The Many Benefits Of Reading Books
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” –Frederick Douglass |
No single enterprise does as much to improve a student's academic performance as the simple act of reading independently. As I have mentioned elsewhere on this site, the National Endowment for the Arts published a study, entitled "To Read or Not to Read", indicating that the "frequency of reading for pleasure correlates strongly with academic achievement.”
In the UK, the National Literacy Trust published a similar study, entitled "Reading For Pleasure", outlining the many benefits children enjoy when they read for pleasure. In addition to an increased literary facility, this study found that pleasure reading also increases "general knowledge", "understanding of other cultures", "community participation", and "insight into human nature and decision-making. For additional statistics and information, see the Literacy Trust's study. independent reading also improves interpersonal skills and other individual qualities. A study published recently in Science Magazine, and described in a front page New York Times article asserts that reading literary fiction improves such important social skills as empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence; the theory behind this study is that literary fiction leaves so much to the reader's imagination that it compels readers to make character inferences and heightens readers' sensitivity to emotional subtleties and complexity. As another recent study, conducted at Emory University and published in the journal Brain Connectivity, has shown, reading a good and gripping novel produces physical and calculable changes in the reader's brain; moreover, these changes persist in the brain for up to five days. According to the study's administrators, a compelling novel boosts neural connectivity in a way akin to the development of muscle memory. Whereas we have always understood that it is possible for reading to transport us emotionally into the body of a book's protagonist, this research suggests that, to some extent, good books also trigger a biological transportation into the protagonist's shoes. Perhaps the best case for reading is that it actually makes you smarter. Certainly, reading expands your vocabulary and affords you information you might otherwise never learn, but more significantly, reading enhances your memory and your capacity for analytical thinking. Other studies show that readers are generally more successful in their careers than non-readers. Need I say more?! |
“A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance.” –Lyndon Baines Johnson |
