Literacy practices and societal perspective

Literacy practices and societal perspective

Literacy practices vary from on societal perspective to the other and how literacy is effectively employed within a given literary context to suit that particular cultural dictates of literacy. In some societal practices, literacy practices are perceived from the perspective of how societal practices are associated with the written word (Barton, 2007). From personal experience, the aspect of literacy practice always manifested when I am the one tasked with reading various articles to close family members. Again, I always hold the responsibility of teaching the young family members basic English language and everything that entails to English literacy. The other example of literacy practice from personal experience is getting tasked with the responsibility of communicating on behalf of the family members since I am conversant in the English language. Such literacy practices point out the fact that I come from a society where literacy is events that are majorly conducted in Chinese. Again, such responsibilities bestowed upon me as far as literacy practice is concerned shows how highly I am held in society. Such elevation in social position is not surprising since it does not signify superiority over others in society.

Question 2

The concept of literacy sponsors could be understood from different perspectives depending on the input or contributions that they put in place towards the attainment of that literacy. Brandt (2003) notes that the literacy sponsors as the agents, immediate or distant, concrete or abstract that support, enable, model, teach, suppress, withhold or teach literacy, and gain an advantage in a given way. Thus, from individual experience, I could refer to the Chinese government, my parents, and the SFU as the main three sponsors towards my literary. In my life, the Chinese government is a literacy sponsor since it offered me the liberty to pursue education overseas as well as facilitated intergovernmental commitments that enabled international students to study in Canada. Again, my parents remain, major literacy sponsors, since they provide the necessary financial and emotional support that is vital for the current literacy event. Finally, the SFU fraternity remains instrumental literacy sponsors as they ensure that provided essential resources that make literacy success in different ways. The presence of such sponsors has played various parts in modeling my literacy practices by playing different roles. Such roles are either direct or indirect, but one underlying fact is that they positively shaped up my literacy experience.

Question 3

The social view of literacy holds that literacy is a tool that one gets armed with to help them solve social problems that plague the members of the society (Barton, 2007). Thus, literacy events and practice must revolve around solving the social issues that plague society in different ways. Contrastingly, from the skills perspective, literacy is seen as a platform where an individual acquires the essential skills necessary for them to carry out multiple tasks related to daily life and tasks (Jackson, 2005). A perfect example of the social view of literacy is when one acquires the necessary knowledge in addressing problems of society, such as illiteracy, poor healthcare, and other social problems. On the other hand, computer skills are regarded as an essential skill in the contemporary world. Thus, from personal experience and the class discussions, the concept of literacy varies in context. In my society, one is regarded to have a literacy experience if they are in a position to effectively address the shortcomings in the community. On the other hand, when one is seeking employment, there are high chances that the recruiting personnel would demand them to have essential skills for the job. It entails translating whatever one has learned during the literacy experience into viable skills.

Question 4

There are multiple historical events related to literacy that accelerated social change in different ways. The first example is that between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church. During this particular period, the Catholic Church was the sole custodians of literacy, and individual believers were not allowed to engage in any literacy practice (TVO, 2011) independently. Such development was premised on the assertion that if individuals acquire literacy, they would be ungovernable and will defy the authority. However, Martin Luther challenged such restrictions, and such events led to multiple people starting to take up the literacy process, leaving them enlightened and rational (TVO, 2011). The development matters to the contemporary world since it marked the beginning of rationality and spelled the end to dogma. The other example is the African Americans, who, in the face of racism, advocated for equal opportunity and integration in literacy institutions. The literacy motivated social change by the African American prompted massive social change as most of these individuals engaged in Civil Rights movements in the US to advocate for equality, end of racism, and equal opportunities for all (Johnson & Cowles, 2009). In the modern world, such social change marked the beginning of the formulation of legislation towards equal opportunity, the abolishment of racism, and other pertinent issues that the people of color in the US currently enjoy.

Question Five

The concepts of multiliteracies and powerful literacies often revolve around how an individual could employ their literacy practices beyond the confines of basic literacy. From a personal understanding, multiliteracies entail the ability of an individual to interpret, communicate, identify, and create meaning across multiple forms of literacy beyond the confines of basic literacy. On the other hand, powerful literacy is an approach that expects a learner to understand a text and at the same being in a position to analyze it. Such ability ensures that the individual is in a position to not only understand what a given literacy resource entails but also in a position to positively analyze the meaning of such literacy resources. A teacher, I can integrate the use of multiliteracies in teaching through the use of the design approach. The design approach gives priority to the dynamic process that aims to achieve self-interest and transformation. Again, in inculcating the concept of powerful literacy in a classroom context, I will demand that the learners make inferences on different ideas or from a literacy resource they have used. Finally, through discussions and debates, all these two forms of literacy could get effectively integrated into the classroom lessons.

References

Barton, D. (2007). The social basis of literacy. In Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language (2nd ed., pp. 33-50). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Brandt, D. (2003). Changing literacies. Teachers College Record, 105(2), 245-260.

Jackson, N. (2005). Essential skills: Essential confusion? Literacies, 6, 38-43.

Johnson, A., & Cowles, L. (2009). Orlonia’s “literacy-in-persons”: Expanding notions of literacy through biography and history. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 410-420. doi:10.1598/JAAL.52.5.5

TVO. (2011). Empire of the word: The magic of reading [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/ep-1-the-magic-of-reading