Premium Essay

Reading Habits

In:

Submitted By domz18
Words 2179
Pages 9
Language and Culture
There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related. Both phenomena are unique to humans and have therefore been the subject of a great deal of anthropological, sociological, and even memetic study. Language, of course, is determined by culture, though the extent to which this is true is now under debate. The converse is also true to some degree: culture is determined by language - or rather, by the replicators that created both, memes.
Language as Determined by Culture
Early anthropologists, following the theory that words determine thought, believed that language and its structure were entirely dependent on the cultural context in which they existed. This was a logical extension of what is termed the Standard Social Science Model, which views the human mind as an indefinitely malleable structure capable of absorbing any sort of culture without constraints from genetic or neurological factors.
In this vein, anthropologist Verne Ray conducted a study in the 1950's, giving color samples to different American Indian tribes and asking them to give the names of the colors. He concluded that the spectrum we see as "green", "yellow", etc. was an entirely arbitrary division, and each culture divided the spectrum separately. According to this hypothesis, the divisions seen between colors are a consequence of the language we learn, and do not correspond to divisions in the natural world. A similar hypothesis is upheld in the extremely popular meme of Eskimo words for snow - common stories vary from fifty to upwards of two hundred.
Extreme cultural relativism of this type has now been clearly refuted. Eskimos use at most twelve different words for snow, which is not many more than English speakers and should be expected since they exist in a cold climate. The color-relativity hypothesis has now been completely

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Factors Affecting Reading Habits

...Factors Affecting Reading Habits Nine Good Reading Habits by Jonathan Mooney Like all travels in this glamorous and lucrative world of study skills, we have come to the section where I contradict everything I have said up to this point. While I truly believe that each student needs to individualize his approach to school, there is a time and place for good old uniformity and standardization. There are some good habits, which, if your child chooses to use, will increase his retention and comprehension. They are based on a concept called active reading. This idea is simple: The more of your child's brain is engaged in the act of reading, the more he learns. The following strategies are good active reading habits that will help any reader:  •   Use the cover up: For many students, the words on the page run and blur together -- especially if you are hard wired like myself. To mitigate this, use a three by five index card to cover everything except the sentence that your child is reading. When they finish a line, they move the card down and repeat the process.  •   Give the text the finger: Along with the card, have your child follow their reading with their finger, engaging a tactical learning style.  •   Read out loud or mouth the words: Again, another way to engage verbal processing. Many students don't need to literally talk out load -- mouthing the words serves the same end.  •   Keep moving: As always, fidgeting is good for the brain. Keep them moving, to keep them on...

Words: 348 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Factors Affecting Reading Habits

...time and place for good old uniformity and standardization. There are some good habits, which, if your child chooses to use, will increase his retention and comprehension. They are based on a concept called active reading. This idea is simple: The more of your child's brain is engaged in the act of reading, the more he learns. The following strategies are good active reading habits that will help any reader: • Use the cover up: For many students, the words on the page run and blur together -- especially if you are hard wired like myself. To mitigate this, use a three by five index card to cover everything except the sentence that your child is reading. When they finish a line, they move the card down and repeat the process. • Give the text the finger: Along with the card, have your child follow their reading with their finger, engaging a tactical learning style. • Read out loud or mouth the words: Again, another way to engage verbal processing. Many students don't need to literally talk out load -- mouthing the words serves the same end. • Keep moving: As always, fidgeting is good for the brain. Keep them moving, to keep them on target. • Use three-color highlighting: Highlights are a cheap and easy way to integrate visual memory into the reading process. Buy your child three colors and have them assign a different color to the main points, supporting details, and terms of the reading. • Use bookmarks/flagging: Buy your child some type of "red" flag that they...

Words: 337 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Reading Habit

...The Reading Habit 9 by Frankie Y. Bailey   We humans are creatures of habit. Change, real change, does not come easily for most of us. We prefer to get into our comfortable groove and stay there. Change often requires an epiphany, a life-altering insight, that most of us rarely, if ever, experience. Perhaps this is why the more cynical among us would doubt that simply picking up a book could change a life.   Like many avid readers, I have had the experience of falling in love with a book. But, I confess here, I have not been faithful to my loves. After the first delight of discovery, I have strayed in search of other books that would engage, challenge, tantalize, take my breath away and leave me wanting more. My affairs with books have been passionate and many. And I am the better for my unfaithfulness to a singe book or any one author.   This is why when I am asked to name my favorite book I find myself embarrassed by my inability to name the one book that I would take with me to a desert island or even the five books or ten. I know that my favorite writer (now deceased) was a man named Richard Martin Stern. Mr. Stern was my favorite author because when I wrote to him as a teenager to tell him how much I loved his mystery series (featuring an African American, or actually biracial, female anthropologist), he wrote back to thank me for my letter. By doing so, he helped to set me on my own path toward becoming a writer. But this does not mean Mr. Stern’s Johnny Ortiz mysteries...

Words: 786 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Habit Of Reading

...Top 10 Books to Instil a Habit of Reading in Your little one Someone once remarked that books are a man’s best friend. However, how many of us actually read books in our busy lives? I’m sure very few. The habit of reading books is instilled right from the birth. It is a sine qua non for healthy brain development and expansion of mental horizon. Studies have shown that people who read right from a tender age have better coping abilities in daily life situations. Not only are readers great at conversation skills, they’re also winners in various spheres of life. Give your little one the gift of a lifetime by instilling in him the habit of reading right from the beginning. Start with reading out loud to your baby and then gradually progress to...

Words: 1048 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Causes and Effect of Poor Reading Habit Among Junior Secondary School Students in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Edo State

...ABSTRACT This study is carried out in order to examine the causes and effects of poor reading habits among junior secondary school students in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. It has been observed that most JSS students cannot read, for this reason it is the intension of the researcher to look at those factors that make reading a difficult problem for students to examine that likely affects their reading difficult and the nation at large as well as the suggest solutions to this reading difficulty and the nation at large as well as the suggest solutions to this reading difficulty as reading underlines all teaching activities in the schools. This investigation was based on some questions. The analysis of the data collected culminate in the following findings. 1. That non availability of teaching aid and reading materials in school contributed to the reading disability. 2. That physical and mental defects among students also leads to poor reading habits. 3. That the teachers methods of teaching can impede reading progress. 4. That poor reading upbringing and lack of motivation from parents and teachers hinders reading ability. 5. And that the effect of poor reading habits is the cause of failure in the examinations. Based on these findings, the researcher makes some suggestions and recommendations on how to overcome the problems in order to improve students speech and comprehension. TABLE OF CONTENT Chapter One 1.1 Background to...

Words: 1626 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Reading Habit in Children

...PUPILS’ PERCEPTION OF CABLE TELEVISION PROGRAMMES AS DETERMINANT OF READING HABITS AND ATTITUDES IN UNIVERSITY STAFF SCHOOLS IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA BY FLORENCE ADEOLA, OMOBA A proposal in the Department of ABADINA MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION * Background to the study * Statement of the problem * Objective of the study * Research questions and research hypothesis * Significance of the study * Scope of the study * Operational definition of terms REVIEW OF LITERATURE * Theoretical frame work * Empirical orientation * Reading habit * Reading attitude * Television * School libraries RESEARCH METHODOLOGY * Research design * Population and sampling technique * Research instrument * Validation and reliability of instruments * Data collection procedure * Data analysis REFERENCES APPENDIXES CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION John Walson, an appliance storeowner in a small town of Mahanoy, had difficulty selling television sets to local residents because reception in the area was poor. The problem seemed to be the location of the town in a valley and nearly 90 air miles from the Philadelphia television transmitters. Naturally, signals could not pass through mountains and clear reception was virtually impossible except on the ridges outside of town. It...

Words: 17770 - Pages: 72

Premium Essay

Reading Habit in Children

...Current Research IN READING / LANGUAGE ARTS Understanding Assessment: Putting Together the Puzzle SHEILA W. VALENCIA UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE “No one test or assessment should be asked to serve all the assessment purposes. We need, at this point, a system made up of articulated components, glued together by their adherence to content standards and serving explicit purposes for assessment.” —National Council for Education Standards and Testing, 1992 discussions, and more. Now, 10 years later, we are hearing the same reminder (Brennan, Kim, WenzGross, Siperstein, 2001; Herman, 2001; International Reading Association, 1999). In fact, in July 2001 members of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher’s union, endorsed a policy calling for a combination of standardized tests and other assessment tools such as teacher designed assessments when making important educational decisions (Blair & Archer, 2001). Assessment has always been a part of the educational landscape. However, because assessment can serve so many different purposes and can come in so many different forms, it has been confusing and, sometimes, it has been the subject of contentious debate. Unfortunately, as a result, many of us have come to view assessment as a necessary evil, a requirement rather than a helpful part of instruction. But assessment IS a critical part of instruction and it CAN be useful if we understand the pieces of the puzzle. As far back as 1992, when...

Words: 6073 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Factors Affecting Reading Habits

...Nine Good Reading Habits by Jonathan Mooney Like all travels in this glamorous and lucrative world of study skills, we have come to the section where I contradict everything I have said up to this point. While I truly believe that each student needs to individualize his approach to school, there is a time and place for good old uniformity and standardization. There are some good habits, which, if your child chooses to use, will increase his retention and comprehension. They are based on a concept called active reading. This idea is simple: The more of your child's brain is engaged in the act of reading, the more he learns. The following strategies are good active reading habits that will help any reader: • Use the cover up: For many students, the words on the page run and blur together -- especially if you are hard wired like myself. To mitigate this, use a three by five index card to cover everything except the sentence that your child is reading. When they finish a line, they move the card down and repeat the process. • Give the text the finger: Along with the card, have your child follow their reading with their finger, engaging a tactical learning style. • Read out loud or mouth the words: Again, another way to engage verbal processing. Many students don't need to literally talk out load -- mouthing the words serves the same end. • Keep moving: As always, fidgeting is good for the brain. Keep them moving, to keep them on target. • Use three-color highlighting:...

Words: 538 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Factors Influencing Reading Habits

...Factors Influencing Reading Habits This situation is, of course, an important note in the world of education in the country. One of the breakthroughs by the government is by issuing the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture (Permendikbud) Number 23 of 2015 on the Growing of Character. Permendikbud is realized with a mandatory reading 15 minutes before the start of learning time, especially for elementary, junior high school or senior high school students. This is the same as the research has been done by Ndhlovu. Consequently, developing a habit of good reading culture through perusing regularly. Read at least a topic even for 15 to 30 minutes every day. You will be surprised how your minds will develop ‘high appetite' for...

Words: 769 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Book Reading a Dying Habit

...decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” ~Anna Quindlen The habit of book reading is declining with an incredible speed in this modern age, which has also been given the name of digital world. With the progress of this digital world, the interest of majority of young people is changing its direction. The younger generation always gets fascination with the latest releases of iPhone, iPods, and video games etc. They do not find time or take interest to read books. The modern age has become so fast and nobody is willing to spend his time on reading books. Even the students are leaving the habit of book reading as they find notes from various websites on internet and prepare their assignments without even thinking that this assignment will earn him/her only marks but not the real knowledge which is required to become a fully groomed and knowledgeable person. People in this modern age are creating a mess for themselves as they think that they are in a rush and they need to progress with a rapid pace, otherwise they will be left behind by the society or become isolated from it. This is completely a wrong concept or thinking as book reading enables a man to think deeper and dig out the sources of real happiness. Book reading makes people wise as they get different angles to think on the day-to-day affairs and those persons always live a satisfied life that make book reading their habit and continue it throughout their whole life. The advancements in the modern...

Words: 427 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Study Habits

...to achieve that passing grade then get ready to fail. Relationship between Study habit and Education has been proven since day 1. Since, study habit refers to the method or technique used by a certain student that effectively helps him or her in anchoring him or her on his studies. Given with this definition good study habit can literally mean a positive result on academic performance while inefficiency in study habit usually leads to academic failure. Several types of study habits, and several methods but this is all about their effectiveness in helping each student. Background of the study Study habit has a great effect in achieving a degree. A Good Study Habit is the key and this research aims to understand it in a deeper and more informative way. The study was conducted inside the Dr. Carlos S. Lanting College. With 49 respondents that answered survey questionnaires confidentially it shows a result that answers the questions formulated by the researchers. References had been gotten from internet and book from the Library of the Dr. Carlos S. Lanting College and also from other researchers particularly the students who’s currently in their 1st-3rd year. The researchers aim to investigate what appears to be one of the most helpful habits in studying. Statement of the problem This research aims to answer what is the most helpful or effective study habit of DCLC – BS Marine Engineering students to pass their courses....

Words: 760 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

The Effects of Modern Technology on the Study Habits of Student

...CHAPTER 2 RELATED LITERATURE This chapter aims to understand how technology changed the study habits of the students. This section presents the related literature and studies that is relevant and significant to the current studies.This will be a guide to the research about the said topic presented in the next chapters. “When it comes to study they only depend on technology rather than reading books. And technology can also affect in body health resistance and once you already learn to love copy and paste in the internet in the future you become lazy.” Mr. Philippe Christian John D. Zayas (2003). According to Ms. Myra Joy P. Belasio (2005). "The effects of technology to students’ study habit are its intelligence and they cannot help their parents do the household chores because of being focused to the technology especially the internet, computers and mobiles". Furthermore, Ms. Elaizza Gelyn Borres (2002) stated that “The effects of technology to students’ study habit are they usually copy and paste an article to the internet without reading what they copy from that article. Rather than scanning books to have an answer and from that you can learn many things about what you read." According to a literature by Jill Elaine Hughes (2011), “Developing good study habits is crucial for any student pursuing higher education, but it is of particular importance to working learners. Schools must provide its student with a robust support network that enables working learners...

Words: 423 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Positive Behavior Change Research Paper

...grandmother has been telling to stop biting my nails ever since I was about seven years old and still haven’t stopped. Soon, as she sees me bite my nails she says, “I’ve been telling you stop and just won’t stop doing it”. Now that I’m older I felt it was time for change and why not stop the bad habit I been doing for ten plus years. I researched about nail biting and seen there’s more harm than good from doing it. To accomplish my goal of stopping I must stay positive and mentally focused on the task at hand. My secondary...

Words: 2453 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Personal Responsibility

...When taking into consideration how personal responsibility directly correlates with college success it is important to consider the goal, getting to the degree. No one can do it for you; it is up to the individual student to succeed. Just as we personally may have made mistakes, in college we succeed by mistakes and learning to recognize what did not work and take corrective actions to ensure we do not repeat the same frustrations. Weaver (2003) says, “Put the blame wherever you choose. But, the fact is, in the end, you can delare, right now, at this moment, my past is gone; my past is finished; my past is done with forever . It is important to put behind us what did not work or poison one’s brain with habits from the past. Start today anew and do not imply old habits or bad behaviors. As Epstein (2005) said, managing and scheduling your time effectively is the greatest ingredient for personal success with online learning . Scheduling and setting reminders to fit into a busy lifestyle may mean the difference between an excellent grade and just a passing one. Life happens, role with the punches, recognize if a situation is an actual emergency or just a distraction is the key to responsible time management. We all need a break here and there, just do not procrastinate. As stated in the study "It's a Whole New World": A Qualitative Exploration of College Students' Definitions of and Strategies for College Success, it is especially difficult for students...

Words: 855 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Study Habits

...Common Study Habits Among Students in the Tertiary Level In: People Common Study Habits Among Students in the Tertiary Level ABSTRACT The study investigated the common study habits among students in the tertiary level using school like St. Nicolas College as a case study. Thirty (30) students were given a questionnaire from different department and year level in the area. The instrument utilized for the study was a questionnaire named “Common Study Habits among Students in the Tertiary Level”. A hypotheses were tested and the result showed that some students like to get up early in the morning and study; most will say that late night studying is most productive, the preparations of students for their upcoming examinations. Data was analyzed using percentage. Based on the findings, students perform well in school simply because they have a good study habits. In some cases, students do not know where to begin, do not fully understand the material, are not motivated by it, or feel that there was too much work given to them with too little time to complete or study it. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Research on the correlation between study habit and students in tertiary level has studied to find out the other possible effective study habits of a student. What are study habits? Study habits are the ways that you study - the habits that you have formed during your school years. Study habits can be good ones, or bad ones. Good study habits include being organized...

Words: 347 - Pages: 2