Real Literacy

“Much depended on Ponting and the new Wizard of Oz, Mike Hussey, the two overnight batsmen. But this duo perished either side of lunch - the latter a little bit unfortunate to be adjudged leg-before - and with Andrew Symonds too being shown the dreaded finger off an inside edge, the inevitable beckoned, bar the pyrotechnics of Michael Clarke and the ninth wicket.

How are you doing so far?

This passage, quoted by one of the authors of this article, graphically illustrates the premise that reading comprehension is not a transferable skill, but rather depends heavily on vocabulary and domain-specific knowledge. The conclusion is that schools should stop exposing students to “scattered, trivial and incoherent reading” and start exposing them to rich and systematic curricula that build “the broad background knowledge that enables them to become stronger readers in general”.

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