Literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing"[1] with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use.[2] In other words, humans in literate societies have sets of practices for producing and consuming writing, and they also have beliefs about these practices.[3] Reading, in this view, is always reading something for some purpose; writing is always writing something for someone for some purpose.[4] Beliefs about reading and writing and their value for society and for the individual always influence the ways literacy is taught, learned, and practiced.[5]
For the article on reading, see Reading. For the article on writing, see Writing. For the academic journal, see Literacy (journal).
H.S. Bhola described Sarah Gudschinsky's definition of literacy as "essential": "A person is literate who can 'read and understand everything he would have understood if had been spoken to him; and can write, so that it can be read, anything he can say'."[6] This definition focuses on comprehension and was created thinking of mother "tongue literacy" and does not include reciting passages in another language that the person does not understand.
Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was understood solely as alphabetical literacy (word and letter recognition); and the period after 1950, when literacy slowly began to be considered as a wider concept and process, including the social and cultural aspects of reading and writing[7] and functional literacy.[8][9]
The range of definitions of literacy used by NGOs, think tanks, and advocacy groups since the 1990s suggests that this shift in understanding from "discrete skill" to "social practice" is both ongoing and uneven. Some definitions remain fairly closely aligned with the traditional "ability to read and write" connotation, whereas others take a broader view:
The concept of multiliteracies has gained currency, particularly in English Language Arts curricula, on the grounds that reading "is interactive and informative, and occurs in ever-increasingly technological settings where information is part of spatial, audio, and visual patterns (Rhodes & Robnolt, 2009)".[27][28] Objections have been raised that this concept downplays the importance of reading instruction that focuses on "alphabetic representations".[29] However, these are not mutually exclusive, as children can become proficient in word-reading while engaging with multiliteracies.[30]
Word reading is fundamental for multiple forms of communication.[30] Beginning in the 1940s, the term literacy has often been used to mean having knowledge or skill in a particular field, such as:
Social and cultural elements[edit]
The traditional concept of literacy widened as a consensus emerged among researchers in composition studies, education research, and anthropological linguistics that it makes little sense to speak of reading or writing outside of a specific context, with linguist James Paul Gee describing it as "simply incoherent."[45] For example, even the extremely early stages of acquiring mastery over symbol shapes take place in a particular social context (even if that context is "school"), and, after print acquisition, every instance of reading or writing will be for a specific purpose and occasion with particular readers and writers in mind. Reading and writing, therefore, are never separable from social and cultural elements.[46][47][48][49] A corollary point made by David Barton and Rosalind Ivanić, among others, is that the cognitive and societal effects of acquiring literacy are not easily predictable, since, as Brian Street has argued, "the ways in which people address reading and writing are themselves rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity, and being."[50][51] Consequently, as Jack Goody has documented, historically, literacy has included the transformation of social systems that rely on literacy and the changing uses of literacy within those evolving systems.[52]
Functional illiteracy[note 1] relates to adults and has been defined in different ways:
It is distinguished from primary illiteracy (i.e., the inability to read and write a short, simple statement concerning one's own everyday life) and learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia).[57] These categories have been contested—as has the concept of "illiteracy" itself—for being predicated on narrow assumptions, primarily derived from school-based contexts, about what counts as reading and writing (e.g., comprehending and following instructions).[58]
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Reading the past, writing the future: Fifty years of promoting literacy, 21–23, 26, UNESCO, UNESCO. UNESCO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Mobile phones and literacy: Empowerment in Women's Hands; A Cross-Case Analysis of Nine Experiences, 22-23, UNESCO, UNESCO. UNESCO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Digital Services for Education in Africa, 17, UNESCO, UNESCO. UNESCO.