| Recently, I was listening
to a program on NPR in which a number of experts, members of the publishing
community, discussed the rise of electronic books, or eBooks. A quick
read over Prof. Krolak’s overview on the various types of EDs now in use
leaves no question of their usefulness, and virtual necessity, in fields
such as the military, government, and law. Academics in university
research situations have also been among the first to champion the use
of the internet and e-mail. The experts on NPR, however, were concerned
with the more aesthetic and sensual aspects of EDs vs. PBs. Their
discussion was interesting, they were biased in favor of PBs, but several
of their examples set me thinking. One expert claimed that books
were a sensual experience, that people enjoyed the feel and smell of the
paper and that turning the pages was a comforting experience. Another
said that favorite books are kept and cherished. Another recalled
as a child, reading by flashlight under the covers after bedtime and asked
if we could imagine children hiding under the covers to read their eBooks.
Let me reply to each of these statements in turn and then put forth some
imaginary scenarios of my own.
Yes, books have a feel and smell. Old, hardcover books were often encased in leather, I have an 1896 edition of Little Women that I cherish. Yet we all know that the smell of old books is often musty and dusty, and that moving old books can produce headaches and asthma attacks. Having moved my library many times, I can tell you that packing the books and unpacking them again can wipe me out for several days. Yes, we cherish some of our favorite old books, and God willing we keep them to share with our children. But books are heavy, incredibly heavy, and as one who was forced to leave much of my personal library in Japan because of the cost of transporting them, I can honestly say that I wish they had been available in a lighter form. Finally, how about children reading under the covers? Well, I always had difficulty balancing the flashlight and keeping the book open and turning the pages; and then the batteries ran out on me anyway. With a small Rocket eBook or Glassbook the liquid crystal screen is backlit and would be perfect for reading secretively under the covers or in a closet. Ebook diskettes could have animated illustration and all kinds of interesting features, such as being able to ask the built-in dictionary for definitions or using Text-to-speech software to read the words to you. I think kids would really get off on using eBooks. Let's imagine for a moment, living in a world of eBooks. We could use either the small pocketbook sized electronic slate or a larger legal pad sized slate. Students heading off to school would be able to lighten their book bags because they would need only one electronic slate and small diskettes for each text book. Travelers heading to Bermuda would only need one slate and a few diskettes for their holiday reading. (How many times have you set off on vacations with your suitcase or travel bag bursting with books to be studied or consumed on the trip and then carted them home, mostly unopened. I heard of a company in Colorado that was piloting an electronic newspaper. It was long and slim, like a newspaper folded to be held in one hand. Imagine waking up and downloading the daily news into your electronic slate and then carrying it out on the verandah to read over toast and coffee. If you saw an ad or notice that you wanted to “tear out” you could just circle it with a stylus and push the print button and the printed version would come out the bottom like a receipt. In the field of ESL, English as a Second Language, teachers were quick to grab onto the new technology of computers as it was developing. CALL, Computer Aided Language Learning, is a special interest group in the international organization for teachers of ESL, TESOL. Web sites such as Study Web have many interesting essays and exercises for English language learners. Recently the international standard for English language testing, the TOEFL and TOEIC tests, have moved to a computer format and many ESL teachers are taking advantage of Distance- Learning courses to gain credentials while on the job. From my own experience, I have
found that the computer is wonderful for language learning, not because
of the special ESL software, but because the students can use regular programs
such as MSWord and e-mail to carry out projects in English. The extensive
reading of readers that have been graded for size and difficulty of vocabulary
and grammar is an important part of solidifying language acquisition.
The eBook, with its built in dictionary, will become a valuable tool to
this end. At present, many of the graded readers are classics that
have been deemed important for foreign students to read in order to gain
cultural literacy. For this reason the Guttenberg
project will serve more and more people as they gain access to the
internet. The eBook has a lot to offer students of English. Students have
been quick to shift from the paper dictionary to the electronic one and
I foresee that they will quickly embrace the eBook as well.
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