corpora in Second Language Acquisition – Chinese as an Example” presents several language corpora and points out advantages of their use in the process of Chinese language acquisition together with some practical examples of the corpora's direct and indirect use for teaching and learning Chinese as a second language. Editors and Editorial board wish the regular and new readers of the ALA journal a pleasant read full of inspiration, and a rise of new research ideas inspired by these papers.

Alessandro Baricco: The Diction of Imagism

AbstractThe pleasure of a fictional text can be provided by the plot, the characters, and the suspense resulting from their interrelation. In the case of Alessandro Baricco, Italian writer and essayist, the pleasure of reading is given by sounds and images. With the use of unique stylistic elements made of short and nominal sentences, silences, and pauses, Baricco’s prose becomes segmented and fragmentary. By binding the motif of his narrative to vague images rather than detailed descriptions, Baricco is shifting the modernist poetics of Imagism to postmodern fiction.

Out of the classroom: ‘informal’ education and histories of education

ABSTRACT Historians of education are well placed to engage in applied historical approaches providing authoritative evidence of the past to inform policy and practice. This article is based on the presidential keynote delivered at the History of Education Society (UK) annual conference in 2019. As such it reflects on possible future directions for the history of education and considers the role of informal educational activity that takes place outside the classroom, including that of children’s reading for pleasure. Stories in the interwar British, Canadian and Australian Girl’s and Boy’s annuals provide an example of how appropriate gender roles were presented to their young readers at a time of intense social and political change for Britain. With Brexit heralding a similar significant moment of change and the pandemic lockdowns resulting in children spending more time at home, it is concluded that the significance of ‘informal’ education, both historically and today, requires our attention.

The Influence of Reading Fondness Characters on Students' Attitudes in Science Subjects in Junior High Schools

Many students have a low level of reading pleasure. This will have an impact on common science learning outcomes for students. Reading fondness has been known to improve students 'cognitive domains, what about students' attitudes, namely the affective domain? The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of reading fondness on attitudes in science subjects in junior high schools. The schools studied consisted of 1 private school and 2 public schools with a total sample of 411 students. The sampling technique was cluster sampling. The research method used is quantitative with simple linear regression analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. The instrument used was a valid and reliable questionnaire for reading fondness and attitudes towards science. The results of this study indicate that students' reading pleasure is in the good category, the attitude towards science is in the good category This research implies that students' reading habit has a positive influence on science.

Evaluation of reading pleasure character in SMPN 19 and SMP Adhyaksa 1 of Jambi City

This study was conducted to determine the reading pleasure of junior high school (sekolah menengah pertama or SMP) students through 4 indicators. The research was conducted with a total sample of 281 students from grades VII, VIII, and IX in junior high schools. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling. The research design used is an explanatory design. The quantitative instrument in the form of a reading pleasure instrument consists of 40 statements, while the qualitative instrument is in the form of interviews with 10 students, 4 teachers, and 2 of the head of the library. The data collection technique was carried out by survey (field research). The results of this study indicate that the indicators of general attitudes towards reading are on a neutral scale, the indicators of reading preferences are on a neutral scale, the indicators of the effects of reading on ability are on the agreeing scale, the indicators of students' negative views on reading are on the disagree scale. The results of interviews with the teacher can be seen that the teacher has reminded students to always read books other than in face-to-face activities in class, then the results of interviews with the head of the library can be seen that junior high school students have high enthusiasm for reading and borrowing books in the library, the results of interviews with male student and female student show that female student have better reading pleasure than male.

Awkward Encounters with Sarah Waters: Shame, Reading, and Queer Subjectivity

AbstractFocusing on Sarah Waters’s Tipping the Velvet (1998) and Affinity (1999), this article examines how the reader-pleasure afforded by contemporary reimaginings of Victorian lesbianism accommodates the complicated emotional response of shame. Through an investigation of how both texts relate queer experience to shame and what narrative strategies facilitate or induce shame in the reader during their reading experience, this article argues that Waters’s work invites a more sophisticated analysis of shame: one that relates to, and arguably reproduces, the empathetic engagement between the text and the reader. In so doing, this article demonstrates the importance of affect and narrative studies in unpacking the complicated reading pleasure afforded by Waters’s writings and its political potentials.