Dear readers,
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already comfortable with a long read.
But how often, while reading one of our Big Reads, do you find yourself skimming ahead, reaching for your phone midway through, or realising you’ve reached the end of a paragraph without quite taking it in?
No judgement – we're all in the same boat.
Teachers in Singapore are seeing something similar among their students: some skim passages, skip words or rush through questions before fully understanding them.
The latest results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) also showed reading scores falling both here and globally.
PISA is an international study conducted every three years to assess 15-year-olds, and in its latest report on the assessment, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development highlighted "hasty reading" as an issue – students rushing through a text and giving a quick wrong answer.
This is a concern, experts say, because the proliferation of AI and AI-generated information around us makes it ever more important for people to be able to read carefully, question information and think critically.
In this week's Big Read, CNA TODAY examines what's happening to our reading habits, what we risk losing when we stop reading deeply, and what literacy means in the age of AI.
Yours faithfully,
Yasmine Yahya
Deputy Chief Editor, CNA Digital (TODAY, Lifestyle & Luxury)
