Picturing Metaphors for Reading

This one's a bit long, but it's a great example of an academic paper and uses Lakoff & Johnson's metaphor theory, which I know some A2s use for their research. 

It explores people's (drawn) metaphors for the process of reading, at home and at school; so it's telling about education as well as people's engagement with language.

The Believing Body
http://www.theillustratedprofessor.com/?p=3801

Crystal's Encyclopaedias

Whilst I'm on books, here's the Crystal encyclopaedia of the English language. There's also the encyclopaedia of Language, which covers a wider range of languages, and includes child language acquisition; that one's in its third edition and has extra chapters on Internet language too.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language David Crystal £30.00 £21.92

First 10 Pages

This one's of most use if you've got an interest in Literature - this blog seeks to read and analyse the first 10 pages of a range of books, and comment on the language and approach used to open the novel.  Cool stuff.

 

http://first10pages.com/

Reading for pleasure

Much educational achievement is based on what you do 'extra', 'for pleasure'. How can a government 'encourage' this? If it's for pleasure, it needs to be self-motivated, not imposed by an institution. 

Governments could remove tax from ebooks though. And keep libraries open. 

Encouraging reading for pleasure: What the research says on reading for pleasure
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/pedagogy/teachingstyles/b00192950/encouraging-reading-for-pleasure/what-the-research-says-on-reading-for-pleasure