Why Reading Books Still Matters

This book illustrates the power of literature and human arts to instill social values and foster change. It offers a valuable foundation for the field of literacy education by providing knowledge about the importance of language and literature that educators can use in their own teaching and advocacy work.

Auteur

Martha C. Pennington is Professorial Research Associate in the Department of Linguistics, School of Oriental and African Studies, and Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.

Robert P. Waxler is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, USA, and cofounder of Changing Lives Through Literature.

Résumé
Bringing together strands of public discourse about valuing personal achievement at the expense of social values and the impacts of global capitalism, mass media, and digital culture on the lives of children, this book challenges the potential of science and business to solve the world's problems without a complementary emphasis on social values. The selection of literary works discussed illustrates the power of literature and human arts to instill such values and foster change. The book offers a valuable foundation for the field of literacy education by providing knowledge about the importance of language and literature that educators can use in their own teaching and advocacy work.

Contenu

Forward by Jack C. Richards

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. The Value of a Literate Culture

Chapter 2. A Sketch of our World, Current and Future

Chapter 3. The Digital World

Chapter 4. Living Life Onscreen and Online

Chapter 5. Reading Onscreen and Online

Chapter 6. Education and Literacy in Digital Culture

Chapter 7. How Fiction and Poetry Work Their Magic

Chapter 8. A Closer Look at Reading

Chapter 9. Psychological Effects of Reading Literature

Chapter 10. We Point the Way and Take You Halfway There

Chapter 11. Mapping an Alternative Future