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6.3
READING HABITS
SPEAKING
1
a
Put the topics in order (1 is the most important reason).
I read because:
•
it’s fun.
•
it’s a skill for life.
•
it helps me find what I want.
•
it helps me understand the world.
•
it gives me a break.
•
it teaches me how other people live.
•
it will help me get a job.
•
it helps me understand myself.
•
I have to.
1
b
Work with a partner and compare your answers.
2
With your partner, answer the questionnaire on reading
habits. Take it in turns to ask and answer the questions.
1
What do you like reading?
2
How often do you read?
3
Where do you like reading?
4
Have you read an entire book in the last three months?
5
Who taught you to read?
6
What sort of fiction do you like reading?
7
Have you ever pretended that you had read a book
when you hadn’t?
8
What is the last book that you read?
9
How often do you go to a library?
READING
3
Look at these short summaries of a report. Read the
report and choose the best summary.
1
Parents who fail to stress the importance of reading
to their children at an early age are responsible for
the relative lack of interest in reading shown by their
children when they become teenagers.
2
Teenage girls and boys have different tastes in
reading materials but both genders read less as they
grow older.
3
Young people of both genders are reading less than
in the past due to a lack of parental interest and
reduced amounts of enforced reading in schools.
4
Decide which statements are true.
1
People who read a lot are likely to be better
communicators than those who don't read as much.
2
Boys generally read fewer novels than girls, and this
difference becomes more pronounced as they grow
older.
3
Surveys of reading habits of young people in other
countries showed similar trends to those found in the
UK.
5
Identifying facts and opinions
Find three opinions
and three facts in the text.
6
Do you think the situation described in the report
is similar in your country? What do you think are the
causes of these findings?
Literacy and the young
Why is reading good for us?
We often encourage our children to read but do we
ever stop to wonder why it is good for them, apart
from keeping them away from the screens that so
many seem to be addicted to nowadays? Surveys
have shown that reading helps other skills, especially
writing and speaking. Regular readers outperform
non-readers in essay writing, debating and in
making presentations. Parents should encourage
their children to read more in order to boost their
vocabulary, improve their spelling and grammar and
increase their knowledge of the world. Unfortunately,
it isn’t always easy.
Several surveys of
reading habits in
the UK have shown
a pronounced
difference in
attitudes towards
reading of girls
and boys. This
gender gap isn’t only shown in how much reading
young people do, although girls do spend longer
reading every day on average than boys. There is also
a difference in what forms of reading each prefer.
Teenage girls typically read more novels than boys
and are more influenced by what their friends are
reading than boys. In surveys, boys expressed a
preference for non-fiction articles about topics they
were interested in. They also tended to do more
reading online than girls. Relatively few teenagers of
either gender talked about books with their parents,
even when they had been brought up in a family
where reading was a shared experience when they
were younger.
One rather alarming statistic shows that reading
enjoyment often declines as children grow older.
The proportion of both girls and boys who read for
pleasure is higher amongst primary age children than
for those in secondary school. Interestingly, these
findings apply to virtually every European country in
which similar surveys were undertaken. It seems that
something happens to put older children off reading.
In interviews, both boys and girls mentioned a lack
of time as a reason for reading less but they also
expressed more negative feelings towards reading.
This was especially noticeable amongst teenage boys.
Reading should be associated with relaxation and
enjoyment but, too often, students are forced to read
novels at school which they aren’t interested in and
which are difficult for them to understand.
One possible solution was highlighted in a survey
of American teenagers which found that about a
quarter of all teens asked said that they are more
likely to read a book if they have seen and enjoyed a
film which it was based on. Perhaps teachers should
make sure that before asking their students to study
a classic novel, they should first watch an adaptation
of it with the class and discuss the plot and themes it
presents.
