Why higher-level reading is important

Abstract

Societies are facing fundamental transformations as digital technologies are changing the ways we live, interact, work, study and read. The social and cultural impact of the digitization process on reading skills and practices remains under-researched. While digital technologies offer much potential for new forms of reading, recent empirical research shows that the digital environment is having a negative impact on reading, in particular on long-form reading and reading comprehension. It also remains unclear whether the transition to digital media actually lives up to its promise of improving learning outcomes. Recent studies of various kinds indicate a decline of crucial higher-level reading competencies and practices, such as critical and conscious reading, slow reading, non-strategic reading and long-form reading. Current educational policy, meanwhile, relies heavily on monocultural standardized testing of basic reading capabilities and on growing use of digital technologies. Reading education, assessment, research and policy-making should focus more on higher-level reading practices in both adults and children in order to understand the development of reading skills and practices in an age increasingly dependent on a ubiquitous digital infrastructure.

Changes in reading habits during COVID-19 confinement in Spain (Cambios en los hábitos lectores durante el confinamiento por COVID-19 en España)

“…The increase in reading habits during COVID-19 confinement could be part of the general increase in healthy habits (López-Bueno et al, 2020). Our results can be framed in a new theoretical line that advocates the study of reading habits at a population level focused on the reasons, functions and consequences of reading beyond basic literacy (Schüller-Zwierlein et al, 2022). This new vision of reading seeks the development of a reading health index as an indicator of well-being, extending and complementing other proposals such as the index for a better life (OECD, 2020).…”

“…Este aumento de los hábitos de lectura durante el confinamiento por COVID-19 podría formar parte del aumento general de los hábitos saludables (López-Bueno et al, 2020). Nuestros resultados pueden enmarcarse en una nueva línea teórica que aboga por el estudio de los hábitos lectores a nivel poblacional centrado en los motivos, funciones y consecuencias de la lectura más allá de la alfabetización básica (Schüller-Zwierlein et al, 2022). Esta nueva visión de la lectura busca el desarrollo de un índice de salud lectora como indicador de bienestar, ampliando y complementando otras propuestas como el índice para una vida mejor (OCDE, 2020).…”

Literary Reading on Paper and Screens: Associations Between Reading Habits and Preferences and Experiencing Meaningfulness

“…An inability or unwillingness to engage with linear, monomodal, and somewhat lengthy texts that may harbor various types and degrees of complexity is unfortunate and may have far‐reaching repercussions both in education as well as in our lives. Illustrative of what has been termed “higher level reading” (Schüller‐Zwierlein et al., 2022), such engagement with extensive, written text is associated with a host of beneficial outcomes, both cognitively and emotionally. Engaging with longer and potentially more complex texts builds readers' vocabulary and nurtures the development of a richer linguistic repertoire than does reading shorter and lexically and semantically simpler texts (see e.g., Pfost et al., 2013).…”

“…More complex texts, for instance, in the shape of literature, require higher level reading skills such as more sophisticated inferencing, more diverse vocabulary, and a greater repertoire of prior knowledge. In return, engaging with such texts nurtures and hones a range of skills that are indispensable in today's increasingly complex environment, such as critical thinking, reflection, analytical skills, creativity, and imagination (see e.g., Greenfield, 2009; Schüller‐Zwierlein et al., 2022; Wolf, 2018).…”

“…While we readily acknowledge these shortcomings, we would nevertheless argue that a text of this length (1900 words) is sufficiently different from the texts typically read on screens, whether on social media or online news channels (e.g., apps, posts, newsfeeds). Moreover, being linear, monomodal (i.e., consisting of written text only), and spanning three to four pages in print, and six to seven pages on screen, Lessing's short story does represent a type of higher level reading that, if not long‐form, invites a mode of reading which differs substantially from that of typical screen media engagement (see Schüller‐Zwierlein et al., 2022 for a more fleshed‐out description of what such differences entail).…”