READING

European Conference on ReadingMons 31.7.—3.8.2011

Katri Sarmavuori

WHAT IS IT?

What is it?

— thinking, reasoning— psycholinguistic guessing game (Goodman 1987)— radical, revolutionary (Bloom 2001)— poaching (Lyons 2010)— R = D x C (Lundberg 1989)— information seeking, creating meaning— dancing with an unknown partner— dancing with an invisible partner (Blanchot 2003)

Reading— meaning— aim— target— studying— amusement— skill

— generates ideas and stimulates creativity: readers think creatively as they bring the reader’s text alive through their imagination— stimulates the imagination and aids intellectual developmenthelps develop a critical and thinking mind— aids personal growth and emotional development— helps us to shape, store and reflect on our past and our future, by experiencing the life of other periods— gives a better understanding of human nature and insight into life; offers role models— offers cultural and ethnic awareness and understanding of moral codes /ethics /values— offers social awareness of different regions, communities and peer groups, and understanding of the complexities of relationships— enables the reader to see things from other angles, to appreciate and understand other people’s problems, aiding tolerance and understanding (Elkin, Train & Denham 2003, 12)

Understanding of reading— experience of life— earlier knowledge— age— susceptibility — different theories

Understanding theories

— hermeneutic and newcritical tradition— reception theory— transaction theory— envisioning

— instructional science of mother tongue— not literature science

Analysis and interpretation

Physiologybraineyes

Reading pathway in the brain (Wolfe & Nevills 2004, 24)

Reading pathway (Wolfe & Nevills 2004, 24)

Languagephonological awareness

vocabulary

Tool and genre— book— webb— fiction— informational literature— newspaper

Methods to teach to read— synthetic— analytic— mixed methods

Reading strategies

Eine Lust zu lesenAimer lire

Harold Bloom The Western Canon (1994):William ShakespeareDante (Alighieri)Geoffrey ChaucerMiquel de CervantesMichel de MontaigneMolièreJohn MiltonSamuel JohnsonJohann Wolfgang von GoetheWilliam WordsworthJane AustenWalt WhitmanCharles DickinsonGeorge EliotLeo TolstoiHenrik IbsenSigmund FreudMarcel ProustVirginia WoolfFranz KafkaJorge Luis BorgesPablo NerudaFernando Pessoa Samuel Beckett

Canon, classicsShakespeare: Hamlet, Romeo and JulietKalevalaRuneberg: Fänrik Ståls sägnerTopelius: Birch and starAleksis Kivi: Seven brothersGogol: Overcoat

Ibsen: Doll houseMinna Canth: Priest’s familyStrindberg: Miss JulieKianto: Red lineJuhani Aho: JuhaSillanpää: SiljaMika Waltari: Sinuhe, EgyptianOrwell: Animal farmSteinbeck: Pearl

Camus: L’étranger, StrangerVäinö Linna: Unknown soldierTove Jansson: Moominpapa and the seaVeikko Huovinen: Havukka-aho’s philosopherArto Paasilinna: Year of hare, Le lièvre de Vatanen