At the recent opening of the new Punggol regional library, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong highlighted that despite the rise of social media and quick reads, the demand for long-form reading remains unabated, with book sales going up and longer articles on Medium and Substack doing well.
However, it is true that social media can distract and steal time that could be invested in more thoughtful reading.
My 13-year-old son tried generating an answer to his homework using my ChatGPT account . He told me that although the answer was passable, some facts were inaccurate. Online-first reading material such as Chinese web novels and Korean webtoons, expand reading possibilities. Avid readers follow #BookToks to discover new reads and most teens prefer to read the news online rather than in print.
Based on a 2021 survey of 5,732 secondary school students, 61.2 per cent state that they read storybooks in hardcopy compared to 45.5 per cent who read them on their smartphones.Re-reading, which is a form of slow reading, is also more likely to happen with print books. With a well-chosen book, students are provided with opportunities to discuss characters and themes in detail.
Reading literature thus encourages empathy and theory of the mind, or the ability to understand the mental states of others. Maryanne Wolf in Reader, Come Home, speaks of the need to be aware of the different advantages of skimming and scanning as well as focused deep reading.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Commentary: How Singaporeans can help beef up country’s food security — buying local is one stepIn a country often referred to as a food paradise, the tiny island nation of Singapore appears to never run out of things to eat. Everywhere you look, hawker stalls, restaurants, and fast-food chains line the streets, making it a foodie haven for all.
Read more »
Commentary: Like the US, Asia is less than enthusiastic about another Biden termThe majority of American voters believe US President Joe Biden should not run for re-election, while Asia’s hopes about the Biden administration have not been realised, says Trisha Craig of Yale-NUS College.
Read more »
Commentary: Getting smokers to take up vaping means swapping one health risk with anotherThe United Kingdom government set out ambitious plans in 2019 to make England smoke free by 2030. To achieve this, they recently announced plans to offer free vape starter kits to one million smokers in a bid to help them quit.
Read more »
Commentary: Yoon and Biden meeting sends a message to North Korea and ChinaUS-South Korea ties are being redefined by geopolitical concerns on South Korea’s doorstep, says a Tufts University professor.
Read more »
Commentary: People with long COVID continue to experience medical gaslightingMore than 3 years into the pandemic, some patients who experience symptoms after a COVID-19 infection still feel like they are treated less seriously by some healthcare professionals, leading to stigma, say these Simon Fraser University academics.
Read more »
Commentary: There’s no missing the political signal behind the sunken warship drill by US, PhilippinesAs the “shoulder to shoulder” Balikatan exercises grow more complex in scale, China will take even greater interest in the evolving Philippine-US alliance, says the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Collin Koh.
Read more »