Study: They Literally Cannot Read.
And they're *ENGLISH MAJORS*.
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Source.
* THREAD CONTINUES JUST BELOW THE 2 NOTES
NOTE 1: LINK TO SOURCE ARTICLE: CLICK HERE or on SCREEN CAP BELOW.
NOTE 2: Read the first paragraphs of the Dickens book for yourself (go to Chapter 1): CLICK HERE.
* THREAD, CONTINUED:
Thread Reader Page Link.
Many students pick English as a major haphazardly. Their thinking goes...I'm good at English. English majors are widely derided by hard science type majors. A lot of students can get by in English but if they were in chemistry, physics or calculus they would outright fail. Since I have two degrees in English, I've suffered a lot of abuse from others for not having a serious major--but I have always contended that if you do the major correctly, it is in fact very challenging--but it is only as challenging as you make it.
Funny that the study picks up on the Dunning Kruger effect. Despite not understanding the books opening paragraphs, they feel confident that they will have no problem with the book. In their minds they are just reading words and they can read words. That they will miss all nuances of text and subtext and then later just call it a dumb book, not very interesting, is par for the course.
As a prolific reader, I have always been aware of my own blind spots. I am quite generally terrible with poetry. I'm better than most, but I still lack. If you consider the plight of poetry with relation to the public during the last 100 years, it becomes clear pretty quickly what will happen to great literature. Reading comprehension is only one part of the equation--the greater problem is that we are not training readers and we are not training thinkers and this is particularly the plight of the arts.