Is binge-reading of any value?

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Serpent
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Re: Is binge-reading of any value?

Postby Serpent » Mon May 29, 2017 3:52 pm

aaleks wrote:I’ve never been able to read 100 pages per hour even in my native tongue (I don't know the precise number but I’m sure it couldn’t be so big). 100 pages per day is a more real number for me (at least I can read that amount of pages in English, so I definitely must be able to do it in Russian too :) )
same here... I'm also a bit obsessive over reading every single sentence in a linear way to make sure i didn't miss anything :?
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Re: Is binge-reading of any value?

Postby reineke » Mon May 29, 2017 6:13 pm

Reading in a second language

"According to Carver, the average reading rate for a college student who is reading at 300 wpm is 200 wpm for learning, and 138 wpm for memorizing. Reading at a rate between 250 wpm and 350 wpm allows readers to comprehend a text most efficiently (Carver, 1982).

Anderson (2008) defines reading fluency as “reading at an appropriate rate with adequate comprehension. For adult ESL learners, Anderson suggests a minimum rate of 200 wpm with at least 70% comprehension."

Holy moly, a percentage in connection with comprehension! Can one calculate comprehension after all? We may never know...

"Even skilled L1 readers, however, fail to monitor their reading in L2 successfully until they have crossed the 'L2 reading comprehension threshold'. This is a well-documented phenomenon in which literate L1 readers do not transfer their higher-level reading comprehension skills to L2 until they reach a certain threshold of proficiency in the new language "

"The threshold, which has been described for several pairs of languages, occurs somewhere in the intermediate proficiency range. What seems to get transferred when the threshold is crossed is the ability to build reliable mental representations of text. "

"Dubin and Bycina (1991:198) state that "a rate of 200 words per minute would appear to be the absolute minimum in order to read with full comprehension." Jensen (1986:106) recommends that second language readers seek to "approximate native speaker reading rates and comprehension levels... and suggests that 300 words per minute is the optimal rate. This rate is supported by Nuttall (1996:56), who states that "for an L1 speaker of English of about average education and intelligence… the reading rate is about 300 words per minute."

"In several studies, L2 students who engaged in extensive reading over a period of time showed significantly more improvement in L2 writing skills than control groups who did not practise extensive reading. "

https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/1420
Etc. (see the above-mentioned thread)

s_allard wrote:
reineke wrote:...

I think that the majority of successful language learners eventually reach a point where they can knock off a book in a sitting or two. They can get there in a variety of ways (including through extensive, pleasurable activities).

...

I have to be in the minority here or maybe I'm not a successful language learner, but when it comes to reading in my target language I find it hard to "knock off a book in a sitting or two"...

As for reading a 200-page book in Spanish all in one or two sittings, we would have to talk about what reading means. But that's a whole other debate.


couple - a small indefinite number...

The median length for all Amazon books is about 64,000 words. The Lord of the Flies has 62,481 words. At 200 wpm one can read such a book in around 5 hours. If you have trouble decoding language... you will have trouble reading in it. A certain speed and sustained reading effort is required to experience a book as a book and not some sort of didactic reading material.

The Great Gatsby, Le Silence de la Mer, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and many other books that have a respectable 150-300 page length can be read in a couple of sittings (two, if you must) . Of course it is advisable to start with something that is appropriate for one's level.
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Re: Is binge-reading of any value?

Postby reineke » Mon May 29, 2017 7:08 pm

SophiaMerlin_II wrote:
reineke wrote:Binge posting...

Did you mean me? :lol:


Why yes, I meant you!

SophiaMerlin_II wrote:
reineke wrote:No, Binge-Reading Isn’t The New Binge-Watching
Awkwardly tying books into the binge-watching trend is a valiant attempt to make reading just as hip as watching the first two seasons of Game of Thrones in less than a week.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5050240


I'm sorry but... this writer clearly doesn't know what they are talking about. "Less than a week" to watch 2 seasons of game of thrones counts as binge watching? Are they mad?

For example:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/media/nielsen-survey-media-viewing.html
Those are some of the findings of a study released this week by Nielsen that measured how we are consuming media these days (increasingly on devices we hold in our hands), and how much live TV we still watch (an average of more than five hours a day).


So let's continue with our Game of Thrones example. Season 1 is 10 episodes, and Season 2 is 10 episodes. So 2 seasons is 20 episodes. Each episode is an hour long.

Watching at an "average" consumption of 5 hours per day, we could watch 2 seasons in 4 days. Which is apparently "binge-watching"... but it's really not.

As a dedicated binge-watcher of many things, I laugh at taking 4 days to finish 20 hours of material. A day and a half maybe. Two days even. That would be binge-watching...


I think it's sufficient to establish where binging starts and not where it may end (under a table, for instance).



When, Exactly, Does Watching a Lot of Netflix Become a 'Binge'?
Two episodes? Four? Crowdsourcing a new definition for a popular buzzword

"The most detailed definition of binge-watching comes from Netflix itself. In December, a Harris Interactive poll conducted on behalf of the company quantified what constituted a binge. Working with cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken, who went into living rooms across the U.S. and Canada to talk to viewers about their habits, the survey concluded that binge-watching meant consuming a minimum of two episodes in one sitting, and reported that, across demographics, the session average was 2.3 episodes—"moderate behavior," according to the release.

This definition has problems. For starters, it seems inherently contradictory: The whole point of calling it "binge-watching" is that it shouldn’t be moderate behavior, in the same way that binge-drinking or binge-shopping are not activities done in moderation. Second, the minimum number of episodes did not distinguish between hour-long dramas and shorter sitcoms... "

" To come up with a better definition, I consulted the finest binge-watchers I know: my colleagues. Because nothing says “scientifically sound research” quite like collecting anecdotal evidence from the people with whom I share cubicles. Here’s what I learned.

How many episodes is a binge?

Four episodes, if you’re watching dramas. If you walk away before the fourth episode, people I've spoken with generally agreed, all you did was have a little TV time. But start the fourth episode—sometime between two and three hours, depending on if you're watching lengthy Netflix originals—and you’re squarely in binge territory..."

Anyway, fun stuff:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainme ... ge/283844/
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