Sanskrit Reading Ability and Measurement

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

About The Book

Some persons think that 'reading' actually is synonymous with word-calling. The believe that reading occurs if person pronounces word correctly, even if the person does not understand what he has reading. This thinking is continuously being felt in Sanskrit language too. But 'reading' is a psycholinguistics process in which there is a great deal of interaction between though and language.
Measurement of Sanskrit Reading Ability is not easier than that of any language. There are many models existing in English language and some in Hindi also. There is no scientific work on Sanskrit reading ability. So the author has taken problem as a challenge.
This book contains: What is reading? What happens in reading? Importance of reading ability, Reading skills. Importance of measurement of reading ability in Sanskrit, need for research on reading, research work about reading ability. Construction and standardization of Sanskrit reading ability test. Measurement of reading ability, analysis of data with reference to following factors - Sex, Caste, School achievement, socio-economic and social adjustment. At last by follows the findings and conclusions of the study.

About the Author

Dr. S.L. Pandey (born on 12 August, 1956) is Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Rastriya Sanskrit Sansthan (Deemed University), Jaipur Campus, Jaipur (Rajasthan). He obtained his master's degree in Sanskrit in 1979, B.Ed. in 1980 and M.Ed. in 1981 from the University of Rajasthan,. Jaipur. He obtained his Ph.D. (Education) in 1994 from Kota Open University, Kota.
His field of interest and specialization are language-teaching and reading ability. He has contributed a number of research papers in these fields. He is author of many books in education and Sanskrit. His publications are: (i) Neeti Shatakam (Vyakhya-Sanskrit); (ii) Social Studies Teaching (Hindi); (iii) Samajik Vigan Shikshanan(Sanskrit); (iv) Shikshan asyayojanam(Sanskrit); (v) History Teaching (Hindi) and (vi) Sanskrit-Pathan Yogyata Parikshanam (Sanskrit-English).

Preface

Reading should be looked upon as one aspect of an integrated programme of language development which also includes speaking, writing and spelling. For the development of reading skills of the child, speaking and vocabulary should always be well equipped based on experiences and language which he understands and uses Furthermore, reading should be a skill which the child can see as a useful information and for giving him enjoyment. The teacher must guard against over-emphasizing recognition skills at the expense of comprehension.
The Art of Reading' is not merely the mechanical and correct pronunciation of word it is also a thought-getting device. It is necessary, therefore, to have standardized tests by mean of which the 'Reading Ability of a school going child in a certain language can be measured with certain degree of reliability and validity. Such tests prove very useful for teachers entrusted with the work of teaching the art of reading'. Tests for measuring Reading Ability of school going children exist for English and Hindi languages, but no such test existed for Sanskrit language. The work of devising and standardizing a test of Sanskrit Reading Ability was therefore found very important and useful. Such type of work is immense help for the teaching and development of Sanskrit.
By the end of 1989, I undertook for my Ph.D. thesis the "An Investigation into the standards of Sanskrit Reading Ability among the students of senior secondary schools of Kota division (Rajasthan)" The work was very laborious, time consuming and highly statistical in nature, I could finish it only by the end of 1993 After its completion, the work was submitted to the Kota Open University (now Vardhman Mahaveer Open University, Kota) for the award of Ph.D. degree It was approved for the award of PhD degree in November, 1994 This book "Sanskrit Reading Ability and Measurement" incorporates the main points and results of my Ph.D. thesis.
The work was done in the Faculty of Education of the Kota Open University, Kota under the guidance of Professor R.P Srivastava, Professor, Faculty of Education, Jamia-Millia Islamia, New Delhi, Dr. R.P. Gupta (Retd), Reader, Faculty of Education, Lucknow University, Lucknow and Dr. Anil Shukla, Assistant Professor, Kota Open University, Kota. Dr. R.P. Gupta (Retd), Reader, Faculty of Education, Lucknow University, Lucknow has given me a considerable amount of help and guidance in beginning, developing and completing the work. But for useful suggestions, valuable guidance, kind and sympathetic attitude, encouraging inspiration and timely help which I received from these three eminent teachers, the work would not have been finished. I take this opportunity to express my feeling gratitude to them all.
I am personally thankful to Smt. Anuradha Pandey (my wife) for her help and support. At last I am thankful to Shri Nitin Kumar Garg of Radha Publication, New Delhi for publishing this book.

Introduction

What is Reading?

"Reading is the art of transmitting the ideas, facts and feelings from the mind and soul of an author to the mind and soul of a reader with accuracy and understanding and much more."!
There are many possible definitions. We might say that it is the ability to pronounce the word of a printed page. But we know that it is possible to learn to pronounce the printed words of all foreign language and yet have no understanding of their meaning. For this reason, any usable definition of reading must include a specification of what meaning is attained. We might say that reading consists of obtaining meaning from the printed page. But even this definition leaves much to be desired. Reading must be more than merely obtaining meaning. Reading is the type of thinking. Actually no meaning exists only with the reader. And what is true of reading is also true of listening, since the critical phase of each act is what happens within the reader or listener and not whether the stimulus is a printed or a spoken word.
The printed page or the spoken word must arouse meaning within the individual who reads or listens, and that meaning must be integrated with other related meanings. If integration does not occur, the reader drives little benefit from his activity. Further more, reading must parallel and include reasoning. The reader. must challenge what he reads on the basis of what he already knows and must re-examine his present ideas in the light of what he reads. At its highest level then, reading requires both thinking and learning. The reader reacts to what is on the printed page. He uses his store of ideas to accept or reject and he himself is changed in the process.
Words may suggest some thought to us but they cannot transmit ideas or meaning directly from the mind of another person to our own mind. Words have different meanings and shades of meanings, and these meanings may vary with how the words are arranged in the sentence and what sentences precede and follow. The past experiences and purposes of the writer determine what meaning he intends to transmit; the past experiences and present needs of the reader govern what meaning he receives.
The child has learned to challange and integrate what he hears and sees, and to interpret words in the light of the situation long before he learns to read. He discovers that the word "No" has a different meaning when it comes from one person, from the one when it comes from another. An assurance what food is "good" cannot always be accepted without evidence. Spanking may be in fun or in anger, and heat may be pleasant or unpleasant. An excellent measure of the value to us of any material that we read is the extent to which is causes us to think, we learn little by taking the hand of the author, and following him passively through a situation. As we know we learn only as we meet problems and are forced to rearch for solutions. The learning, what we do as we read, may add to our stock of ideas or it may strong then or weaken what we have previously believed.²
Reading begins with wonder at the world about us. It starts with the recognition of repeated events like thunder, lightning and rain. It starts with the seasons, with the growth of things. It starts with an ache that vanished with food or water. It occurs when time is discovered. Reading begins when the child, says that a day is 'beautiful" or "cold" or that the wind is "soft". Reading is signs and portents, the flight of birds, the changing moon, the changeless sun and fixed stars that move thought of night. Reading is the practical management of the world about us. It was this for the men at the cave's mouth. It is this for us at our desk, at the bench or at the control panel."
In former days reading was considered to be a relatively simple mechanical skill. Even today this conception is still held by many people who are unfamiliar with the psychology of the reading act. Some think of reading as a sounding out of printed words, either with or without a comprehension of meaning. Others restrict their concept of reading to the ability to read aloud, assuming that good oral readers automatically make good silent readers.
Some definitions of reading, however are perhaps too broad. The Claremont College (California) conferences on reading the thesis that reading includes all perceptive observation of the real world around us. In this sense reading becomes synonymous with education itself. While such a definition is justifiable if its terms are made sufficiently explicit, we must admit that most people today do not attach a similar connotation to the word 'reading' in this book we shall think of 'reading' as an activity which involves the comprehension and interpretation of ideas symbolized by written or printed language.

What happens in the Reading?

To understand the role of the various elements that are important to growth in reading, it is helpful to consider the question, "What really takes place when a person read?"
The reader is looking at an object in the form of a book or a magazine or a bill book or a road sign. Most commonly the object consists of paper, usually white. On the paper appear certain marks made, as a rule, by the application of a dark coloured ink. That is all. Just ink marks on white paper. And yet looking at those marks may cause a person to turn pale, as in the case of a letter containing bad news, or to laugh, or to smile, or to cry, or to hold his breath in suspence. A laboratory test would reveal that a reader's pulse rate may at time rise sharply when he looks at those curious ink mark on paper. How can the seeing of these marks bring about such striking mental and physical experiences.