| YOUNG PEOPLE'S READING IN SOUTH AFRICA: A PILOT PROJECT |
Kader Asmal (the S.A. Minister of Education) has announced that this year to be the Year of the Reader. However, without insight into children’s reading habits, preferences and information use it is difficult for publishers, librarians, teachers, et cetera to motivate children and young people to read and use information. Information skills such as collecting, analysing and organizing information, and communicating ideas and information have been identified as key competencies for effective participation in the emerging patterns of work and work organization. Without high levels of literacy this is not possible. Electronic media, such as the Internet, require a higher level of literacy than traditional printed texts. Thus children who do not have a relatively high level of literacy will be permanently disadvantaged in their future lives. It is essential if we are to turn new or reluctant readers into fluent, voluntary readers to understand and have insight into the needs and interests of young readers. Once children can read fluently, finding something for them to read which is rewarding and allows them to experience the pleasure of reading is crucial if we are to turn them into lifetime readers. Dr Machet from the CLRU has completed a report on young people’s reading in South Africa. This report is the result of a pilot project on the reading interests and information use of South African children and young adults iniated by Dr Sandra Olėn and carried out by the members of the CLRU. This project is part of a greater study carried out by The Children’s Literature Research Centre, Roehampton Institute in London, UK, which examined what young people are reading at the end of the 20th century and culminated in a report entitled Young People’s reading at the end of the century (1996). Following the success of the British based study, it was suggested that similar studies be conducted in other countries, such as South Africa. A pilot project was carried out in primary and secondary schools in Pretoria. One of the aims of this pilot project was to establish the most efficient ways of conducting a research project of this magnitude. It was also hoped that the survey would provide insight into children and young adult’s reading interests and information usage. This information is urgently needed as there are no surveys of children’s reading interests in South Africa and it cannot be assumed that all South African children’s reading interests are the same as those of western children. The project surveyed a representative sample of over two thousand learners in the age group 10 to 16 of South African learners from Grades 5 to 10 by means of a detailed questionnaire. The sample of learners takes into account variables such as languages; gender; type of school attended (i.e. government funded and private). Although there are limitations of this survey, it is still sufficiently large to enable us to come to some conclusions as to children’s reading in urban areas of South Africa. The survey focuses on identifying why and how young people in South Africa choose books (and other texts such as comics and magazines), as understanding this process may help those involved in writing, publishing and providing texts (from comics to novels and electronic publications). The survey also tries to find ways of identifying what kinds of are most suitable for different readers (for example, reluctant readers, second language readers and so on). Some of the goals incorporated into the pilot study are to understand the relationship between reading and attitudes to a range of topical social issues such as AIDS and pregnancy; to examine the ways in which children and young adults encounter and choose what to read; provide information about the reading habits and information usage of children and young adults of different age, sex, class, ethnic background, geographical location and educational sector; and the influence and effect on reading of new media such as electronic texts. The report entitled "Young people’s reading in South Africa: a pilot project" may be purchased from the Children’s Literature Research Uint, Department of Information Science, Unisa for R150.00 plus postage. If you have any queries contact Dr Myrna Machet (012) 429-6340, e-mail machemp@unisa.ac.za |
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