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Literacy is the ability to read and write. In modern context, the word means reading and writing in a level adequate for written communication and generally a level that enables one to successfully function at certain levels of a society. Reading is an enjoyable pastime for many people. ...
Writing may refer to two activities: the inscribing characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other lingual constructs that represent language and record information, or the creation of information to be conveyed through written language. ...
Communication is the process of exchanging information usually via a common system of symbols. ...
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The standards for what level constitutes "literacy" vary between societies. Other skills such as computer skills or basic numeracy may also be included, as there are many people who cannot read letters but can read numbers, and even learn to use a computer (in a limited way) while remaining unable to read text. These and the increasing inclusion of sound, still and moving images and graphical elements in digitally based communication call for an even broader concept of literacy. (see: Literacy in the Information Age: Final Report of the International Adult Literacy Survey, OECD 2000). Recently the National Council of Teachers of English have added "visually representing" to the list of communicative competences that are considered to constitute literacy. Computer skills refer to ones ability to utilize the software (and sometimes hardware) of a computer. ...
Numeracy is a term that emerged in the United Kingdom best described as numerical literacy. In the United States, it is familiar to math educators and intellectuals but not in the common usage. ...
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has worked to advance teaching, research, and student achievement in English language arts at all scholastic levels since 1911. ...
Many policy analysts consider literacy rates a crucial measure of a region's human capital. This claim is made on the grounds that literate people can be trained less expensively than illiterates. Policy makers also argue that literacy increases job opportunities and access to higher education. In Kerala, India, for example, female and child mortality rates declined dramatically in the 1960s, when girls schooled to literacy in the education reforms after 1948 began to raise families. Recent researchers, however, argue that correlations such as the one listed above may have more to do with the effects of schooling rather than literacy in general. // General Human capital is a way of defining and categorizing peoples skills and abilities as used in employment and otherwise contribute to the economy. ...
Higher education is education provided by universities and other institutions that award academic degrees, such as university colleges, and liberal arts colleges. ...
Kerala is bounded by the Arabian Sea on the west and the Western Ghats on the east. ...
The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...
This article is in need of attention. ...
1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Literacy history The history of literacy is several thousand years old, but before the industrial revolution finally made cheap paper and cheap books available to all classes in industrialized countries, in the mid-nineteenth century, literacy existed only in a tiny minority of the world's different societies. Until then, materials associated with literacy were so expensive that only wealthy people and institutions could afford them. As an example, in 1841 England 33% of men and 44% of women signed marriage certificates with their mark as they were unable to write. Only in 1870 was primary education made available for all in England.
The definitions of literacy have changed throughout history. At one time, a literate person was one who could sign their name. At other points, literacy was measured by the ability to read the Bible. Literacy has also been used as a way to sort populations and control who has access to power. In the United States following the Civil War, the ability to read and write were used to determine whether one had the right to vote. This effectively served to prevent former slaves from joining the electorate and maintained the status quo.
Examples of highly literate cultures in the past The use of an ideogram based writing system makes basic literacy relatively easier to attain than the use of an alphabet based one, so it is estimated that through the more prosperous decades of her different imperial dynasties China reached very high levels of basic, functional, literacy. A Chinese character. ...
Writing may refer to two activities: the inscribing characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other lingual constructs that represent language and record information, or the creation of information to be conveyed through written language. ...
An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters — basic written symbols — each of which roughly represents a phoneme of a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. ...
Similarly, the existence of secular and religious texts as well as references to great metaphysical debates including reading and writing contests in those texts from the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) points to a highly, perhaps selectively, literate culture there as far back as five to eight thousand years ago. Some major Hindu texts and other discourses contesting them are supposed to be eight thousand years old.
Because of its emphasis on the individual reading of the Qur'an in the original Arabic alphabet many Islamic countries have known a comparatively high level of literacy during most of the past twelve centuries. The Quran (Arabic: al-qurÄn literally the recitation; also called Al QurÄn Al KarÄ«m or The Noble Quran; or transliterated Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...
The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. ...
Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام, listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ...
In New England, the literacy rate was over 50 percent during the first half of the 17th century, and it rose to 70 percent by 1710. By the time of the American Revolution, it was around 90 percent. This is seen by some as a side effect of the Puritan belief in the importance of Bible reading. Modern New England, the six northeastern-most states of the United States, indicated by red The New England region of the United States is located in the northeastern corner of the country. ...
(16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...
Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 4 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. ...
Before the Revolution: The 13 colonies are in red, the pink area was claimed by Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and the orange region was claimed by Spain. ...
A side-effect is any effect other than an intended primary effect. ...
The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ...
The holy jewish scripture: The Torah. ...
Also in Sweden the literacy rate is high. Already in the church law (kyrkolagen) of 1686, literacy was enforced on the people and a hundred years later (by the end of the 18th century), the literacy rate was close to 100 percent. Even before 1686, literacy was widespread in Sweden. However, the ability to read did not automatically imply ability to write, and as late as the 19th century many Swedes, especially women, could not write. Events The League of Augsburg is founded. ...
(17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...
Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Teaching literacy Some people argue that one of the most effective methods of teaching literacy involve direct instruction of simplified phonetic systems. Others, however, argue that a more wholistic method modelled after the way language is acquired is the most effective for teaching literacy. This disagreement has been termed "the reading wars" and is most evident in the pressures placed on schools to use commodified, pre-packaged basal series and literacy programs to teach their children. Phonetic ™ (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a special voice mailbox for the purpose of converting all incoming voice messages into actual text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS, text...
In English, for example, the Distar system, developed by the RAND Corporation, has been adapted into a simple literacy instruction manual ("Teach your Child to Read in 100 Lessons") that permits an adult to teach a child by simply reading and following instructions. All of the complex instructional lesson design, skill building and optimal repetition and review have been "canned" in the book's instructional design. A computer program is even available that uses a similar system, but directly pronounces and tests the lessons, eliminating the need for a literate adult. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Alternate meanings: See RAND (disambiguation) The RAND Corporation is an American think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the U.S. military. ...
A lesson is a structured period of time where learning occurs. ...
Comprehensive phonic programs exist, based on such systems as the Orton phonogram system, which was originated to teach brain-damaged veterans to read again. Using the 73 Orton phonograms and 14 spelling rules, 50,000 English words can be accurately pronounced and spelled, with only 23 exceptional words. Although quite hard to learn, and far more exacting to teach, such systems provide students with powerful basic language skills.
A key technique in many comprehensive phonic systems is a spelling copybook, a sort of personal dictionary in which a student keeps a personal alphabetized list of words for review. The copybook usually shows how the word is pronounced, accented and syllabalized, and how standard spelling rules are invoked to determine its conventional spelling. These phonics-based programs are based on the assumption that knowing how to pronounce a word is the same as reading. Phonics-based programs also assume that a good reader is someone who reads every word. However, a more subtle and complete approach to literacy learning recognizes that reading depends heavily on the reader's prior knowledge of not only letters and sounds, but also the context of the content. For example, "clozed" passages show that only four-fifths of a passage is needed in order for comprehension. In other words, the effective reader simultaneously draws from both the bits and pieces of the words as well as his or her knowledge of the material.
Several learning styles challenge conventional literacy programs. Some believe that visual and auditory learners often do well with conventional curricula. Simplistically, some also believe that kinesthetic learners often do well to use a copybook, less classroom practice and dictation, and more pencil practice, with a collection of magnetized letters and a steelboard to manipulate word-roots, prefixes and suffixes. Those who see literacy learning as part of a meaningful cultural and community practice challenge conventional literacy practices and address the needs of diverse learners by presenting multiple and varied learning opportunities for using text within their classroom. The degree of comprehension of course varies from person to person, depending upon the interaction of their individual level of development as well as the cultural understandings they bring with them. The conditions for whether one has achieved a certain state of "literacy" differ depends on who is defining the standard. For one attempt to define a standard of literacy, see [1].
Literacy readiness It is well-established that children become able to "blend sounds" at different ages. Thus phonetic systems often cannot be applied by very young children.
Experts differ in their approach to this issue, some advocating a delayed, but more rapid acquisition of reading by means of phonetics, while others advocate early acquisition of a basic vocabulary through a "see and say" method.
A secondary advantage of phonetics is that it improves readers' spelling and writing abilities. See and say methods are said to increase the word acquisition rate and reading speed of many students. The problem with phonetics is that it does not address the issue of comprehension.
While young children often require several hundred hours of instruction, spread over much of a year, motivated adults using a good instructional method can often acquire basic literacy with forty or fewer hours of instruction. This is most likely related to the wealth of contextual knowledge adults bring with them allowing them to make connections that young children are not yet able to do.
Steiner schools, that follow the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, do not introduce children to literacy until the age of 7, arguing that children are too young to learn to read before this age. Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner (February 25, 1861, Donji Kraljevec, Hungary [today Croatia ] – March 30, 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, architect, playwright, educator, and social thinker, who is best known as the founder of Anthroposophy and its practical applications, including Waldorf School, Biodynamic agriculture, the Camphill Movement, and the...
"According to UNESCO statistics, almost a billion illiterate people remain as we approach(ed) the year 2000." [2] UNESCO logo The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations system established in 1946. ...
Lack of literacy Many have been concerned about the lack of literacy in the world population, despite the fact that literacy rates have increased steadily over the past few decades, especially in the third world. Third world nations which adopted communism (China, Cuba, and Vietnam, for example), experienced some of the most dramatic growth of literacy, approaching US and European rates. The United Nations defines illiteracy as the inability to read and write a simple sentence in any language. Figures of 1998 show that 16% of the world population is illiterate (by the UN definition). In the United States alone, 5% of the population is illiterate by the US Government definition, according to the 1990 Census. Seven million UK residents are functionally illiterate according to Government figures. Among the Arab states, more than 25% of men and 50% of women were not literate as of 2000. [3] The most likely reason for low levels of literacy is lack of education. Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites White House - Official site of the US President Senate. ...
The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ...
1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ...
The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) Are Originally Inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, and This term also applies towards those who speak arabic, Or any Arabic derived languages (Re: Tebedawi,Tabadawi,Socotri and Naubtanean) // Who is an Arab? The definition of who an Arab is has three main aspects: Political: whether they...
2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Many people in the third world cannot see the point of learning to read, as they are able to function perfectly well without doing so.
Some have suggested that the lower the illiteracy rate of a country, generally the longer the life span, although critics have argued that this is a Post hoc. Literacy does aid the provision of healthcare in a number of very practical ways (ability to read prescriptions and understand doctors' conclusions are two examples of this). Post hoc ergo propter hoc is Latin for after this, therefore because of this. ...
Literacy in the 21st century
New Literacy Studies A theoretical approach to understanding literacy that argues that literacy is not autonomous or a set of discrete technical and objective skills such as reading and writing that can be applied across context. Instead what counts as literacy is determined by the cultural, political, and historical contexts of the community in which it is used. Definitions of literacy are based on ideologies. Scholars associated with the New Literacy Studies include Brian Street, James Paul Gee, Allan Luke, Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel to name a few. The New Literacy Studies draws across academic disciplines including cultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology. Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ...
Anthropological linguistics is the study of language through human genetics and human development. ...
The importance of technological literacy For the contemporary world literacy now comes to mean more than just the ability to read, write and be numerate. It involves, at all levels, the ability to use and communicate in a diverse range of technologies. Since the computer became mainstream in the early 1990s, its importance and centrality in communication has become unassailable. Technology (Gr. ...
The tower of a personal computer (specifically a Power Mac G5). ...
// Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ...
Communication is the process of exchanging information usually via a common system of symbols. ...
We should now, properly, speak of "literacies". These literacies always involve technology and the ability to use technology to negotiate the myriad of discourses that face us in the modern world. These literacies concern using information skillfully and appropriately, and are multi-faceted and involve a range of technologies and media.
In sum, today's students need to cope with a complex mix of print, visual and interactive media, while people of lesser education or older people may see themselves falling behind as the informational gap between them and the people literate in the new media and technologies widens.
Increase of secondary and tertiary illiteracy in the developed countries Another problem in the developed countries is the rise of secondary and tertiary illiteracy in recent years, i.e. the complete or partial loss of previously existing reading and writing skills due to lack of practice.
Many modern communication media frequently used by teenagers and young adults like instant messaging or SMS rely on highly abbreviated constructs for exchanging information. Also, in the battle for viewership, television networks rely more and more on quick soundbites instead of thorough arguments and tend to cater to people with short attention spans to discourage channel surfing. It is theorized that these trends in modern media contribute to the increase in the number of young people who lack the concentration and basic skills to read and comprehend longer texts. An instant messenger is a computer application which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network such as the Internet. ...
A received SMS being announced on a Nokia phone. ...
A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ...
Channel surfing is the practice of quickly scanning through different television channels or radio frequencies in order to find something interesting to watch or listen to. ...
In the light of falling language test scores for young adults in many countries such as Germany and reported population percentages of secondary and tertiary illiteracy as high as 40% in Italy and 70% in Poland, it is likely that the issue of secondary and tertiary illiteracy will continue to be a major concern faced by educational institutions, academia and society in general in the 21st century. (20th century - 21st century - 22nd century - other centuries) Decades: 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s 2070s 2080s 2090s In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing. ...
See also Numeracy is a term that emerged in the United Kingdom best described as numerical literacy. In the United States, it is familiar to math educators and intellectuals but not in the common usage. ...
Dick and Jane were the main characters in popular basal readers written by Zerna Sharp used to teach children to read between the 1930s and 1960s. ...
A theoretical approach to understanding literacy. ...
Literacy is the ability to use text to communicate across space and time. ...
Dr. Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970) was a Christian Evangelical missionary and mystic known as The Apostle to the Illiterates. ...
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