The Reading Circle in the Tomsk Province in the Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Centuries

The article is devoted to study of the reading circle of various population groups in the Tomsk Province in the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries. The book, as an important attribute of the spiritual realization of society, took a leading place in the system of cultural values of the era, became the most important means of human communication. A great contribution to the development of the cultural life of the Altai district was made by the technical and scientific activities among the poor. The study of book collections of exiles, their activities in opening libraries, which were based on private collections, contribute to the expansion of ideas about the nature and scope of their versatile activities. The end of the 19th — early 20th centuries is characterized in Siberia by the social activity of various segments of the population, an increase in the need of society for a printed word. Thanks to the active work of the «Society for the Promotion of the Construction of Rural Free Libraries», in the Tomsk Province, free rural libraries began to open. They completed their main task in distributing the book in the remote settlements of the Tomsk Province. In Siberia, there is a change in the traditional way of peasants in connection with the heyday of the cooperative movement, the alleged dissemination of the theoretical and practical knowledge. The cooperatives began to organize libraries. The important qualitative changes in reading preferences are gradually taking place: classical literature, specialized books and periodicals are in increasing demand.

Teaching English reading skills through Oxford Reading Circle (ORC) textbook among ESL learners of grade 8

Reading skills though considered passive skill but play significant role in developing speaking and other skills among ESL learners. However, in the developmental process of reading skills, researchers have investigated the reading barriers that affect the learners’ reading comprehension. Most specifically, the lack of using effective reading teaching strategies for the enhancement of reading skills are common in early age students. Therefore, this study validates the significance of reading skills, investigates reading hurdles, examines the reading strategies used by teachers, and manipulates the role of the Oxford Reading Circle book grade 8 in the development and enhancement of reading proficiency among ESL learners. The experimental design is applied for this research on randomly selected 50 students. Furthermore, descriptive framework was adopted to obtain teachers’ perspectives about the textbook used as treatment in the experimental phase. The research tools developed for this study were questionnaires and tests. The obtained data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics technique and paired sample t-test in SPSS. The findings of current study demonstrate the importance of reading skills for ESL learners; explore the reading hurdles that learners have to face and determine the significant role of ORC book grade 8 on the enhancement of reading skills. The findings recommended that the teachers and English teaching contents both play crucial role in developing reading proficiency of ESL learners. It is also suggested that teachers should make use of effective pedagogical practices to develop reading skills habits and enhance reading proficiency among ESL learners.

Exploring L2 learners' Task-related Identities in a Reading Circle Task Through Conversation Analysis

Using conversation analysis as the research approach, this study explores how L2 learners utilize their task-related identities during task interactions and how those identities are used as resources for task management. Eight students in an ESL academic reading class formed two groups while they did their reading circle task for six rounds. In each round, the students took turns to be in charge of a specific role in the discussion session (i.e., discussion leader, notetaker, vocabulary definer, and contextualizer). Data was collected from all rounds and analyzed for emerging patterns. Results showed that (a) the participants used each other’s assigned identities skillfully to orient the group to the institutional goal, and (b) the participants used their own existing obligations to problematize the task interactions. By providing insights on those dynamic task-related identities, this study broadens our understanding of interactions happening at the task implementation stage and suggests pedagogical implications.

Activities of the naval department of the Russian Empire in teaching literacy and arithmetic to sailors of the navy in the 1850s–1870s

The article examines the activities of the Russian naval department in teaching literacy and arithmetic to sailors of the navy in the 50s — 70s of the XIX century. The measures of the naval command for training sailors are considered. The role of the officers who showed enthusiasm in the training of sailors was noted. Shown are statistical data on the number of literate and arithmetic sailors in the study period. The question is raised about the degree of literacy and reading circle of sailors. It is noted that teaching sailors to read and write and arithmetic improved the quality of the fleet personnel. The connection between the activities of the naval department in training sailors and the influence of the reforms of the 1860s — 70s is shown.

Reception of Dostoevsky’s Artistic Heritage in the Works of Italian Writers at the Turn of the 19th–20th Centuries

At present, there is no doubt about the recognition and high assessment of the artistic, journalistic and epistolary heritage of F.M. Dostoevsky in Italian culture and literary criticism. S. Aloe described in detail the difficult process of acquaintance of Italian Slavists and writers with the work of Dostoevsky, complicated for a number of years by the lack of translations of his works into Italian — readers could only get acquainted with French translations of his texts [Aloe]. The readers’ notes in the Viesse Cabinet in Florence, which allowed researchers to get acquainted with the writer’s reading circle, after 1881, the year of the writer’s death, showed the growing interest of Italian readers and foreign travelers to the works of Dostoevsky. The article analyzes the reception of the ideological and artistic heritage of F.M. Dostoevsky in the works of Italian writers, representatives of the verist movement, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Luigi Capuana and Grazia Deledda, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Programs about Books and Reading in Central Television

For a long time, various programs about books and reading appeared on TV and then disappeared. They were lost in the TV broadcasting and programs among other programs, cinema films and TV movies. And when programs were closed, they were quickly forgotten. The purpose of this article is to reveal all such TV programs. The author studied the period of more than 50 years. The article gives the names of TV shows about books and reading, belonging to certain channels, and the time of airing. As possible, the author discloses their intent, concepts, content and the names of TV presenters. The sources for the article were weekly bulletins about TV programs, and in the last 30 years — also articles, notes, interviews in professional and general periodicals.In Soviet times, there were TV programs “In the world of books”, “Bookshop”, “Reading circle”. In 1978—1979, the TV presenter of the “Reading circle” was N.M. Sikorsky, then Director of the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR. In post-Soviet Russia, there got more broadcasts of that kind. These were both educational programs (“Book yard”, “Graphoman”, “Exlibris”, “Book storehouse”) and numerous commercial ones (“Bookstore”, “Home library”, “Bibliomania”, “World of books with Leonid Kuravlev”, “Book news”, “Book world”). The author gives more details are tells about the program “Graphoman”, which was invented and presented by A.N. Shatalov, the poet, critic and publisher. The program originated in 1994 and was broadcast on various channels for more than 10 years. Programs of the recent years are “Book for breakfast”, “Various Readings”, “Words order”, “Figure of speech”, “Pro-Reading”, “Book measurement”, “What to read?”. For over half a century, television actively supported the initiators and creators of various programs that promoted books and reading. This activity has slightly declined in recent years. But viewers continue to learn from the TV screen about new books and watch events in the book industry.

The Role of the Motive of Reading in K. Paustovsky’s Novel Shining Clouds (1928)

The article is devoted to the consideration of the artistic functioning of the reading motive in K. G.Paustovsky’s little-known novel Shining Clouds (1928). The motivational analysis undertaken in the work revealed the significance of the readers’ horizons of the characters of the work, not only for characterizing their inner world. In the case when it comes to the reading circle of the main characters, we can talk about the functions of plot prediction and create the pathos of romance. In this regard, mentioning the works by J. London, V. Hugo, E. T. A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, etc., is noteworthy. Since the plot of Shining Clouds is subordinated to the genre assignment of a detective-adventurous novel, the reading experience of such heroes as captain Kravchenko, Baturin and Berg allows you to actualize this form, performing the role of the genre framework in a work with a high level of lyrical digressions. Of particular note is the insertion text ‒ Nelidov’s diary, which simultaneously functions as the sought-after treasure and the actual text, in which engineering and art are organically combined. By virtue of this position in the structure of the novel, Nelidov’s diary enters into complex dialogical relations with other works read by heroes, which prompts a closer analysis of its fragments in comparison with the works of real writers. This comparison comes to the fore in the poem Galatea by L. Mei and the travelogue Journey to Arzrum by A. S. Pushkin, which allows you to see the place of the reading motive in the motif-thematic complex of creativity, as well as go to the author’s concept of a new person embodied in the image of Nelidov and a genuine value that encourages the heroes of the novel to go on a “treasure hunt”. Keywords: K. Paustovsky, motive, reading, novel, poetics

Reading Circles With Sherlock Holmes Graded Readers

One elective class of 6 students at a small private university in Japan read Sherlock Holmes graded readers for one semester in a reading circle class. Reading circles involve students reading books and having discussions with a specific role, such as the Discussion Leader, Passage Person, Word Master, Summarizer, or Connector. These reading circle roles are explained using examples from students’ written notes, which were made to help them with the discussions. This provides a representation of the kind of oral output instructors may expect if they decide to try reading circles in their classrooms. Comments from the instructor’s reflective log and student surveys are reported to give greater insight into how future reading circle courses could be implemented. It was concluded that this activity may be useful to encourage interest in L2 reading at institutions with no extensive reading program. リーディングサークルクラスを選択した日本の大学生６人が、一学期に渡り、英語多読本「シャーロックホームズ」の読書に取り組んだ。リーディングサークルとは、ただ単にグループで本を読むだけでなく、Discussion Leader, Passage Person, Word Master, Summarizer, Connectorなどの役割分担を各メンバーに持たせ、会話や討論を繰り広げることである。これらのリーディングサークルの役割については、学生が書いたメモの例を用いて説明するが、このメモは、討論の際に役立つように、学生に書かせたものである。これは、リーディングサークルを授業で実施する場合に、教師が期待するであろう学生の口頭の発言に相当する。リーディングサークルコースを実施する際に、より深く理解できる様、教師の日誌、学生のアンケートのコメント内容をここに報告する。この活動は、 英語多読コースのない大学で英語読書への関心を高めるのに役立つ可能性があると結論付けられる。

S2-lukija tulkitsijana selkomukautetun kaunokirjallisuuden lukupiirissä

This article discusses reading circles of adult Finnish as a second language (L2) readers. The books that were read and discussed in the circles were easy-to-read fiction. The study focuses on how the readers interpret what they read and what kind of support they need for their interpretations. The analysis utilizes the concept of scaffolding, used in socio-cultural learning theory. The readers’ reading stances vary from what is literally said in the text to creating their own interpretations of the hidden meanings of the text. The latter are not very common in the reading circles, although many participants express a wish to create and discuss interpretations too. The analysis shows that interpretations can emerge if the participants are scaffolded in the reading circle by the teacher and other readers. The study thus provides useful information for designing reading circles in adult language education.