Nobody Wants to Read Anymore!

Research 1: Nobody Wants to Read Anymore! Using a Multimodal Approach to Make Literature Engaging by Riki Thompson and Matthew McIlnay(2019)

In this article, Thompson and Mcllnay highlight concerns about changing reading habits, and they address the role of digital media in literacy practices, and the problem of adequate access to reading materials. Having found their research a bit concerning, I started to look closely at how they suggested teachers reinvogarate students’ interest in reading. My take from Thompson and Mcllnay’s article are as follows:

• In English language teaching (ELT) contexts, the use of visual texts  produced positive outcomes, including increasing student participation, improving reading comprehension, inspiring students’ motivation and building confidence.

• A panel of experts argue that the cause of the problem “is the way schools teach reading, with current instructional approaches relying upon outdated methods based on assumptions about learning (Wexler, 2018). Students who aren't interested should be assisted to connect rather than being alienated, and they should be made available materials, including ‘books from an array of genres and text types, magazines, the Internet, resource materials, and real-life documents’(Gambrell, 2011, p. 173).

• By allowing choice, children won’t view reading as a boring activity that is forced upon them.

• As a solution to the problem, they advocate for an eclectic mix of genres, formats and media, and attention to multiple communicative modes. 

• According to Ryu  (2016): ‘Graphic elements can easily lower learners’ emotional and intellectual barriers because a “picture can say a thousand words”’ (p. 64).