| By reading a variety of books, magazines, and | | | | reading time dropped as children got older. This |
| newspapers, students gain exposure to complex | | | | has vast implications for language development in |
| vocabulary, and reading becomes a prime | | | | teenagers. Sure, you can probably "talk real good" |
| opportunity for learning new words. ... Given the | | | | by age fifteen, but at that age, English writing |
| importance of reading to lexical development in | | | | tasks are becoming increasingly complex, job |
| school-age children and adolescents, reading should | | | | interviews are beginning and comprehension is |
| be promoted as a leisure activity during these | | | | becoming much more technically demanding as |
| years. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2005 | | | | students are asked to assimilate technical science |
| Literacy is vital to language development. It | | | | and maths data from multiple sources. |
| seems pretty obvious, but it is something we | | | | In the opinions of the authors, speech pathologists |
| may sometimes forget. Parents of kids who don't | | | | should use students preferences to enable them |
| like reading are passionate about getting them to | | | | to continue leisure reading, in whatever form. |
| read "good books." A group of researchers at the | | | | Why is it that I have multiple magazine |
| University of Oregon recently investigated what | | | | subscriptions as an adult, but I had to go out and |
| older children and young adolescents actually like | | | | buy my favorite comics at the newsagent as a |
| reading, and what else they like doing. | | | | kid? I hope I can keep all this in mind when my |
| The results were not particularly surprising. Music | | | | kids slow their reading habit. |
| and TV, sports and video games were the most | | | | Resources: "Literacy as a leisure activity: free-time |
| popular pastimes, while reading feel somewhere in | | | | preferences of older children and young |
| the middle. Magazines were preferred to novels, | | | | adolescents. |
| and comics were also popular. Most importantly, | | | | |