...The Reading Habit 9 by Frankie Y. Bailey We humans are creatures of habit. Change, real change, does not come easily for most of us. We prefer to get into our comfortable groove and stay there. Change often requires an epiphany, a life-altering insight, that most of us rarely, if ever, experience. Perhaps this is why the more cynical among us would doubt that simply picking up a book could change a life. Like many avid readers, I have had the experience of falling in love with a book. But, I confess here, I have not been faithful to my loves. After the first delight of discovery, I have strayed in search of other books that would engage, challenge, tantalize, take my breath away and leave me wanting more. My affairs with books have been passionate and many. And I am the better for my unfaithfulness to a singe book or any one author. This is why when I am asked to name my favorite book I find myself embarrassed by my inability to name the one book that I would take with me to a desert island or even the five books or ten. I know that my favorite writer (now deceased) was a man named Richard Martin Stern. Mr. Stern was my favorite author because when I wrote to him as a teenager to tell him how much I loved his mystery series (featuring an African American, or actually biracial, female anthropologist), he wrote back to thank me for my letter. By doing so, he helped to set me on my own path toward becoming a writer. But this does not mean Mr. Stern’s Johnny Ortiz mysteries...
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...Language and Culture There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related. Both phenomena are unique to humans and have therefore been the subject of a great deal of anthropological, sociological, and even memetic study. Language, of course, is determined by culture, though the extent to which this is true is now under debate. The converse is also true to some degree: culture is determined by language - or rather, by the replicators that created both, memes. Language as Determined by Culture Early anthropologists, following the theory that words determine thought, believed that language and its structure were entirely dependent on the cultural context in which they existed. This was a logical extension of what is termed the Standard Social Science Model, which views the human mind as an indefinitely malleable structure capable of absorbing any sort of culture without constraints from genetic or neurological factors. In this vein, anthropologist Verne Ray conducted a study in the 1950's, giving color samples to different American Indian tribes and asking them to give the names of the colors. He concluded that the spectrum we see as "green", "yellow", etc. was an entirely arbitrary division, and each culture divided the spectrum separately. According to this hypothesis, the divisions seen between colors are a consequence of the language we learn, and do not correspond to divisions in the natural world. A similar hypothesis is upheld in the...
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...PUPILS’ PERCEPTION OF CABLE TELEVISION PROGRAMMES AS DETERMINANT OF READING HABITS AND ATTITUDES IN UNIVERSITY STAFF SCHOOLS IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA BY FLORENCE ADEOLA, OMOBA A proposal in the Department of ABADINA MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION * Background to the study * Statement of the problem * Objective of the study * Research questions and research hypothesis * Significance of the study * Scope of the study * Operational definition of terms REVIEW OF LITERATURE * Theoretical frame work * Empirical orientation * Reading habit * Reading attitude * Television * School libraries RESEARCH METHODOLOGY * Research design * Population and sampling technique * Research instrument * Validation and reliability of instruments * Data collection procedure * Data analysis REFERENCES APPENDIXES CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION John Walson, an appliance storeowner in a small town of Mahanoy, had difficulty selling television sets to local residents because reception in the area was poor. The problem seemed to be the location of the town in a valley and nearly 90 air miles from the Philadelphia television transmitters. Naturally, signals could not pass through mountains and clear reception was virtually impossible except on the ridges outside of town. It...
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...Current Research IN READING / LANGUAGE ARTS Understanding Assessment: Putting Together the Puzzle SHEILA W. VALENCIA UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE “No one test or assessment should be asked to serve all the assessment purposes. We need, at this point, a system made up of articulated components, glued together by their adherence to content standards and serving explicit purposes for assessment.” —National Council for Education Standards and Testing, 1992 discussions, and more. Now, 10 years later, we are hearing the same reminder (Brennan, Kim, WenzGross, Siperstein, 2001; Herman, 2001; International Reading Association, 1999). In fact, in July 2001 members of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher’s union, endorsed a policy calling for a combination of standardized tests and other assessment tools such as teacher designed assessments when making important educational decisions (Blair & Archer, 2001). Assessment has always been a part of the educational landscape. However, because assessment can serve so many different purposes and can come in so many different forms, it has been confusing and, sometimes, it has been the subject of contentious debate. Unfortunately, as a result, many of us have come to view assessment as a necessary evil, a requirement rather than a helpful part of instruction. But assessment IS a critical part of instruction and it CAN be useful if we understand the pieces of the puzzle. As far back as 1992, when...
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...Nine Good Reading Habits by Jonathan Mooney Like all travels in this glamorous and lucrative world of study skills, we have come to the section where I contradict everything I have said up to this point. While I truly believe that each student needs to individualize his approach to school, there is a time and place for good old uniformity and standardization. There are some good habits, which, if your child chooses to use, will increase his retention and comprehension. They are based on a concept called active reading. This idea is simple: The more of your child's brain is engaged in the act of reading, the more he learns. The following strategies are good active reading habits that will help any reader: • Use the cover up: For many students, the words on the page run and blur together -- especially if you are hard wired like myself. To mitigate this, use a three by five index card to cover everything except the sentence that your child is reading. When they finish a line, they move the card down and repeat the process. • Give the text the finger: Along with the card, have your child follow their reading with their finger, engaging a tactical learning style. • Read out loud or mouth the words: Again, another way to engage verbal processing. Many students don't need to literally talk out load -- mouthing the words serves the same end. • Keep moving: As always, fidgeting is good for the brain. Keep them moving, to keep them on target. • Use three-color highlighting:...
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...Factors Influencing Reading Habits This situation is, of course, an important note in the world of education in the country. One of the breakthroughs by the government is by issuing the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture (Permendikbud) Number 23 of 2015 on the Growing of Character. Permendikbud is realized with a mandatory reading 15 minutes before the start of learning time, especially for elementary, junior high school or senior high school students. This is the same as the research has been done by Ndhlovu. Consequently, developing a habit of good reading culture through perusing regularly. Read at least a topic even for 15 to 30 minutes every day. You will be surprised how your minds will develop ‘high appetite' for...
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...Factors Affecting Reading Habits Nine Good Reading Habits by Jonathan Mooney Like all travels in this glamorous and lucrative world of study skills, we have come to the section where I contradict everything I have said up to this point. While I truly believe that each student needs to individualize his approach to school, there is a time and place for good old uniformity and standardization. There are some good habits, which, if your child chooses to use, will increase his retention and comprehension. They are based on a concept called active reading. This idea is simple: The more of your child's brain is engaged in the act of reading, the more he learns. The following strategies are good active reading habits that will help any reader: • Use the cover up: For many students, the words on the page run and blur together -- especially if you are hard wired like myself. To mitigate this, use a three by five index card to cover everything except the sentence that your child is reading. When they finish a line, they move the card down and repeat the process. • Give the text the finger: Along with the card, have your child follow their reading with their finger, engaging a tactical learning style. • Read out loud or mouth the words: Again, another way to engage verbal processing. Many students don't need to literally talk out load -- mouthing the words serves the same end. • Keep moving: As always, fidgeting is good for the brain. Keep them moving, to keep them on...
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...decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” ~Anna Quindlen The habit of book reading is declining with an incredible speed in this modern age, which has also been given the name of digital world. With the progress of this digital world, the interest of majority of young people is changing its direction. The younger generation always gets fascination with the latest releases of iPhone, iPods, and video games etc. They do not find time or take interest to read books. The modern age has become so fast and nobody is willing to spend his time on reading books. Even the students are leaving the habit of book reading as they find notes from various websites on internet and prepare their assignments without even thinking that this assignment will earn him/her only marks but not the real knowledge which is required to become a fully groomed and knowledgeable person. People in this modern age are creating a mess for themselves as they think that they are in a rush and they need to progress with a rapid pace, otherwise they will be left behind by the society or become isolated from it. This is completely a wrong concept or thinking as book reading enables a man to think deeper and dig out the sources of real happiness. Book reading makes people wise as they get different angles to think on the day-to-day affairs and those persons always live a satisfied life that make book reading their habit and continue it throughout their whole life. The advancements in the modern...
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...time and place for good old uniformity and standardization. There are some good habits, which, if your child chooses to use, will increase his retention and comprehension. They are based on a concept called active reading. This idea is simple: The more of your child's brain is engaged in the act of reading, the more he learns. The following strategies are good active reading habits that will help any reader: • Use the cover up: For many students, the words on the page run and blur together -- especially if you are hard wired like myself. To mitigate this, use a three by five index card to cover everything except the sentence that your child is reading. When they finish a line, they move the card down and repeat the process. • Give the text the finger: Along with the card, have your child follow their reading with their finger, engaging a tactical learning style. • Read out loud or mouth the words: Again, another way to engage verbal processing. Many students don't need to literally talk out load -- mouthing the words serves the same end. • Keep moving: As always, fidgeting is good for the brain. Keep them moving, to keep them on target. • Use three-color highlighting: Highlights are a cheap and easy way to integrate visual memory into the reading process. Buy your child three colors and have them assign a different color to the main points, supporting details, and terms of the reading. • Use bookmarks/flagging: Buy your child some type of "red" flag that they...
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...PROJECT PROPOSAL BOOK READING HABITS OF PRIVATE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS AS OPPOSED TO PUBLIC SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS KOBINA AMISSAH-AYIKU RHODA ANSU YEBOAH PROJECT SUPERVISOR DR. AMANKWAH INTRODUCTION “Reading habits” refers to the behaviour which expresses the liking for reading of individual types and tastes of reading (Sangkaeo 1999). More or less, it refers to the different tastes that individuals have in terms of reading. Book reading is an essential part of any developing nation. Iheanacho (2007) opined that a healthy reading culture has a pivotal role to play in the social, economic and technological development of any country. All the developed nations that exist in our world today are where they are because they managed to obtain a high level of reading and so therefore have expanded their understanding of life. To Holte (1998), the importance of reading is essential to full participation in modern society because it adds value to life and provides access to culture and cultural heritage. We can therefore see the importance of reading in our everyday lives. PROBLEM STATEMENT In the study, we intend to find out if our Senior High School students have been able to adopt good reading habits which might be beneficial to themselves and the nation as a whole. We raise the issue of book reading habits because we feel that our fellow Ghanaians do not actively engage themselves in reading which will be able to develop them really well. This statement is based on our experience...
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...Whalin Malan English 1 Honors May 31, 2014 Poetry Analysis #1 An Analysis of “A Study of Reading Habits” by Philip Larkin “A Study of Reading Habits,” by Phillip Larkin is a short poem about a male character that goes through the three main stages of life and reads specific books during these times. The narrator experiences life first as a child, then a teenager, and finally an adult. The books he chooses to read express how he has changed during each stage. The author’s use of symbolism, irony, and imagery help to convey the theme that ignoring reality only makes life harder to deal with. “When getting my nose in a book/Cured most things short of school” (Larkin). In the first stanza Larkin describes a boy who uses books as a way to escape reality so that he does not have to face the harshness of life. In lines 5-6, the author uses symbolism. “deal out the old right hook/ to dirty dogs twice my size” (Larkin). It represents the speaker’s imagination while reading books. It shows that he is still a child. “The alliteration of ‘dirty dogs’ is symbolism of the persona’s bullies” (Sophtaytay). The speaker is using books to imagine beating those who bully him in the real world. “No man who was a professional librarian throughout his life… would make the statement that concludes the poem: "Books are a load of crap."” (Wood). It is ironic that an author would refer to books as “crap.” This shows that Larkin is not the speaker. It also shows how dramatically the speaker...
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...Learning Strategies Development Study Skills and Habits Questionnaire Name______________________________ Date______________ Instructions: Please answer each question using the 5 point scale, to best reflect what you ACTUALLY DO or HAVE DONE as a student. The information can be used to help identify areas of strength and potential change, so be as open as you can be! Scale: 1 = rarely or never like me 4 = fairly like me 2 = not often like me 3 = sometimes like me 5 = a lot or always like me Health Habits 1. I eat healthy food every 3-4 hours, while awake. 1 2 3 4 5 2. I sleep 7-8 hours on a regular schedule, at night.. 1 2 3 4 5 3. I am physically active (exercise, sport, walking) for at least 5 hours/week. 1 2 3 4 5 4. I have 30-60 minutes of unstructured down time, daily. 1 2 3 4 5 Time Management 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. I find it easy to stick to a study schedule. When I decide to study, I can start and keep going. I spread out my study time, to avoid cramming. I have enough time in my week to study. I spend more time on difficult courses. My on-line time is under control: it doesn’t interfere with other things. 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 Attitude 7. I am able to study subjects that I don’t really like. 8. I like learning, not just the thought of a good job. 9. I attend class. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration 10. 11. 12. 13. I concentrate...
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...EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY ON INDIVIDUAL EARNINGS: LEADERSHIP ROLE OCCUPANCY AS MEDIATOR SUMMARY: Personality plays a major role towards work behavior and work-related outcomes. Among the 11 traits from Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire results, the researchers chose three – Social Potency, Achievement, and Stress Reaction. People high in Social Potency are forceful and decisive, persuasive and like to influence others, and take charge of and likes to be noticed in events (right column, page 2). People high in Achievement work hard, enjoy demanding projects, persist where others give up, and put work and accomplishment before many other things (right column, page 2). People high in Stress Reaction are nervous, vulnerable, sensitive, and prone to worry, and are likely to experience emotions without reason (right column, page 2). The researchers conducted longitudinal surveys drawn from Minnesota Twin Registry in testing their hypothesis. Their sample was 209 white males and the controlled variable was human capital, which was very large. After the survey, they found out that Social Potency and Achievement are positively correlated to earnings. Unfortunately, the survey failed to show significant relationship between Stress Reaction and earnings. There were 3 major limitations to this study. First, this study is only focused on white male employees due to lack of female samples with the same age. Second, their sample size (209 white males) was not ratio to their...
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...ABSTRACT This study is carried out in order to examine the causes and effects of poor reading habits among junior secondary school students in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. It has been observed that most JSS students cannot read, for this reason it is the intension of the researcher to look at those factors that make reading a difficult problem for students to examine that likely affects their reading difficult and the nation at large as well as the suggest solutions to this reading difficulty and the nation at large as well as the suggest solutions to this reading difficulty as reading underlines all teaching activities in the schools. This investigation was based on some questions. The analysis of the data collected culminate in the following findings. 1. That non availability of teaching aid and reading materials in school contributed to the reading disability. 2. That physical and mental defects among students also leads to poor reading habits. 3. That the teachers methods of teaching can impede reading progress. 4. That poor reading upbringing and lack of motivation from parents and teachers hinders reading ability. 5. And that the effect of poor reading habits is the cause of failure in the examinations. Based on these findings, the researcher makes some suggestions and recommendations on how to overcome the problems in order to improve students speech and comprehension. TABLE OF CONTENT Chapter One 1.1 Background to...
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...educ.utas.edu.au/users/tle/JOURNAL/ ISSN 1327-774X Investigating Reading Habits and Preferences of Student Teachers at Foreign Language Departments Muhlise Coşgun Ögeyik & Esin Akyay Trakya University Faculty of Education Edirne, Turkey Abstract This study investigates reading habits and general views on reading of the students attending teacher training departments. Since reading is one of the principal skills while teaching and learning a second or foreign language, it is assumed that the gathered data in this sample study will highlight educators to get a general profile about reading habits and preferences of students. The participants of the study are the students attending English Language Teaching and German Language Teaching Departments of the Faculty of Education at Trakya University, Turkey. For data collection, a questionnaire with 40 items was designed and administered on 187 students. The questionnaire investigated the students’ general attitudes towards reading and their preferences of reading. The research findings revealed that the students from both departments had positive attitudes towards reading and were widely involved in reading activities. Another optimistic outcome was that the students read both in native and foreign languages. Key words: Reading habit, attitudes towards reading, reading preferences, foreign language education Introduction Reading, which is a long-term habit starting with the very early ages, is the prominent gateway to the knowledge...
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