Literacy And Literature Essay

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. Discuss the role played by Literature, specifically for learning, and more generally in society

Literature has a vital role in educating learners of

This is supported by Cunningham and Stanovich study conducted in 1991 which suggests there is correlation between the amount of reading a child does and their vocabulary size (Hoff, 2014). Reading literature passively exposes children to a greater range of words that can be used when talking and writing. Literature can also help improve an individual’s ability to comprehend the meaning of a text. Using syntactic, semantic and graphophonic cueing systems simultaneously on multiple texts allows an individual to understand the meaning of a text and become a more proficient reader (Harris, Turbill, Fitzsimmons & McKenzie 2006). Cultural and social norms and values can be shared to society through literary works which lead to a better understanding of individual cultures and other cultures (Drucker, 2015). A strong example of this can be displayed through the large Christian population of Australia. Reading literature associated with this religion such as ‘The Bible’ assists in understanding the values of this religion, making sense of social norms such as not to steal. This also applies to the younger members of society learning social values

Home life, culture and context all play a large role in literacy learning, as family are our first teachers. Every family are different in structure, have different values, different teaching styles and different interactions with their children. Therefore, all children experience a different level of immersion with literature in their home. Evidence has concluded that children who have frequent literacy opportunities in their everyday life such as storybook reading and role play find it easier to acquire emergent literacy skills than children who do not (Raz & Bryant, 1990). This reinforces the significant role family plays in literacy learning as a child’s guardian determines the amount of involvement the child has with literature at a young age. The cultural background of the child’s family also plays a significant role as different cultures have contrasting values toward literacy and literature. A strong example of this can be seen through Spreadbury’s 1998 case study of child named David from Malaysia (Spreadbury, 2002). David’s mother who is Malaysian has observed how reading is popular in Australia which is different to her culture where reading is a “lazy occupation” (Spreadbury, 2002). Another factor of that impacts literacy learning for a child is the context of their environment. The area where a child lives and their socioeconomic status can affect their literacy