Les petits Danois lisent davantage que les autres européens, pourquoi?

26 Février 2015 , Rédigé par Laurence B Publié dans #Loisirs

Reading on the rise among young Danes

Schoolchildren’s increased interest in books attributed to school campaigns and better targeting by publishers

On the rise = en hausse
Among = parmi
Danes = les Danois
To increase = augmenter
To target = cibler, viser

Despite a myriad of new media competing for their attention, Danish children are bucking the trend and reading more books today than they did 14 years ago. A survey of 1,999 schoolchildren found that the proportion of nine- to 12-year-olds who read books in their free time had climbed from 56% to 61% since 2000. Young Danes are still watching TV and using digital devices, but not at the cost of reading books.
Despite = malgré
To compete = rivaliser, être en concurrence
To buck the trend = se rebiffer contre la tendance
A survey = un sondage, une enquête
To climb = être en hausse, grimper
Since 2000 = depuis l’an 2000
Still = toujours, encore
Digital devices = des appareils tactiles

The study attributed the increased interest in physical books to the focus schools have placed on reading over the past decade or so. “There have been several effective government campaigns in Danish schools such as Læselyst, or ‘Love of reading’,” said Stine Reinholdt Hansen, of the Centre for Children’s Literature at Aarhus University, who led the research. “We’ve also given reading for pleasure a lot of attention the last 15 years,” she added. “Many primary school students now have to read a book of their own choosing each week.”
The focus = l’attention, la priorité
A decade = une décennie
To lead – I led – led = mener (une recherche)
Of their own = d’eux-mêmes (qu’ils choisissent eux-mêmes)
Each week = chaque semaine

Danish caregivers have been encouraged to take children’s personal reading preferences more seriously. “Teachers, parents and librarians all used to press upon children the books they considered good,” said Nina Christensen, from the department of aesthetics and communication at Aarhus University. “Now we see that a child has the right to decide what to read – and that it’s an important part of the grown-ups’ role to facilitate the kind of literature children like. We believe that a child’s willingness to read is more important than any snobbery about what they read, to start with.”
A caregiver = un travailleur social
To press upon = insister auprès de, donner de force, faire pression sur
The right = le droit
The grown-ups = les adultes
The kind of = la sorte de, le type de
To believe = croire
Willingness = la bonne volonté, l’envie
Snobbery = le snobisme

Hansen added: “If a child wants to read book after book about horses or sexy vampires or man-eating zombies, then they should be able to. But they’ll also be taught about critical thinking and how to challenge stereotypes from a young age.” Another theory as to why Danish schoolchildren have turned into bookworms is that publishers have become better at responding to research into reading habits and creating books that kids love. “We asked children what genre of reading material they preferred and across age, gender and ethnicity, the answer was always humour,” said Hansen.
They should be able to = on devrait les laisser faire
To teach – I taught – taught = enseigner
Critical thinking = la réflexion critique
To challenge = relever un défi
A bookworm = un dévoreur de livres
Across = à travers
Gender = le genre (masculin/ féminin)

Christensen added: “Publishers have taken this research seriously and created more of the books kids want to read. For instance, we found that boys stopped reading at a certain age and so publishers targeted their offerings more carefully and now we’re seeing more boys read for longer.” In the UK, the National Literacy Trust’s annual survey of children’s and young people’s reading found in 2013 that just over 50% said they liked reading, but only about 33% read for pleasure outside class every day – a lower proportion than in 2005.
More boys read for longer = plus de garçons lisent plus longtemps
Just over = juste un peu plus de
Outside class = en dehors de l’école
Lower = plus bas