A Philosophical and Pragmatic Perspective

By Jason Pache

Everywhere you go in society today you can see people reading. Heads bowed in cars texting at stop lights, figures hunched over laptops in coffee shops, fixated gazes riveted on social media in the classroom—these are the frequent figures of the digital age.

Palomar is expediting the learning of effective reading through reading classes, in hopes of helping students in college and beyond. In line with this goal, the college seeks to provide instruction in reading aimed at enhancing written and interpersonal communication, helping students to think critically about their beliefs while increasing their empathy for others.

Reading facilitates communication

Professor Erin Feld at Palomar believes reading helps with both written and interpersonal communication. One way to improve these skills is to become familiar with viewpoints other than one’s own through wide reading. That is because reading widely gives oneself familiarity with an array of perspectives, which Feld believes can then be used as models of writing and speaking.

“If you are reading about people who are different than you, then you can learn more. Generally, the more we know about someone, the more we can put ourself in their shoes, as they say, so then we can have more of an understanding of why they might think the way they do or do things the way they do, she said. “With reading, we can learn things about all kinds of people, situations, experiences, etc. that we can bring with us as we meet and interact with new people.”

Feld believes that by becoming aware of others' viewpoints, we have an idea of how to communicate—both interpersonally and in writing—with those who hold these points of view. We learn how to approach the arguments that they would be willing to listen to.

“If you meet somebody with different viewpoints, and you’ve already read them, then it’s not like, ‘Wait, how could you believe that?’ as your initial reaction,” she said. “So just that exposure potentially before you’re in situations with people, or if you’ve not heard about a particular viewpoint but at least been exposed to, you’re aware that people are going to disagree with you in the world, and that’s not a startling moment.”

Reading can also help the reader by providing verbal resources for communication. The reader can learn new words through being exposed to them in print. Wide reading exposes the reader to multifarious genres of writing. Each of these genres possesses a language unique to itself, Feld said.

Delving into a diverse range of subjects produces mental associations from this wide range of writing styles. Feld believes that language used in these mental associations tends to register and stay. Seeing words in the context in which they are used gives examples to which learned words can apply.

Habitual reading accustoms the reader to an array of thought processes that authors use in their writing. Since language is the medium in which human thought is expressed in writing, the reader can develop a clear use of language through reading because writers usually take pains to express themselves with clarity.