Lifelong Reading for a Billion People

• Published in: Stanford social innovation review Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 34 - 41
• Main Authors: Kothari, Brij, Bandyopadhyay, Tathagata
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stanford Stanford Social Innovation Review, Stanford University 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Deafness; Education; Language; Literacy; Pedagogy; Reading comprehension; Subtitles & subtitling; India
• ISSN: 1542-7099

Specifically, SDG 4 calls for inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. [...]weak readers exposed to content with SLS cannot but try to read along automatically,3 and, second, regular SLS exposure results in significant improvement of reading skills.4 After three to five years of regular exposure to SLS, most weak readers advance to functional, and many to fluent, reading ability.5 The earlier a child is exposed to SLS at home, concurrent with primary schooling when letters are introduced, the stronger the child's reading skills become. [...]it transforms the learning experience from one marked by cognitive exertion and failure to one of enjoyment and success, because the answer to the reading task is present in the audio. The four billion person-hours that the nation spends collectively in front of the TV every day present an unparalleled opportunity to translate screen time into achieving three major goals: lifelong reading practice among one billion TV viewers, including 600 million weak readers; media access among 65 million viewers who are deaf and hard of hearing; and Indian-language learning among one billion viewers.