What do we mean by literacy?

1
What do we mean by literacy?

• Literacy is a polysemantic term
• The ability to read and/or write
• writing being the ability to encode language onto
  an surface
• reading being the ability to decipher that code
• The ability to access, understand, and use a
  societys knowledge systems and possibly produce
  new knowledge within that system

2
Reading, Writing, Culture

• Literacy is a human technology possibly one of
  the most significant technologies in human
  history
• what does prehistoric mean?
• Nevertheless, the lack of literacy technology
  doesn't say anything about a culture other than
  that they don't have this technology
• Also, reading and writing are distinct
  activities, as you can learn to do one without
  knowing how to do the other

3
Writing Systems

• Pictograms
• images used to represent objects
• Ideograms
• pictograms that represent ideas
• Logographic
• abstract symbols represent an idea or word (11
  ratio)

• Syllabic
• symbol represents sound cluster
• Alphabetic
• symbol represents single sound (ideally)
• consonantal alphabets only have symbols for
  consonants

4
Other Concerns for Writing Technologies

• Inscription surface and inscribing tools
• durability ability to reuse mobility effort
  needed to inscribe skill needed to inscribe
  production cost availability of materials
• Direction the text should flow
• up, down, to the left, to the right, changing
  direction each line
• Spacing
• between symbols or thoughts
• Punctuation

5
Linguistics Literacy

• Literacy allows linguistic analysis to happen
• Pragmatic literacy removes language act from the
  context it was created in
• Historic change literacy can work as record of
  linguistic change or used as a mechanism to slow
  change
• Varieties literacy has been used to record
  linguistic variety throughout the world work as
  a bridge between diverse varieties of a language
• Language Acquisition alphabetic literacy may aid
  oral language acquisition

6
Literacy and Culture

• Like all technologies, the value of literacy is
  based upon the culture in which it is used
• value is not static
• value is not always positive
• changes in literacy technologies change literacy
  behavior and value of literacy practices
• Literacy also tends to affect perception/value of
  language use
• The West's positive value for literacy is rather
  high, to the point where literacy skills are used
  as a basis for psychological and moral judgment
• sometimes called the Literacy Myth (Graff)

7
Literacy Acquisition in Children

• In the US, children typically develop literacy in
  stages
• Writing pictographic stage combination of
  picture and text learning grapheme system
  (usually still combined with pictures) text
  based writing writing genres pragmatics
• Reading pseudo-reading practices picture
  reading learn word/sign connection learning
  grapheme system reading pragmatics genres

8
The American Literacy Crisis

• Since the 1970s, many people have suggested that
  American literacy abilities have been declining
• concern about the influence of other information
  media, oral culture, test scores
• However, most serious research on the topic has
  shown that on the whole, literacy skills in
  America have consistently increased since the
  beginning of the 20th century, both in numbers of
  literate people and the complexity of skills