*This article is a re-edited part of the article in "President Family Winter 2021".
A textbook that serves as the base for school lessons. Don't you think it's natural to read because it's made to match the knowledge and comprehension of children in each grade?
"Unfortunately, the majority of Japanese children cannot read textbooks. In elementary school, only two or three students in a class can read all subjects accurately."
This is what Noriko Arai, a professor at the National Institute of Informatics and author of "AI vs. Children Who Can't Read Textbooks," points out. According to Mr. Arai's words, 90% of the class cannot read the textbook. What the hell is going on?
“Many people think of the word ``read'' as being able to ``read hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji as characters.'' This is so-called literacy. No. It can be said that reading is possible only after reading the text and correctly understanding the meaning and content.Japanese children are weak in this reading comprehension.However, we ask children, "Are you reading the textbook?" 85% of them answered that they can read.Children who cannot read do not have the experience of being able to read, so they think that being able to read means being able to read.”
When I think of reading comprehension, the first thing that comes to mind is Japanese. Reading comprehension of literary works and critiques in textbooks is the main focus of the class, but the reading comprehension ability pointed out by Arai is not of that kind.
"President Family Winter 2021" (President) See all images (3 photos) However, it is the ability required in all subjects such as mathematics, science, social studies, etc. In the case of emotional reading comprehension of the Japanese language, the ability to read between the lines, such as reading the author's thoughts, is cultivated, and there is a wide range of interpretation. But wouldn't it be a problem if there were various interpretations in mathematics, science, and society? Accurately reading the facts written in the text.Mr. Arai believes that the reason why many children cannot read textbooks is that they do not acquire general reading comprehension skills. It's common for children to be able to solve math problems, but not when it comes to word problems. It's not that I can't solve it, it's that I can't understand the problem statement.
▼ “President Family 2021 Winter” now on sale!In the winter issue of President Family, which is currently on sale, in the special feature "Reading comprehension grows at home!" In the future, I will not be able to earn money”, “What a child who overcame his weakness in arithmetic and Japanese did at home”, “How to improve Japanese language skills with YouTube game manga”, etc. 'Recipe 5' and 'Interview with Akihiro Nishino 'What I want to tell children with Poupelle now'. Please take a look at it.