Habitual Reading Culture

The first page I turn to after I receive a student’s essay is always the last page. The last page is the bibliography or the reference page. Why this page? This page tells me all I need to know about whether the essay is a well-researched and written paper.

The bibliography page tells me that a student has read widely and researched the relevant sources and references for the topic before writing about it.

If the bibliography has one or two books listed I know that no research was done for the essay. Such essays indicate unpreparedness and sloppy scholarship. The work is written without any links to the complex world of knowledge weaved together through elaborate research, amassing of knowledge, and synthesizing of data from the many sources consulted.

If the bibliography reveals many sources consulted in the process of writing then I am excited with the paper. It would turn out to be a good read. The papers with extensive bibliography and references are written with purpose and commitment.

In the many years I have been teaching students to write proper essays I have been very disappointed with the quality of writing and purpose of writing. Students write poor essays that end up getting low marks from me. Poor student essays have stressed me out a lot than actually teaching the subject that I am trained to deliver.

Writing good essays for me means there is commitment and purpose. Attitude to good writing requires extensive reading around and beyond the topic. There are a lot of books on the topics I set as an assignment. Sometimes I get students telling me there are no books on the topic of their essay.  It’s hard for me to believe them.

With the Internet at their fingertips students can find thousands of materials on any topics. A lot of journals and books are now publishing online versions of the hardcopy printed materials, which some years ago were only available as printed versions.

Today’s generation have the task of research made easier with search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Academia, and other forms of online publishing.  Millions of articles and online publications are made available to anyone in the world. Some of these articles and books are much better than some of the articles and books I studied before the arrival of the Internet.

My generation read research essays published in professional subject journals or in book in print form. I still do value the traditional printed books and journals. Though it is easier to search the archives of journals for particular articles, I still prefer the printed books as they still command authority and academic power. Until and unless all books ever published are in electronic form we will continue to depend on the printed form for all our education, research, and other writing needs.

Having said that  I am also mindful of the criticism that we get on why university graduates cannot speak or write in proper English and written expressions. Some of us have tried so hard to teach students to write in proper English, but the obvious challenge is that if students develop the habits of active reading then we will see an improvement.

As someone who has been teaching at UPNG for over 26 years the behavior of students outside of the classroom is predictable. Students spend their time in between classes or free periods telling stories with each other, courting, or walking around aimlessly, rather than investing the time in reading.

In a lot of international universities it is a normal sight to see students spending time reading whenever they have an opportunity in between classes.  I have taught English at universities in the United States, where excellent command of spoken English does not necessarily equate to good written expressions.

As a result of an undeveloped reading culture at universities we get a lot of students getting lower grades such as a ‘Pass’ or ‘Considered Pass’, which allow them to continue their studies until they graduate. Many students who studied my courses know that if I set an essay paper for 20 percent, most of them will end up getting percentage lower than 10 percent. Rarely do I get a paper that is 20/20 percent. Papers that give me headaches fall within 5 percent or zero.

We may have tried our best to encourage students to see the importance of reading, research, and writing, but most struggle to get over the reality that they need to develop their reading habits in full.  Reading, research, and writing are tools successful people in our society use to get up there.

I have children studying at UPNG but they too have not developed the skills of habitual reading. I have a lot of books and magazines in my house, but my own children have ignored the treasures right in their home. I have reminded them again and again about the importance of reading, research, and writing, but they too have fallen into the same generational trap of not developing a habitual reading culture.

Part of the problem is that there is a general ignorance on language use and the importance of written expressions. Some of us are put-off by poor written expressions of student papers that I have to conclude that students need to read more books.  Reading habits cultivate great skills in writing excellent papers.

Reading and writing skills of students should be developed prior to their entry into the university level studies. It is not the job of a university lecturer to teach grammar and proper language use in written expressions.

In my mind I think people who read a lot improve their standard of written expressions and articulations. They are more successful in life. The ones who struggle in life even with a degree are those who have never even bothered to improve their habits of reading and writing.  Those with highly developed habits of reading and writing end up performing beyond expectations in their jobs.