讀書地位岌岌可危 英國爲孩子閱讀習慣頭疼

Pavan’s favourite activity is playing football outdoors. His second favourite is playing football indoors, and in third place is practising football skills against the sofa. Reading – the pursuit that Francis Bacon claimed “maketh a full man” – comes further down the eight-year-old’s list, behind school, going to discos, buying stuff, chatting to people, watching TV and playing on his Xbox games console.

8歲小男孩潘萬(Pavan)最喜歡的活動是在戶外踢足球，其次是在屋裏踢足球，位居第三的，是在沙發上操練球技。培根(Francis Bacon)所謂“讀書使人充實”的閱讀，在潘萬的活動計劃名單中非常靠後，遠在上學、跳迪斯科、購物、聊天、看電視以及玩Xbox遊戲機之後。

Would he ever pick up a book for pleasure? “No,” Pavan shoots back jovially. “If I’m bored, I will ask my mum if I can play on her phone.” By this point, I am relieved that Michael Gove is not part of our conversation at a homework club in Harlesden Library, north London.

他會出於喜歡而讀書嗎？“不會，”潘萬興奮地搖搖頭說。“自己若是心煩了，就會糾纏媽媽玩她的手機。”說到這裏，我感覺如釋重負，因爲英國教育大臣邁克爾•戈夫(Michael Gove)不會成爲我們在倫敦北部哈里斯登圖書館(Harlesden Library)舉辦的家庭作業俱樂部的談話內容了。

The UK education secretary has long feared that British children are “just not reading enough”. The same concern has been raised by publishers and literacy charities, which worry that new distractions – computer games, online videos, social networking – are pushing books off the shelf. More than 60 per cent of 18-to-30-year-olds now prefer watching television or DVDs to reading, according to a survey for the charity Booktrust. A similar proportion of young people think the internet and computers will replace books in the next 20 years.

英國教育大臣一直擔心本國孩子“閱讀不足”。出版商以及掃盲慈善機構同樣也有此隱憂，它們擔心電腦遊戲、網絡視頻以及網絡社交等新的干擾物正一步步“鳩佔鵲巢”。據慈善團體Booktrus調查研究，如今超過60%的18-30歲年輕人把看電視及DVD置於閱讀之前。類似比例的年輕人認爲因特網與電腦會在20年後取代紙質書籍。

The literacy debate received fresh impetus last October when a study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development suggested that vast numbers of young people were leaving school without the ability to read well. Of the 24 industrialised countries covered by the research, England was the only one that went backwards, with literacy and numeracy skills lower among the young – those aged 16 to 24 – than the old. (The results were little better in Northern Ireland; Scotland and Wales were not included in the study.)

去年10月，經合組織(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)發佈的研究報告表明大量年輕人畢業後的閱讀能力差強人意，讀寫能力的爭論獲得了強有力的新依據。該研究報告涵蓋了24個工業化國家，其中英國是唯一排名下滑的國家，其16-24歲年輕人的讀寫與計算能力遜於成年人。（北愛爾蘭的研究結果也大同小異，研究報告並未涉及蘇格蘭與威爾士兩個地區）。

The OECD’s hard-nosed economic concern with skills leads logically to reading for pleasure, which is closely associated with educational success. An analysis of the 1970 British cohort, tracking about 6,000 young people born in April of that year, found children’s test scores correlated more with how often they read than with how educated their parents were. “Being able to read a book mechanically is vital, but reading for pleasure shouldn’t be optional,” says Joanna Prior, managing director of Penguin UK. “The benefits will be reaped throughout a child’s life.”

經合組織務實地從經濟角度考量技能問題，必然得出快樂閱讀重要性的結論，而快樂閱讀又與教育成功與否緊密關聯。對英國1970年4月出生的6000人羣體進行追蹤分析，發現孩子們的考試成績與其說和他們父親的受教育程度相關，倒不如說與他們的閱讀能力緊密關聯。“能夠按部就班的閱讀至關重要，但快樂閱讀也不是可有可無，”英國企鵝出版集團(Penguin UK)發言人喬安娜•普賴爾(Joanna Prior)說。“閱讀將讓孩子受益終生。”

For publishers, the commercial implications of a decline in literacy are obvious. In some ways the threat to the UK’s £3bn book market is more fundamental than that faced by the record industry: even when people stopped paying for music, they never stopped listening to it.

對於出版社來說，讀寫能力下降對自身商業利益的影響顯而易見。在某些方面，它對英國年營業額30億英鎊的圖書市場的威脅要大大高於對唱片業的影響：消費者即便不再花錢購買音樂產品，但他們仍一如既往地在欣賞音樂。

Literacy charities have tried various tricks to promote reading – including the Six Book Challenge, to get less confident readers in the habit; Quick Reads, which distributes short, easy texts for adults; and Premier League Reading Stars, which enlists top footballers to spend time with struggling schoolchildren. In areas such as Harlesden, such initiatives have drawn countless children and adults closer to books. But they are fragmented.

掃盲慈善團體想方設法提高國民的閱讀能力————包括推出讓自信心不足的學生養成閱讀習慣的“Six Book Challenge”計劃，給成年人分發短小易懂的閱讀材料的Quick Reads計劃、以及讓英超明星陪伴學習有困難學生的Premier League Reading Stars計劃。在哈里斯登等地區，這些計劃成功地讓無數學生及成年人親近書籍，但星星之火，難成燎原之勢。

So literacy charities have come together under a single “Reading for Pleasure” campaign in the hope of having greater impact, particularly in lobbying government. “We need to slightly toughen up the message,” says Prior. “There’s a literacy crisis in the country. There shouldn’t be anybody who doesn’t read properly when they leave school.”

所以掃盲慈善機構精誠團結，大張其鼓掀起目標單一的“快樂閱讀”運動，以期擁有更大影響力，尤其是遊說政府採取行動。“我們必須稍稍強化這一信息，”普賴爾說。“英國面臨讀寫能力危機，每個學生畢業後，都應該有正常的閱讀能力。”

Views differ on the most effective interventions. Some focus on the period in which books enter a child’s life; some on the ages of 10 and 11, when other hobbies often take over; and others see the emotionally formative teenage years as the most important. But the wider point is clear: “If you’re going to engage a reader for life, you need to engage them before they become an adult,” says Louisa Livingston, head of consumer insight at Hachette UK.

就採取何種最有效的干預手段，可謂衆說紛紜。有些專家專注於書籍走入孩子生活的那個階段；有些專注於其它興趣愛好開始後來居上的10-11歲那個階段；有些則認爲情感成型的青少年時期最爲關鍵。但專家的普遍共識是：“若要養成終生閱讀習慣，就得在成人之前養成，”阿歇特集團(Hachette)負責消費者洞察能力的主管路易莎•利文斯頓(Louisa Livingston)說。

That means making children comfortable around books, with soft-furnished areas in classrooms and personalised guidance so that each child can be directed to the books he or she might enjoy. School librarians, whose ranks are at risk from government funding cuts, should be seen as “book experts”, says Penguin’s Prior. Above all, while successive governments have fretted about test scores, publishers want politicians to recognise the importance of reading for pleasure. If that can be achieved, they argue, imaginative teaching methods will surely spring forth.

這意味着要讓孩子們樂意閱讀，即把教室佈置得溫馨得體，並提供個性化幫助，指導每個孩子閱讀自己喜歡的書籍。普賴爾說，學校圖書館管理員應該視作“圖書專家”，而他們的地位因政府經費削減而岌岌可危。總之，幾屆政府都在爲學生的考試成績憂心忡忡之際，出版商則希望政客們認識到快樂閱讀的重要性。他們振振有詞地說，如果這個目標能夠實現，那麼富有想象力的教學必將源源不斷地迸發。

The social context is crucial. A 2011 National Literacy Trust survey of British children found that a third of respondents did not have books of their own. Of these, 19 per cent were below the reading level expected for their age, compared with 7.6 per cent of those who did own books.

社會環境也至關重要。2011年英國國家文教信託(National Literacy Trust)對全國學生的調查研究表明：接受調查者中有三分之一沒有個人的圖書。其中，19%學生的閱讀能力低於其年齡要求的標準，而對擁有個人圖書的學生來說，這個比例僅爲7.6%。

Inequalities were also picked up in the OECD study. England and Northern Ireland showed “one of the stronger associations between socio­economic background and literacy proficiency” among the countries tested. What’s more, the report concluded, “unlike most other countries, this association is stronger among young people than among the overall adult population”.

經合組織的研究中，還涉及了不平等問題。在接受測試的所有國家中，英國與北愛爾蘭呈現了“社會經濟背景與讀寫能力之間存在更緊密的關聯度”。而且，該研究報告得出以下結論：“與其它國家不一樣的是，這種關聯度在英國年輕人中比成年人更爲突出。”

Such issues have come to the fore in a parliamentary inquiry into adult literacy now under way. “Whether or not you use the word ‘class’, it is about home environments,” Helen Casey, an adult literacy expert, told MPs at its first session last month. “Kids spend 12 per cent of their time in school; they spend the rest of their time not in school. The culture they grow up in is really important,” said another expert, David Hughes. Yet at least one of the MPs seemed sceptical of that approach, suggesting that amounted to “excuses for the education profession”.

如今英國議會正在調查成年人的讀寫能力，這些問題已經表露無遺。“不管用不用‘社會階層’這個詞，歸根到底就是家庭環境影響。”上個月第一次議會全會時，成人讀寫能力專家海倫•凱茜(Helen Casey)這樣對全體議員說。“孩子們12%的時間呆在學校，其它時間則都在校外，他們成長的文化氛圍至關重要。”另一專家大衛•休斯(David Hughes)說。然而，至少有一位議員似乎對這種說法持懷疑態度，暗示此舉會導致“爲教師找開脫藉口”。

That is not the only apparent disconnect between educationalists and politicians. Gove wants children to study more books, and has amended the GCSE syllabus accordingly. His critics worry that will turn children away from reading for pleasure. “Teachers almost don’t have time for children to be relaxed around books,” says Sue Cowley, an educational author. “Reading starts to become something that’s done to be measured, not done out of choice.”

這並非教育家與政客意見唯一明顯的南轅北轍之處。教育大臣戈夫希望孩子們讀更多書，併爲此修改了英國普通中等教育證書(GCSE)考試大綱。批評他的人則擔心此舉會讓孩子離快樂閱讀漸行漸遠。“教師幾乎沒有讓孩子放鬆閱讀的時間，” 教育作家蘇•考利(Sue Cowley)說。“閱讀不是因爲個人興趣使然，而是開始成爲考量的工具。”

Some also detect an unwelcome snobbishness in Gove’s desire for the books to be harder – he has expressed particular gripes against John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (too short) and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series (too easy). “If someone’s reading a football magazine, shouldn’t we just be happy that they’re reading?” says Richard Mollet of the Publishers Association. “If a child is reading and enjoying the immersion, then surely that’s the most important thing.”

從教育大臣戈夫希望增加書籍難度的意圖中，有些專家還嗅出了一絲勢利意味，這着實讓人反感————他曾經大大抱怨斯坦貝克(John Steinbeck)的《人鼠之間》(Of Mice and Men)太過簡短以及斯蒂芬妮•梅爾(Stephenie Meyer)的《暮光之城》(Twilight)太過淺顯。“如果讀的是足球雜誌，我們難道不該爲此感到高興嗎？”英國出版協會(Publishers Association)執行總裁理查德•摩勒(Richard Mollet)說。“孩子閱讀書籍，並且沉醉其中，這纔是最最重要的事。”

While that debate rumbles on, a wave of technological change means that children may find it harder to reserve time for reading. Technology has helped people to enjoy books – a backlit e-reader means no more torches under the duvet – but it has helped other media more. Long train journeys once meant hours reading or hours gazing out the window. Now, with an iPad, they can mean computer games and the previous evening’s TV programmes.

儘管上述爭論仍沒完沒了，但新一波科技進步意味着孩子們越來越難預留出閱讀時間。科技幫助人類從書籍中獲得了快樂————背光式電子閱讀器意味着無需再拿着手電趴在被窩中看書——但它也幫助了其它媒介。過去坐火車長時間旅行意味着可以長時間讀書或是眺望窗外美景。如今有了iPad，長途旅行意味着玩電腦遊戲以及補看前一天晚上的電視節目。

One option for publishers is to follow the music industry, encouraging authors to do even more events and engage more with social media so as to create “touchpoints” with their fans. Another is to adapt the books themselves. Interactive ebooks already offer multiple endings (a digital variation on the theme of “if you choose door A, turn to page 78”), and publishers are investing in apps that seek to lure infrequent readers with video and audio embellishments.

出版商的選擇之一就是步音樂產業之後塵，鼓勵作家參與更多活動，與社交媒體打更多交道，以便創造粉絲“點擊量”；另一種選擇則是自己改編圖書。交互式電子書籍已經提供多種結局可能（如數字式主題變更：“若選A門，請翻至第78頁”），出版商已出資開發了多款應用軟件，它們用潤色過的視頻及音頻來努力吸引不太讀書的讀者。

“There’s very much an experimental attitude at the moment,” says Jake Manion, creative director at animation company Aardman, which worked on HarperCollins’s The Hobbit app. “Smartphones haven’t been around that long and people are still writing the stories in the way they’ve always done.” The biggest change, Manion argues, will come in “five to 10 years”, by which point writers will be “so familiar with the technology that they’ll be creating stories in different ways”.

“目前這完全只是抱着試試看的態度，”傑克•馬尼恩(Jake Manion)說，他是動畫公司阿德曼(Aardman)創意總監，該公司曾開發了哈珀柯林斯(HarperCollins)出版小說《霍比特人》的應用軟件。“智能手機問世的時間還不長，作家如今仍以傳統方式創作。”馬尼恩說，最大的變化將發生在“5-10年後”，屆時作家將“對科技耳熟能詳，因此能以不同方式進行創作”。

And then, perhaps, football practice might wait.

也許到那時候，連玩足球或許都得靠邊站了。