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Monday, December 16, 2013

SKrashen: Are readers nerds?

SKrashen: Are readers nerds?:

Are readers nerds?


ARE READERS NERDS?

Adrienne Schatz, Amy Panko,  Kim Pierce, and Stephen Krashen
                             Reading Improvement 47 (3): 151-153, 2010

Some people think that readers are nerds, "book-worms" who don't get out much, don't do much, and are simply boring, dull people.  The research, however, does not agree with this characterizaton. In fact, the results of a number of studies of adult readers show that readers are "active and social" (Bradshaw and Nichols, 2004).

Table 1 presents data originally published in1982, from Zill and Wingate (1990), comparing literature readers (those who reported reading "any creative writings, such as stories, poems, plays and the like" for the last 12 months), those who read any kind of a book or magazine, and those who reporting no reading.  The results are remarkably consistent, with readers reporting being more active in all categories.

Table 1: Leisure Activities of Literature Readers, Non-Literature Readers, and Non-Readers (1982); adults 18 and older
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
literature readers
readers, not of literature
non-readers
Amusements



Play card, board games
77%
62%
27%
Attend movies
75%
59%
25%
Visit amusement park
57%
49%
19%
Attend sports events
59%
43%
17%
Exercise, Sports



jog, exercise
65%
43%
18%
play sports
48%
36%
14%
camping, hiking
43%
34%
14%
Home-based activities



Repari home, car
66%
60%
28%
Gardening
69%
53%
34%
Gourmet cooking
38%
22%
8%
Collect stamps, coins
20%
10%
3%
Charitable work



Volunteer, charty work
36%
21%
9%
Cultural attendance



Visit historic sites
50%
28%
8%
Go to zoo
41%
25%
11%
Visit museums
32%
15%
4%
Art  & Crafts



Weaving, needlework
42%
29%
18%
Pottery, ceramics
17%
9%
3%
Photography, video
14%
6%
2%
Painting, drawing, sculpture
14%
6%
2%
From:  Zill and Winglee, table 2, page 15.


We cannot, however, conclude that reading is directly associated with being active and social. As Zill and Wingate point out, the amount of leisure reading done is also closely associated with education and affluence (for confirming data, see Bradshaw and Nichols, 2004). It may be the case that those who are more affluent have more time and money to