By FOONG KAH MEI
As a child, we have been told about the importance of soft skills such as public speaking and managerial skills but hardly do we ever highlight on reading skills.
Reading offers us much benefits but how many actually do read during their spare time?
The World Education Report (1993) states that Malaysia then had one of the lowest literacy rates at 78.4% whereas Southeast Asian countries like Philippines, Thailand and Singapore were at 89.7%, 93% and 100% respectively. Now, the country’s literacy rate has increased to 85%.
There is a slight improvement over the years but if readers do not start cultivating good reading habits, it will be very unlikely for the literacy rate to increase further.
Reading allows us to improve ourselves through holistic learning on the premise that each individual finds meaning, identity and purpose in life. It emphasises on each aspect’s relationship to form the whole – connections between mind and body as well as between the individual and the community.
Reading, in a way, relates to writing, speaking, listening comprehension and culture.
For centuries, reading materials like newspapers and magazines have been doing a great job in allowing us to reap these benefits. They convey useful facts that answer the questions that readers might have, as well as allow them to think critically and creatively.
Instead of having separate boxes in our head for History or Modern Science, a deep understanding of a topic allow students to link facts and form a bigger picture.
Students are exposed to holistic learning through credible reading materials and explore its depth of information.
However, the emergence of instant articles on Facebook, which are quick-loading stories, has changed the way information is now being consumed by readers. These articles have taken the world by storm with the evolution of news from publishers such as BuzzFeed.
Fragmented information obtained from instant articles could possibly hinder students’ holistic learning of knowledge. This is due to the articles’ content that only scratches the surface of a topic with summarised explanation.
Readers will not be able to go in depth, hence causing a shallow understanding on that particular subject.
Certain instant articles are brief, catering to readers with increasingly short attention span. Young readers, especially students, are likely to be attracted to visuals and audios when compared to words.
These articles are written specifically to appeal to the human interest so that they are easily relatable.
Funny or memorable videos are embedded alongside to engage readers’ attention. These videos provoke the desired emotions from them, leaving a strong impact on their news reading experience.
Quotes taken from movies or series are a favourite way to include humour into articles, creating light-hearted news.
Instant articles appeal to young readers who wants a quick read on the go. Students view them as something to read for leisure whereas newspapers and magazines are perceived as materials to read intensively.
In other words, publishers are giving what the readers want and not what the readers need.
If this new publishing format is proven successful in increasing online readership, Facebook would continue to maintain its dominance in news distribution. This could possibly cause news publishers to become even more dependent on a platform where they will have no control over its content.
Their content will be dependent on what readers expect out of them.
While Facebook has slowly but steadily become a primary channel of online news distribution for the media, there are still aspects of instant articles that students should take note of.
These articles may be fast and interactive but the information provided may not be enough for students to gain an insight into what is important. It might not be of a good use to students who need to do research for academic purposes.
Students should therefore improve their way of learning by selecting credible sources of information to gain their knowledge from.
Reading offers us much benefits but how many actually do read during their spare time?
The World Education Report (1993) states that Malaysia then had one of the lowest literacy rates at 78.4% whereas Southeast Asian countries like Philippines, Thailand and Singapore were at 89.7%, 93% and 100% respectively. Now, the country’s literacy rate has increased to 85%.
There is a slight improvement over the years but if readers do not start cultivating good reading habits, it will be very unlikely for the literacy rate to increase further.
Reading allows us to improve ourselves through holistic learning on the premise that each individual finds meaning, identity and purpose in life. It emphasises on each aspect’s relationship to form the whole – connections between mind and body as well as between the individual and the community.
Reading, in a way, relates to writing, speaking, listening comprehension and culture.
For centuries, reading materials like newspapers and magazines have been doing a great job in allowing us to reap these benefits. They convey useful facts that answer the questions that readers might have, as well as allow them to think critically and creatively.
Instead of having separate boxes in our head for History or Modern Science, a deep understanding of a topic allow students to link facts and form a bigger picture.
Students are exposed to holistic learning through credible reading materials and explore its depth of information.
However, the emergence of instant articles on Facebook, which are quick-loading stories, has changed the way information is now being consumed by readers. These articles have taken the world by storm with the evolution of news from publishers such as BuzzFeed.
Fragmented information obtained from instant articles could possibly hinder students’ holistic learning of knowledge. This is due to the articles’ content that only scratches the surface of a topic with summarised explanation.
Readers will not be able to go in depth, hence causing a shallow understanding on that particular subject.
Certain instant articles are brief, catering to readers with increasingly short attention span. Young readers, especially students, are likely to be attracted to visuals and audios when compared to words.
These articles are written specifically to appeal to the human interest so that they are easily relatable.
Funny or memorable videos are embedded alongside to engage readers’ attention. These videos provoke the desired emotions from them, leaving a strong impact on their news reading experience.
Quotes taken from movies or series are a favourite way to include humour into articles, creating light-hearted news.
Instant articles appeal to young readers who wants a quick read on the go. Students view them as something to read for leisure whereas newspapers and magazines are perceived as materials to read intensively.
In other words, publishers are giving what the readers want and not what the readers need.
If this new publishing format is proven successful in increasing online readership, Facebook would continue to maintain its dominance in news distribution. This could possibly cause news publishers to become even more dependent on a platform where they will have no control over its content.
Their content will be dependent on what readers expect out of them.
While Facebook has slowly but steadily become a primary channel of online news distribution for the media, there are still aspects of instant articles that students should take note of.
These articles may be fast and interactive but the information provided may not be enough for students to gain an insight into what is important. It might not be of a good use to students who need to do research for academic purposes.
Students should therefore improve their way of learning by selecting credible sources of information to gain their knowledge from.