Aliteracy (sometimes spelled alliteracy) is the state of being able to read but being uninterested in doing so. This phenomenon has been reported on as a problem occurring separately from
illiteracy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
, which is more common in the developing world, while aliteracy is primarily a problem in the developed world. In 2002, John Ramsey defined aliteracy as a loss of a reading habit usually since reading is slow and frustrating for the reader.
Unesco International Book Year report
In a publication analyzing the 1972
International Book Year
1972 was proclaimed International Book Year by the United Nations and made effective by UNESCO.
In international book year(1972), jikji was recognized publicly as the oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, by Dr. Park Byeongseon ...
, an estimate was given that as many as 57% of the citizens of an unnamed European nation known for their production of important books did not read books, or that 43% were book readers. Estimates for other industrialized nations' active readers ranged from 33 to 55%.
Commentary from authors, businesses and educators
Jim Trelease
James Joseph Trelease (March 23, 1941 – July 28, 2022) was an American educator and author who stressed reading aloud to children to instill a love of literature.
Life
Jim Trelease was born on March 23 in Orange, New Jersey, Orange, New Jerse ...
, author of ''The Read-Aloud Handbook'', has stated that this trend away from the written word is more than worrisome, and that it's tearing apart culture. People who have stopped reading, he says, "base their future decisions on what they used to know...If you don't read much, you really don't know much...you're dangerous."
American historian
Daniel Boorstin
Daniel Joseph Boorstin (October 1, 1914 – February 28, 2004) was an American historian at the University of Chicago who wrote on many topics in American and world history. He was appointed the twelfth Librarian of the United States Congress in ...
, in 1984, while serving as
librarian of Congress
The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. In addition to overseeing the library, the Libra ...
, issued a landmark report: "Books in Our Future". Citing recent statistics that only about half of all Americans read regularly every year, he referred to the "twin menaces" of illiteracy and aliteracy. "In the United States today," Boorstin wrote, "aliteracy is widespread."
In the United States, a 2008 study reported that 46.7% of adult Americans did not read a book not required for work or school during 2002.
Another alert to this phenomenon was a 1991 editorial in
''Fortune'' magazine by Stratford P. Sherman (with Laurie Kretchmar). It refers to a study by John P. Robinson, a sociology professor at the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
, showing that the average American at that time spent only 24 minutes per day in reading.
Samuel Robert Lichter
S. Robert Lichter is a Professor of Communication at George Mason University, where he directs the Center for Media and Public Affairs, which conducts scientific studies of the news and entertainment media, and formerly directed the Statistical A ...
, director of the
Center for Media and Public Affairs The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) is a self-described nonpartisan and nonprofit research and educational organization that is affiliated with George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by political scientists ...
, is quoted on his preference for the ease of turning on the TV instead of reading a book.
Kylene Beers' 1996 study connected aliteracy with reading motivation in teens. She noted unmotivated readers complained about not connecting with the text and could not "see" or visualize what was happening in the book. The inability to relate to the characters reduced the desire to read.
Robert Putnam
Robert David Putnam (born 1941) is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Putnam develo ...
, in his book ''Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community'' argues that
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
has fragmented our society.
Ways to create readers
![Reading time in Laos - Big Brother Mouse book corner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Reading_time_in_Laos_-_Big_Brother_Mouse_book_corner.jpg)
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
is mentioned as making preparations to pay $5,000,000 to teach their workers reading skills, and
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
is described as, since 1982, having already sent 32,000 workers to a similar program. Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
was quoted as predicting a market of $500,000,000 per year in the sales of remedial programs to corporations.
Steven Layne's book,
Igniting a Passion for Reading discusses several proven methods that readers can do to increase the desire to read in others.
One method is to read aloud, both to children and adults. Reading aloud allows the listener to hear the story without struggling through decoding the words and possible frustration.
Another method, used in schools, is to encourage students to read every day, choosing for themselves what to read, and reading simply for enjoyment. This is often referred to as
Sustained Silent Reading Sustained silent reading (SSR) is a form of school-based recreational reading, or free voluntary reading, where students read silently in a designated period every day, with the underlying assumption being that students learn to read by reading cons ...
(SSR). Dr. Stephen Krashen, a leading proponent of SSR, looked at 54 studies of such programs and found that in general, they were successful at improving reading skills and building a reading habit.
[Krashen, Stephen D., 2011. ''Free Voluntary Reading.'' Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, chapter 1.]
See also
*''
Books v. Cigarettes'' (an essay by
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
)
*
Functional illiteracy
Functional illiteracy consists of reading and writing skills that are inadequate "to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level". Those who read and write only in a language other than the predominant ...
*
Literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
*
Postliterate society
A post-literate society is a hypothetical society in which multimedia technology has advanced to the point where literacy, the ability to read or write, is no longer necessary or common. The term appears as early as 1962 in Marshall McLuhan's ''T ...
*
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
*
Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries Act
*
Transliteracy
Transliteracy is "a fluidity of movement across a range of technologies, media and contexts" (Sukovic, 2016). It is an ability to use diverse techniques to collaborate across different social groups.
Transliteracy combines a range of capabilities ...
External links
Reducing "Alliteracy" in High School Students, by Joanne CollisonBook Industry StatisticsReading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America (NEA)*"Booksellers Lament Web Sales, Aliteracy; Stores Search for a Niche amid Reader Falloff" The Washington Times, September 27, 2007.
*
ttp://stevenfama.blogspot.com/2008/10/gutenberg-blues.html "Gutenberg Blues", (essay on aliteracy) by John Olson, in ''the glade of theoric ornithic hermetica'', October 29, 2008br>
Newsweek review of ''The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30)''by
Mark Bauerlein
Mark Weightman Bauerlein (born 1959) is an English professor emeritus at Emory University and senior editor of ''First Things'' journal. He also serves as a visitor of Ralston College, a start-up liberal arts college in Savannah.
Early life ...
June 2 2008
"Twilight of the Books" an essay on the decline of reading from
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
, December 24, 2007
References
{{Literacy
Reading (process)
Literacy