reading really is the best way to improve (your own and a second) language

There is reading... and there is reading:

We have developed a PowerPoint state of mind. As audiences, we increasingly assume that whatever we read – a PowerPoint slide or a novel – should be short, straightforward, and only worth reading once.

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When reading on a digital platform, we do incredibly more multitasking and are far less able to concentrate than when reading printed works.

The Fate of Reading in a Digital World: Conversation with Naomi S. Baron

Prof Baron weighs the value of reading physical print versus online text:

Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World by Naomi S. Baron | U-M Library

She has a new book out looking at the general importance of reading:

How We Read Now: Strategic Choices for Print, Screen, and Audio: Baron, Naomi S.: 9780190084097: Amazon.com: Books

Here's a review, with a few key points:

The decline in pleasure reading among young people...

Students not only read less, but also comprehend and retain less of what they read...

A digital mindset includes an openness to the advantages of digital reading, including the ease of skimming, scanning, and accessing an abundance of information.

How We Read Now: Strategic Choices for Print, Screen, & Audio | Washington Independent Review of Books

Here is Prof Baron writing last year:

During the pandemic, many college professors abandoned assignments from printed textbooks and turned instead to digital texts or multimedia coursework.
As a professor of linguistics, I have been studying how electronic communication compares to traditional print when it comes to learning. Is comprehension the same whether a person reads a text onscreen or on paper? And are listening and viewing content as effective as reading the written word when covering the same material?
The answers to both questions are often “no,” as I discuss in my book “How We Read Now,” released in March 2021. The reasons relate to a variety of factors, including diminished concentration, an entertainment mindset and a tendency to multitask while consuming digital content...

Why we remember more by reading – especially print – than from audio or video

And here she is talking about how we can't read complex texts any more:

The Death of Nuance - Twisting My Words - BBC Sounds

Finally, some posts on the importance of reading:

Jay Doubleyou: the importance of reading

Jay Doubleyou: do you enjoy reading?

Jay Doubleyou: krashen and second language learning

Jay Doubleyou: using difficult texts in the esl classroom

Jay Doubleyou: ambiguous newspaper headlines

Jay Doubleyou: pause and think: or, how to improve your language skills

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