Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Riskia's excellent suggestion and more evidence for the power of reading

Sent to the Jakarta Post, August 5

Rizkia's excellent letter (August 6) on sustained silent reading made some important points, including the wonderful suggestion that the government should provide reading materials for all schools, urban and rural, before sustained silent reading is implemented. 
I have two friendly amendments:
Rizkia cites research, including mine, showing that there is a connection between free reading and TEOFL performance. Readers of the Jakarta Post might be interested in knowing that current research done by Beniko Mason shows a clear connection between free reading and performance on another well-known test, the TOEIC.
Rizkia attributes the interest in sustained silent reading in the US with No Child Left Behind.  Sadly, neither No Child Left Behind nor the current Common Core have encouraged sustained silent reading.  In fact, the Common Core makes it very difficult to include any free voluntary reading in school.
Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

Rizkia's letter: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/06/your-letters-reading-and-character-building.html#sthash.uJpZlngR.dpuf

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