Literacy between the Past and the Present
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Literacy between the Past and the Present
Introduction
The nature of literacy learning encompasses instructional techniques and pedagogy of literacy. These applications create a legacy of literacy and technology use in learning. They dominated the 20th century prompting the introduction inter-disciplinary work at the juncture created by scholarly projects and education. Over time the literacy evolved to building communication, impaction of critical thinking, and initiating creativity. The basics of literacy attract diverse educators and scholars from different fields. There is a need to capture the past ideologies that shaped literacy and the present state of the field. Therefore, this research paper explores the past and present aspects of literacy education.
Past literacy
Literacy education itself presents a contextual diversity in learning and cultural environments. When one views literacy from this point, the origin of the practice must reflect on the mind. It began back in the...
Rassool, N. (2009) ‘Literacy: in Search of a Paradigm’ in Soler, J., Fletcher-Campbell, F. & Reid, G. (eds.) Understanding Difficulties in Literacy Development: Issues and Concepts, London, Sage, pp.7-31.
“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,
Literacy has a strong impact on ones life’s in many reasons such as it can open doors for an individual to become successful in the world. Literacy is never easy to develop but once it is developed it is something that can never be forgotten. Achieving the quality of literacy can determine your efficiency in life. An individual environment throughout early childhood has an impact on the quality of literacy they develop.
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...
In recent years the meaning of literacy has become much more than that. Now literacy includes things such as, numbers, images, and technology. Literacy can be something that developed through things like Books, the internet, television, family, and many other resources. In this literacy narrative I will discuss the origins of my current attitudes about writing, and reading.
Literacy in the 21st century is multidimensional with Giroux arguing “Teaching and learning the culture of the book is no longer the staple of what it means to be literate” (Arthur, 2001, p.183).
Literature is a key component when speaking of literacy. Teachers need to provide students with endless amounts of practice experiences in reading to build their fluency rate. This should be done with different genres of texts and different levels. Reading a wide variety of literature help children develop rich vocabularies.
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.
An decline has occurred in the amount of time young people spend reading. The loss of interest in teenagers for reading has resulted from the invention of the moving picture. No longer do teenagers open their imaginations to create a vision of stories portrayed in books. The visions have already been provided for them in the forms of movies, video games, and television.
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.
“While it is true that more books are sold today than ever, recent statistics show that only about 15% of books bought today are read. Evidently, they are of more use as furniture—coffee-table books—than as a source of information or aesthetic buzz. The statistics continue; of those that are read, less than 20% are read all the way through. The unfinished book symbolizes the state of attention spans today”. Eric McLuhan opens up his 2010 argument against technology with this quote. He seems to believe that literacy is only fully achieved through limited technology and hard copies of books. He fails to realize there is more to literacy that picking up a book defined as a ‘classic’ and reading it cover to cover. Literacy covers all spans of artistic
Literacy and literature are interdependently linked in society as individuals engaging in quality literature can help build effective literacy skills and knowledge. Literature is everywhere and are a large part of most cultures. Engaging with this literature aids with understanding cultural values in society. For an individual to function fully in society, solid literacy skills are crucial. Due to the importance of literacy in society, many theorist have developed theories to how humans acquire language. Literacy, literature and language acquisition are all important in understanding learning.
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.
I have learned to rely on the Internet for my researches and I knew that I could write creatively, or express my own opinion, in a manner more persuasive than working on it using the traditional literacy methods. Using the computer before was introduced to me as a tool for learning by educational games and computer programs, but as times passed the use of the computer for learning became the available tool for me that have cultivated my love for reading and writing. Blogging is writing which is a fun and great way to encourage creativity without any binding rules for a contemporary student like me that is full of emotions, arguments and ideas that I cannot express in formal academic writing. Integrating new literacy particularly technologically into the classroom is a smart move to implement a positive interaction with much gusto. At first, I thought that this major development would lead to my education’s trend towards reading and writing even less, but the new approach to literacy keeps me happy and comfortable, and even make me do logical and cohesive writing. Blogging is a useful tool for my inability to think critically and write persuasively. I do believe though that there is value in the traditional as well as the new literacy...