Reading Aloud in Britain Today (RABiT)

《今日英国朗读》(RABiT)将是对当代成年人朗读实践的首次全面研究。朗读作为一种教与学的工具受到了人们的普遍关注，而成年人在家中、工作中和社区里每天朗读的内容却少得多。在有关阅读的学术和教育讨论中，这些日常的口语阅读练习在很大程度上被忽视了。成年人朗读什么，在哪里朗读，如何朗读，为什么朗读，或者听别人朗读？当一个人完全孤独时，他们是因为没有人听而默读，还是因为没有人听而大声朗读？夫妻、家庭和团体如何将朗读作为在一起的一种方式？为什么有些人用他们听不懂的语言朗读？我们什么时候和为什么要在工作中大声朗读？朗读与背诵、吟诵、唱歌或讲故事有什么关系？为了写作还是为了记忆？为了权力和权威？这个项目将探索朗读作为一种文化实践，通过记录和分析当代成人朗读实践及其在成人生活中的作用，改变当代对阅读是什么或涉及什么的概念化。我将使用大规模观察项目指令、问卷、深度采访和实践录音来捕捉英国各地成年人的实践。我将与三个项目合作伙伴(大英图书馆、阅读机构、学习与工作研究所)、拉帕尔地区倡导者网络、格拉斯哥妇女图书馆、苏格兰诗歌图书馆和项目咨询小组合作，在英国城乡接触不同年龄、性别、社会经济背景、种族、信仰、就业状况和语言背景的成年人。通过这种方式，我将传播关于该项目的信息，为第一年的数据收集活动招募参与者，邀请参加第二年的区域社区活动，并呼吁在整个项目中提供反馈和想法。拉比特将对英格兰、威尔士和苏格兰不同地方、语言和信仰社区的成年人不同的日常朗读做法进行记述。这种对成人阅读实践多样性的理解将扩大对阅读本身的理解，这将不仅对所有从事学术阅读研究的人感兴趣，而且对那些支持成年人进行正式或非正式阅读的人也是如此。项目成果将通过项目网站、大众观察项目档案馆的指令、大英图书馆声音档案馆的录音资料、学术和非学术介绍和文章以及一本关于当代成人朗读实践的书--一本书--向学术和社区/从业人员传播。将通过研讨会和《改变英语》杂志特刊进一步培养学术领导力，以产生新的研究成果，并收集对阅读、识字或文化实践感兴趣的不同学科的现有相关研究。将通过四个区域社区活动(在威尔士、苏格兰和英格兰)发展社区参与，在这些活动中，将邀请与成年人一起阅读的混合群体(包括图书管理员、成人扫盲教师、阅读圈促进者、宗教团体成员和社区工作者)探索调查结果的影响，从而产生3个下一步指南资源。在为期两年的项目资助结束时，RABiT将有1)显著提高学术和公众对英国成年人在日常生活中朗读的认识，2)为这些做法创建书面和听觉记录，供任何人阅读或聆听，3)扩大“阅读”本身的文化概念，挑战我们所有人更仔细地思考阅读在成人生活中的作用。

Reading Aloud in Britain Today (RABiT) will be the first comprehensive study of contemporary adult reading aloud practices. While regular attention is paid to reading aloud as a tool for teaching and learning, far less is paid to the reading aloud that adults do every day at home, work and in the community. These everyday oral reading practices are largely overlooked in academic and educational discussions of reading. What, where, how and why do adults read aloud, or listen to others reading? When a person is completely alone, do they read silently because there is no one to listen, or do they read aloud because there is no one to hear? How do couples, families and groups use reading aloud as a way of being together? Why do some people read aloud in languages they do not understand? When and why do we read aloud at work? How does reading aloud relate to recitation, chanting, singing or storytelling? To writing or memorizing? To power and authority?This project will explore reading aloud as cultural practice, transforming contemporary conceptualisations of what reading is or involves by documenting and analysing contemporary adult reading aloud practices and their role in adult lives. I will use a Mass Observation Project directive, a questionnaire, in-depth interviews and audio-recording of practices to capture the practices of adults across Britain. I will work with the three Project Partners (British Library, Reading Agency, Learning and Work Institute), the RaPAL Regional Advocates Network, the Glasgow Women's Library, the Scottish Poetry Library and the Project Advisory Group to reach out to adults of different ages, genders, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, faiths, employment status and language backgrounds, across urban and rural Britain. In this way, I will disseminate information about the project, recruit participants for the data collection activities of year one, invite participation in the Regional Community Events in year two and call for feedback and ideas throughout the project. RABiT will create an account of the varied everyday reading aloud practices of adults across different local, linguistic and faith communities in England, Wales and Scotland. This developed understanding of the diversity of adult reading practices will expand understandings of reading itself, which will be of interest not only to all those engaged in forms of academic reading research but also to those supporting adults with reading formally or informally. Project findings will be disseminated to both academic and community/practitioner audiences through the project website, a directive in the Mass Observation Project Archive, a collection of audio-recordings in the British Library Sound Archive, academic and non-academic presentations and articles, and a book - the first major work on contemporary adult reading aloud practices. Academic leadership will be further developed through a Symposium, and Special Issue of the journal Changing English, to generate new and gather existing relevant research from different disciplines with an interest in reading, literacy or cultural practice. Community engagement will be developed through the four Regional Community Events (in Wales, Scotland and England) where a mixed group of those who engage with adults in reading (including librarians, adult literacy teachers, reading circle facilitators, members of faith groups and community workers) will be invited to explore implications of the findings, leading to the production of 3 Next Steps Guides resources. By the end of the 2 years of project funding, RABiT will have 1) dramatically increased academic and public awareness of the reading aloud that adults across Britain do in our everyday lives, 2) created written and aural records of these practices for anyone to read or listen to, and 3) expanded cultural conceptions of 'reading' itself, challenging us all to think more carefully about the role of reading in adult life.