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Why is literacy important
Why is literacy important
Why is literacy important
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Have you ever though what is the relationship of term “literacy” in your life? Within today’s teaching practices literacy has come to be a major part of the course curriculum when teaching early years. It has numerous definitions and meanings to individual people as it continues to be developed through our rapidly changing world. My understanding of literacy “has to do with having the skills and knowledge to create, locate, analyze, comprehend and use a variety of written, visual, aural and multi-model texts for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts.” Literacy is far more than reading and writing, it also involves critical thinking where it tests someone’s understanding of a balanced literacy program which in turn addresses the issues that promotes active and critical learners. Literacy involves important underlying principles. These principles include the indication system also known as sources information and the socio-cultural perspective. These principles are important when attaining literacy. Reading and writing English plays important role in our lives because we are able to accomplish so much with the ability to read and write. It is our everyday life and it is something that must be kept up and taught early. If we are literate in these skills then we will be able to communicate easily in our discourse communities. We use email, conversation, read at school, and social skills to correspond within the discourse communities, so we must be able to read and write. In addition, I use to work in the Sutter County Library Literacy Program where I use to teach adult people who immigrant from different countries to United States. We had four types of level in our English classes, and we use to place them according to their...
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...e expansions will help me achieve the course goals because I need to become aware as academic writer through preparation of this course and apply all the techniques in my writing. Nevertheless, I still struggle to support my points with details and analysis because I have resists understanding the vocabulary that is used in readings. Therefore, I will continue t grow from my strengths and build on my weaknesses so that I can become a better writer in the future.
In short, I have more goals to achieve in my academic career. I desire to have high proficiency in English language reading and writing. I want to specify in some academic fields and be able to write different kinds of papers. At this regard, I will have vast writing experience. I should be able to work under pressure, responsive and complete works quickly and effectively as a professional academic write.
Finding a definition of literacy is not as easy as it sounds. The Webster definition says that to be literate is to be” able to read and write.” But to some researchers, this definition is too simplistic, leading to multiple models of literacy. Most Americans adhere to the autonomous model, which falls closest to the standard, dictionary definition. Believers in this form say that literacy is a cognitive activity that students learn like any other basic skill. It has a set of proficiencies that one must master in order to be capable of decoding and encoding text (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). A competing theory is the ideological model, which claims literacy is intrinsically linked to culture, and therefore what constitutes a “literate” individual is ever-changing. Society is the largest influence on literacy, according to this thought, and it is affected by politics, religion, philosophy and more (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). These two are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, some studies recognize “literacy as competence,” which is a “measure of competence to do a given task or work in a given field,” (SIL International, 1999) such as being computer literate. Although more researchers are recognizing and exploring multiple literacies, the one that most influences American schools is the autonomous, cognitive model – the ability to read and write. For many, it seems a simple task, but millions of adolescents are struggling or reluctant readers, and there are many reasons why young readers have difficulty with reading. XXXXXX------NEED HELP WITH THESIS STATEMENT HERE PLEASE—(This paper will focus on the effects of low reading skills, some of the possible causes of reluctant and struggling readership...
Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy by Victoria Purcell-Gates recounts the author’s two-year journey with an illiterate Appalachian family. Purcell-Gates works with Jenny, the mother, and her son, first grader Donny, to analyze the literacy within the household. Throughout the journey, we learn the definition and types of literacy, the influences of society and the environment, and the impacts of literacy on education from the teacher’s perspective. In order to evaluate literacy in the household, one must study multiple types, including functional, informational, and critical literacy. As the name implies, functional literacy incorporates reading and writing as tools for everyday survival. Informational literacy is used through text to communicate information to others. The highest level of literacy, critical literacy, requires critical interpretations and imaginative reflections of text. In her study, Purcell-Gates strives to teach Jenny and Donny functional literacy.
Living in the Southern United States during eighteenth century was a difficult time for African-Americans. Majority of them were slaves who received manipulation, sexual abuse and brutally whips to the spin. They were treated this way in order to stop them from gaining hope, knowledge and understanding of the world. Some African Americans managed to obtain these qualities from books and use them to escape from slavery. Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who wrote an autobiography, from which the excerpt "Learning to Read and Write" explains how he developed literacy. In the excerpt, an African American slave banned from learning to read and write, breaks the law in an attempt to free his mind from the restricted beliefs of his master. One significant idea portrayed from Douglass's ordeal is that reading and writing is a vital skill that benefits humanity.
Knoblauch argues that there are many definitions of literacy that impact people’s lives. Although he argues there are many definitions, he focused on four types of literacy that are most common in society. Knoblauch labels them as functional, cultural, personal-growth/liberal, and critical literacy. He defines functional literacy as a level of literacy that is “readying people for the necessities of daily life—writing checks, reading sets of instructions”(1990, p. 3) and other basic reading and writing skills. However, he also warns that there are hidden agendas in these types of defined literacies. Ill prepared teachers who do not connect to and challenge their students result in no critical literacy and very little
“Phenomenologically, Donny and Timmy were not growing up in a literate environment. Although they lived in a home situation in a city situated in a country that contained many forms and functions for print, they did not experience it. They did not notice it around them; they did not understand its uses. Their world functioned without written language” (Purcell-Gates, 1997, p. 58).
“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man,
Growing up in working class family, my mom worked all the time for the living of a big family with five kids, and my dad was in re-education camp because of his association with U.S. government before 1975. My grandma was my primary guardian. “Go to study, go to read your books, read anything you like to read if you want to have a better life,” my grandma kept bouncing that phrase in my childhood. It becomes the sole rule for me to have better future. I become curious and wonder what the inside of reading and write can make my life difference. In my old days, there was no computer, no laptop, no phone…etc, to play or to spend time with, other than books. I had no other choice than read, and read and tended to dig deep in science books, math books, and chemistry books. I tended to interest in how the problem was solved. I even used my saving money to buy my own math books to read more problems and how to solve the problem. I remembered that I ended up reading the same math book as my seventh grade teacher. She used to throw the challenge questions on every quiz to pick out the brighter student. There was few students know how to solve those challenge questions. I was the one who fortunately nailed it every single time. My passion and my logic for reading and writing came to me through that experience, and also through my grandma and my mom who plant the seed in me, who want their kids to have happy and better life than they were. In my own dictionary, literacy is not just the ability to read and write, it is a strong foundation to build up the knowledge to have better life, to become who I am today.
Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.
This essay will be looking at how social background can have a direct impact on the acquisition of language and literacy skills, paying attention to how poverty can play a part in the development of early language skills and how these can have direct implications on how children develop literacy skills within both the home and educational settings.
Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach. (5th ed., pp. 12-286). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
Being literate defines who I am, and forms an integral part of my life. From the practical to the creative, it aids, and enables me to perform in the tasks that modern society dictates. I shall explore the many aspects of my life that are affected by literacy. Through this, understanding in greater depth what it means for me, to be literate.
There are some theoreticians who view literacy in a form of social practice. In their view, social issues are also important components, as well as linguistic competence and understanding cognitive processes in language studies. Freire (1974) views literacy not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but also as a relationship of learners to the world. Vygotsky (1978) suggests two stages of development at social and individual level. In his view, literacy is a phenomenon that is created, shared, and changed by the members of a society. Gee (1996) similarly argues that becoming literate means apprenticeship with texts and apprenticeships in particular ways of being. In summary, literacy practices are not just about language, but about their interrelation with social practices.
The importance of literacy is how it opens up the world to the reader, or writer. Through literacy, we can shape our thinking on certain topics or create original thought. The vivid detail inside of writing can allow the reader to picture the writing through their own mind without pictures, or any outside help. Malcolm X, who wrote “Literacy Behind Bars”, a literacy narrative about his time in prison, described how the world opened up to him through his readings, and how incredible his life was thereafter through his learning to read and write. Literacy enables you to formulate thought, thus allowing you to formulate opinions about certain social, political, or any other range of topics from an education in literacy.
Literacy, what is it? When this question was asked, my immediate thought was being able to read and write, duh. But as I sat back in my chair and tried to come up with something to say to the class, I realized literacy is not truly defined by that short definition provided when looked up in the dictionary. Literacy has been an important part every civilization, enabling the recording and sharing of history, thoughts, and ideas. It has a place in every aspect of society. From cooking, to science, to religion, literacy knows no bounds. Although literacy is often thought of as the ability to read and write in an academic setting, to me literacy is more beneficial when used outside of an educational context. Literacy in its most significant form is being able to decipher emotions and feelings, finding productive solutions to the problems, and sharing with others.