Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus,
University of Southern California
Visiting Scholar, Texas
A&M International University
Jeff McQuillan
Senior Research Associate, Center for
Educational Development
Journal of English Language
Teaching (India). 2017. 59(6): 26-29
ABSTRACT
So far, research confirms that “e-reading” can be helpful for the
acquisition of language and literacy. Because of the high cost of e-readers and
e-books, however, those living in poverty are unable to take advantage of e-reading.
A push toward increasing e-book offerings in libraries will have the effect of
making the gap between the rich and poor wider than it is now, unless the cost
of e-readers is dramatically reduced or the availability of e-readers is
dramatically increased.
It is firmly established that self-selected
pleasure reading is tremendous help to language development, perhaps the best
way to help acquirers progress from beginning stages to the most advanced stages.
The research, until recently, has been confined to reading paper print. There
is, however, reason to suspect that self-selected e-reading can have a similar
impact.
Pratheeba and Krashen (2013) reported a
substantial correlation (r = .78) for advanced speakers of English as a second
language (25 students of engineering at a university
in India) between self-reported reading and a vocabulary test consisting
of words taken from Graduate Record Examination
preparation books, designed for native speakers of English.
Their 20-item questionnaire included four items dealing with
reading from the computer, but only one of these dealt specifically with
pleasure reading: the correlation between vocabulary scores and pleasure
reading on the internet was modest, but it was positive and significant (r = .35,
p = .044). Other forms of reading using
the computer (reading about current affairs, reading for academic purposes,
reading online journals) were not significantly correlated with vocabulary
scores, confirming the power of self-selected reading (Lee, 2007).
Wang and
Lee (2015) asked university students of EFL in Taiwan to engage in web-surfing
in English for 20 minutes at a time at least once a week for one academic year.
Surfers made better gains on tests of
knowledge of infrequently occurring words (those appearing once every 10,000 words
in texts) and academic words and also did better than comparisons on a cloze
test. Their reading was clearly self-selected and related to their own
interests. One subject told Wang and Lee: “I think I can really pick what I like and disregard my dislikes. Then,
I’ll choose what I really want for sure. I definitely won’t choose something
I’m not interested in.”
The Barrier
E-book reading in the
US is far more frequent among those with higher incomes (table 1), most likely
due to the cost of e-book reading devices and e-books themselves.
Table 1:
Percentage who have read a print or e-book in the last 12 months.
|
income
|
print
book
|
e-book
|
|
below
30,000
|
69
|
19
|
|
30,000
- 49,999
|
68
|
26
|
|
50,000
- 74,999
|
69
|
33
|
|
above
75,000
|
73
|
40
|
N = 1520
adults, March, 2016
From: Pew
Research Center, 2016
Table 2 shows that those earning under $30,000 per year in 2015 were
less likely to own e-book reading devices and computers.
Table 2:
Percentage of adults with E-Book-Readers, tablets, computers, smartphones:
|
|
Computers
|
Smartphone
|
E-Readers
|
Tablets
|
|
Below
30
|
50
|
52
|
14
|
28
|
|
30-49,999
|
80
|
69
|
16
|
44
|
|
50-74,999
|
90
|
76
|
22
|
51
|
|
75
& more
|
91
|
87
|
27
|
67
|
Pew
Research Center, 2015.
n = 959 adults,
interview during March/April 2015.
The official 2017 household income poverty
line in the US was $20,600 for a family of four: If one of two wage earners in the family
earns anywhere close to $30,000, this means that the "below $30,000"
category includes families that are well above the poverty line. E-book use and ownership of e-reading devices
among those living in poverty is probably much lower than the figures given in
tables 1 and 2.
The Price of E-Book Readers
Most new e-book readers cost at least $80
US. But the good news is that e-books can now be read on other devices such as
computers, smartphones and tablets. Because of this, sales of dedicated e-book
readers, such as Kindles and Nooks, have declined (Haines, 2016). But computers,
smartphones and tablets are not inexpensive, and as presented in table 2 fewer
low-income adults own these devices.
E-Book Prices
Four of the five best-selling adult
fiction books in the United States, as listed in the New York Times in January,
2017, sold for $14.99 and one sold for $10.99 on Amazon, sometimes less than
the paperback versions and sometimes more.
These prices do not take into
consideration the fact that e-books generally cannot be shared. Amazon allows
some, but not all sharing of kindle books with friends for 14 days, but this
can only be done once per book, and customers can't read the book while their
friend has it.
Also, there is no used book possibility
for e-books. Donations of used print
books by individuals through organizations such as book swap groups can make
significantly more books available in public and school libraries (Krashen, 2014).
Are Libraries the Solution?
While many public libraries in the United
States include e-books, they make up on the average only 12% of the entire
collection, and account for only 3% of public library circulation (Romano, 2015a). Most (69%) of the e-books in public libraries
are aimed at adults. Similarly, only 2%
of school library collections are e-books and account for only 3% of total
circulation (Romano, 2015b).
Public libraries in the United States
provide a modest amount of help for those without e-book readers or computers
at home: 38% of public libraries have e-book readers that patrons can take home
(Romano, 2015a). Rideout and Katz (2016)
reported that 36% of adults living below the poverty line said they used
computers at libraries, compared to 23% of those living above the poverty line.
Twenty-four percent of school libraries provide e-book reading devices for
students (Romano, 2015b).
Lack of access to books and other reading
material is the major reason those living in poverty have lower levels of
literacy (McQuillan, 1998; Krashen, 2004): Young people living in poverty have
fewer books in the home, in local libraries, and in their schools. Pushing
e-reading by increasing library e-book offerings will not solve this problem
Because of the high price of e-books and
e-book readers, those living in poverty have little or no chance to engage in
e-reading. In fact, promoting e-reading
could make the situation worse: an increase is e-book offerings in libraries, without
a substantial decrease in the cost of e-book readers or a plan to make e-readers
universally available, will increase the gap between the rich and the poor.
E-books will be available to the more privileged but not to those without access
to e-readers of some kind.
This has already happened: Those surveyed in Romano (2015b) were asked
an open-ended question about interest, or lack of interest, students showed for
e-books. Here is one answer: “A lot of
our students come from low income homes and don't have a way to read these
titles.” (p. 31).
Summary
Self-selected
voluntary e-reading appears to result in language acquisition, but promoting
e-reading may not close the achievement gap unless steps are taken to make e-books
and e-book readers more affordable.
References
Haines, D. (2016). The e-book
reader device is dying a rapid death. https://www.justpublishingadvice.com/the-e-reader-device-is-dying-a-rapid-death/
Krashen, S. (2004). The Power of
Reading. Libraries Unlimited.
Krashen, S. (2014). Re-gifted reading. Language Magazine, 13(5),
17.
Lee, S.Y. (2007). Revelations from three consecutive studies on
extensive
reading. RELC Journal, 38(2), 150-170.
McQuillan, J. (1998). The
Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real
Solutions.Heinemann.
Pew
Research Center (2015). Technology Device
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Pew
Research Center (2016). Book Reading,
2016. http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/09/01/book-reading-2016/
Pratheeba,
N. & Krashen, S. (2013). Self-reported reading as a predictor of vocabulary
knowledge. Perceptual and Motor Skills,
117(2), 442-448.
Rideout,
V. & Katz, V. (2016). Opportunity For all? Technology and Learning in Lower Income
Families. A Report on the Families and Media Project. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at
Sesa.
Romano,
R. (2015a). Survey of E-Book Usage in
U.S. Public Libraries.
Romano,
S. (2015b). Survey of E-Book Usage in U.S. School (K-12) Libraries. www.slj.com/downloads/2015schoolebooksurvey
Wang, F. Y., & Lee, S. Y. (2015). Free
voluntary surfing: An extensive reading curriculum supported by technology. In
L. H. Das, S. Brand-Gruwel, J. Walhout & K. Kok (Eds.), (2015). The
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