Why do people read? Do people still read for leisure? These thoughts profoundly litter my mind as I ponder exactly when reading has slowly moved from being a past-time to being a chore.
This thought may have been spurred by the recent seminar I attended— a Writeshop for Collaborative Crafting of Journal Papers. One of my colleagues shared her disdain for the lack of avid readers in her class. This allowed us the opportunity to share our own experiences thus creating an avenue for ideas to start researching on reading comprehension in students.
There is a colossal difference between scanning a text and internalizing or understanding the material. Individuals can simply read a text; however, comprehension is a different scenario altogether. Reading comprehension then begins to be an acquired skill instead due to the rise of people who unfortunately lack proper understanding of texts that they read.
According to the research done by the World Bank, there is such a thing as Learning Poverty – the inability of individuals to “…read and understand a short, age-appropriate text by age 10.” Though this may be an alarming statement, somehow it makes sense what with the rise of technology and the different facets of learning that are made available to 21st century learners.
Numbers don’t lie and the output, based on their research, shows that Learning Poverty in the Philippines is a whopping “56.4 percentage points higher than the average for the East Asia and Pacific region and 30.5 percentage points higher than the average for lower middle-income countries.” The issue of reading comprehension (or lack thereof) should start with the love for reading. Now, this pushes us to ask the question: whose fault is this?
Perhaps there is no exact answer to pinpoint the culprit for such an increase in Learning Poverty but it does shine a light on our education system as well as our social classes. To put it bluntly, though the country may provide free education to its people, some of the quality of education is questionable. There is no standard of teaching and sadly, quality education is not afforded to everyone – nor is it given by others. The passion for reading lies in the hands of the instructors, yet there are others who are not avid readers. If that is the case, other teachers do not walk the talk. So, how can they instill that passion if they themselves are not even open to the prospect of reading? And with the lack of reading, thus comes the lack of comprehension. With the lack of comprehension, reading then becomes a chore.
The lack of quality reading instruction is just one of the reasons why the Filipinos have not developed their reading comprehension, the other aspect would be their social class. When raised in lower income families, a large number of students do not find the need, nor the time, to read. Instead, children would rather spend their free time either playing with their peers or working and helping their parents. Because of this, when faced with a text, they tend to be intimidated by the length and complexity of the words.
The timing of this issue could not have been any more cliché as Dumaguete Literary Festival recently concluded. The event was more than just a success! However, I would have wanted it to last longer and would have preferred to have a bigger audience. Literature. Readers. What then can they do for society? We are faced with the dilemma, how can literature help people? I tell you now, the love for literature spurs the love for reading and the love for reading opens the doors for reading comprehension. Reading comprehension, with the changing of times, is now demanded. Thus, reading comprehension is a skill everyone needs to acquire.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
