Self-study and classroom lessons based on newspaper feature stories

This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations.

November 11, 2003

To read or not to read

INTRODUCTION

The story for you to read today is an excerpt from a longer one about the state of reading in Thailand. It seems there is a problem. Thais don’t like to read. At least that’s what surveys have found. So the writer of today’s story talked with two students and a professor to find out why.
Of carrots and sticks

In the introduction to her story, Kanjariya Sukrung uses the expression ‘carrot and stick strategy’. That is an expression that means ‘you persuade somebody to try harder by offering them a reward if they do, or a punishment if they do not.’ In the expression what is the reward; what is the punishment?

In the first paragraph of the story, what is the carrot for Vasana’s nephew? Is there a stick? Do you think the strategy (plan) worked in that case? The writer says that the strategy does work. What do you think will happen to make Vasana’s nephew begin to enjoy books?

As you read, you will discover the main idea of this story. Is it that Thais are poor readers, or is it that Thai people generally do not enjoy reading?
Find out for yourselves

When you read a story that makes some statements based on surveys, do you ever wonder if the same is true for the people you know? It’s interesting to wonder and even better to find out. That’s what you have a chance to do today.

After you have read today’s story, use the guidelines below to write some survey questions you can ask your colleagues, acquaintances, friends and family.

Find out how much time each person spends reading in one day.

Ask how much of that reading time is work- or study-related.

Ask what kind of material the person reads.

Find out how much leisure time each person has in a day and how she or he spends that time.

If a person does not spend 30 minutes or more per day reading for pleasure, find out why.

Find out if the person was read to and read as a child.

Ask how many books the person buys in a year and find out what type of books they are.

When you do a survey it is important that everyone ask the same questions in the same way, so cooperate with your classmates or study group friends to write one set of questions.

After you have conducted your survey, total your results together. How do your results compare to those reported in today’s story? Are your acquaintances better read than those in the survey, or do they confirm the survey results?
What does 95 percent mean?

The story states that Thailand’s literacy rate is 95 percent. Does the story indicate how literacy is measured? For example, what does someone have to be able to do to be considered ‘literate’? Is it important in this story for the writer to explain that?

What do you think should be the criteria? What should a ‘literate’ person be able to read, understand and use – simple instructions like those on medicines, a daily newspaper? What should a ‘literate’ person be able to write – his or her name, the information on a government form, a letter asking for a refund from a company, a letter to a newspaper? What would your standard be?

How can people be encouraged to read more for pleasure? Would the carrot and stick approach work for people you know? What kind of rewards would you offer? Work with your classmates or study group friends to make some suggestions that would encourage people to read more for pleasure.

OUR STORY FROM THE BANGKOK POST

To be or not to be?
Thais are not fond of reading,
and numerous efforts have done little to change that
Story by KARNJARIYA SUKRUNG
Picture by — SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT

Know these words and phrases

bid
an attempt

inculcate
to cause somebody to learn and remember something, especially by repeating it often

bribe
to give a sum of money to persuade someone to do something

ploy
words or actions carefully planned to get an advantage over someone

merit
a good feature

slacking
working less hard than you should do

literacy
the ability to read and write to an agreed standard

impressive
making you feel that something is very good

respondent
a person who answers questions, especially in a survey

frown on
to think negatively about

applaud
to express praise for

deem
to have a particular opinion about something

torture
mental or physical suffering

compulsory
required; must be done

genre
a particular type or style of literature, art, film or music

counterpart
a person in the same position as someone else in a different place

avid
very enthusiastic

bleak
not hopeful or encouraging

In a bid to inculcate a bit of passion for books in her nephew, Vasana bribed the ten-year-old boy, promising 1,000 baht if he could finish the Thai translation of The Never Ending Story. The boy accepted the offer and to his aunt’s surprise, finished the book within a few days.

He spent the prize money on a new mouse to play computer games and resumed his routine in front of the computer screen and television.

To keep the reading habit going, Vasana is now preparing a new book as well as prize money. She hopes that this ploy will eventually help the boy to develop a fondness for books at some point in the future, and that she will not have to bribe him any more.

One could debate the merits of this carrot and the stick strategy, yet it works, not only on Vasana’s nephew, but also on many other children as well.

Sad but true, many youngsters these days do not consider reading to be a form of entertainment. Books are out — Internet chat rooms, computer games and others sorts of entertainment are in.

Chutima, a 17-year-old student, said that she preferred watching television, listening to the radio, hanging out with friends at the mall, going to movies, or just slacking to kill time.

Thai adults are also not fond of reading. “We don’t even like reading short instructions on drugs or other products,” one person said.

Reading is not a habit of the Thais, or so it is said. Although over two decades have been spent on campaigns and activities to promote leisure reading — in recent years Thailand has claimed an increase in the literacy rate to 95 percent — this has not much improved our liking for reading.

According to statistics from “The Reading Habits of the Thai Population,” released last month by the National Statistics Office, 60 percent of Thais spend an average of one hour reading each day. If you think that figure is impressive, though, most such reading is of textbooks or for work-related purposes.

In general, Thais spend only three minutes of their leisure time on reading, according to a previous study by the same institute called “What Thais Do in Their Spare Time”.

Apparently, reading is not a favourite pastime for Thais. The majority of questionnaire respondents said they frowned on reading mainly because of their dislike or disinterest in books, a lack of time, and a preference for television and radio programmes.

“I have a lot of textbooks to go through every day, apart from homework assignments. I’m so tired of books. Whenever I have free time, I want to do something else,” said Chutima, a high school student.

Parents and teachers may applaud Chutima’s studious efforts, which are in line with statistics indicating that up to 40 percent of Thai students spend 30 minutes to one hour each day reading textbooks, but this reading is deemed more of a torture than pleasure.

“If we can’t make reading fun and pleasant for children, they will not read, and this not-reading habit can go on to adulthood when they are out of school — or out of compulsory reading. And that’s what is happening now with today’s adults,” said Dr Tanomwong Lamyodmakpol, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University.

Reading becomes a habit when we love to read, and read when we have free time, she said. Reading for exams was not, therefore, considered a habit.

According to statistics, most Thais read newspapers, magazines, cartoons, fiction, or articles on the Internet.

“We may see an increase in book sales but they are mostly celebrity and how-to books. Books of high literary value or of serious genres are not widely popular,” Dr Tanomwong said.

Several international surveys on reading and education showed that Thai students were lagging behind their counterparts in other Asian countries in terms of reading skills and intelligence. The reading skill of Thai youth fell to an elementary level with regard to being capable of reading and memorising information, one survey pointed out.

None of these problems and the suggested solutions are new. In fact, they have been kicked around at national seminars and private talks for decades. Still, the number of avid readers in Thailand is bleak.

“It’s a matter of cleaning up after the past non-reading generation, and building up a future with a reading population. That’s rather difficult as we need help from today’s adults to form a reading passion among our children. And that’s the difficult part — many adults are not readers,” said Dr Tanomwong.

• This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a second and foreign language and Assistant Manager and Webmaster for Learning Post at the Bangkok Post.

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