Publish at September 13 2023 Updated September 13 2023
Reading is a part of almost every human being's daily life. Generally speaking, we read books, newspapers, letters, messages from comrades, e-mails, posters and billboards, to name but a few.
Nicolas Escot elaborates on the benefits of reading in the sense that it enables:
However, depending on the reader, the objectives of reading can vary.
This type of reading focuses on personal development. It is generally practiced by pupils, students, researchers, professionals and teachers. For the latter, reading has several objectives: information, deepening knowledge, preparing a course, writing an article, a scientific work or a book.
The scientific discipline guides the reader's choices. In this context, magazine articles are the most widely read, followed by educational documents, theses and dissertations, reports and books of fiction. They also read magazines and newspapers, which enable them to keep abreast of current world events.
The place where young people come into contact with reading is at school.
Compared to useful reading, leisure reading is used as an element of diversion. Leisure reading corresponds to a need for escape. It's a way of getting away from everyday stress. For these purposes, readers indulge in novels, non-fiction, travelogues, historical works, comic strips, detective stories and gossip magazines.
Leisure reading does not appear to be an activity favored by students, as it is just one of many distractions (sports, music, dance, television, etc.). It is mainly reserved for breaks and free time.
Worldwide, we are witnessing a relative decline in the frequency of reading on paper. Digital reading is favored over reading on paper, a situation due to the progress of digital technology, which is transforming readers' habits. This type of reading is highly appreciated by young people, who can read at any time, in any place, and sometimes in conjunction with other daily activities. On the move, at work, on hold, etc., we enjoy digital reading.
Reading time has increased, but it's more about reading for information than for knowledge. Readers are reading novels, blog posts about the lives of influencers or stars, etc. This leads us to understand that today's readers' primary objective is escapism, distraction.
For Galéron (2015), "digital technology is not impoverishing students' skills. Many of them have never read as much as they have since the arrival of digital technology. However, we mustn't restrict reading to novels; students also read comments on Facebook".
The advent of digital technology in Africa and the COVID-19 health crisis have contributed to a surge in leisure reading in developing countries. During the period of confinement, a remarkable rate of growth in leisure reading was observed on the various social networks.
It was much more surface reading than deep reading, as the primary objective was to escape and deal with the boredom of staying at home all day long.
For Carr (2008), digital reading is a shallower form of reading than paper. He argued that the ease of online research and the distractions associated with web browsing limited the ability to concentrate.
Illustration : WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay
Bibliography
Bernard J., Coulibaly B., Wintthrop R. (2020), Education is crucial to Africa's COVID-19 response, Brookings Institution.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/education-is-crucial-to-africas-covid-19-response/
Buzan, Tony, Harrison James, Jones Anne (2012), Speed reading
https://fliphtml5.com/immj/bmwr/basic
Claire Bélisle (Coord.), Lecture numérique : réalités, enjeux et perspectives, Villeurbanne, Presses de l'enssib, 2004.
https://www.decitre.fr/livres/la-lecture-numerique-realites-enjeux-et-perspectives-9782910227517.html
Galéron, Florine, 2015, "Certains élèves n'ont jamais autant lu que depuis l'arrivée du numérique!" [Online]. Toulouse, la tribune. [Accessed 05/09/2023]. Available at : https://toulouse.latribune.fr/innovation/2015-02-04/-certains-eleves-n-ont-jamais-autantlu-que-depuis-l-arrivee-du-numerique.html
Grebert, Pauline, Mutation du livre et de la lecture à l'ère du numérique, Master's thesis, Université Stendhal, 2009-2010
https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-00494400/document
Nicholas Carr (2008) "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_G._Carr
Nicolas Escot (2019) "The Interests of Reading", https://crefadloire.org/les-interets-de-la-lecture/
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