English 112
English 112I was not able to read the first chapter in RoutledgeFalmer on literacy, but my definition of literacy is the people having the ability to read and write near their age level. After reading some of the response from people in the class, literacy seems to be an evolving defintion that has changed over time with more people needing to communicate to others with words, not just the spoken word. From the dawn of time the way people communicate with one another has become more complex and difficult due to more interactions with other peoples with their own languages and dialects. Literacy is becoming more and more complicated with so many forms of media to talk or write to people. From being able to call people far away from the comfort of your living room to using your computer at school to instant messaging a friend in the dorms, the way people communicate with one another is changing. Everyone should be able to read and write to better understand the world around them. No one should be at a literacy level that does not prepare him/her for the fast changing world around them.
to literacy and beyond!
Before reading Falmer I thought of literacy as basically and just the ability to read write and comprehend what you read. Falmer Illustarted to me that literacy is much more than that. It isn't just books or newspapers it is pictures, symbols, music and tv. It was interesting to think about becasue the visual part of litteracy is important too. One may be able to read write and speak the word rotten, but if the are at the store buying fruit and they can not viaually interpret what something that is rotten looks like they would be greatly lacking. That kind of relates back to the section we read in the St. Martin's Handbook about analyizing arguments. There they said that even thoguh u may now think of yourslf as a reader if you have ever read the label on a box of cereal or listened to what a commercial was saying on tv you were a reader. That fits back into my basic definition of being literate intailing being able to read. So then it's easy to see how even things as trivial as seeing that a box says cheerios or knowing that the commericial is saying Family Guy is having a new episode on this week is all part of litteracy. Being able to tell that the box said cheerios however was not always important in the past in history Being literate was a privledge allowed only to the very wealthy. It was looked at as a sign of class if you were able to read and write. Now it's looked at as a sign of class if you are not litterate. If you are not litterate you are most likely in the very low class. Literacy has become increasingly more important throughout history. Now if someone is not litterate it puts great constarints on how they even basically function in society. To see how greatly we have progressed in litteracy throughtout time from the egyptians using pictures and symbols to someone typing lol in a chat room to mean "laugh out loud" now. It is hard to imagine where litteracy go from here. I'm sure the people living in the 1500's could never imagine literacy as it is now. With technological advances maybe everyone will become literate in computer code ie the code to write programs and design web sites.
RoutledgeFalmer
My perspection of literacy before reading Falmer was the capability to convey expressions and emotions through the written word and to be able to comprehend the significance of them. Falmer has introduced me to what literacy actually intails. Everything from a picture drawn by a 5 year old, to the chinese symbols, literacy has evolved our present day society. Dating back to the anicent Egyptians, the uses of symbols or pictures as a way of communications led the way our technology currently. As we write in this blog, I am able through the use of literacy and technology, to convey my feelings on this article. Our society is constantly changing, and there is going to be a future in technology for literacy. Without being able to read or write, or economy and civilization as humans would decease. What really makes me think that there is a future for literacy is actually a ride in Disney's Epcot theme park. Spaceship Earth takes you from the beginging of time to show how communications and literacy evolved. At the very end of the ride, it shows you what the future of communcations may be like. One part that sticks out to me, is the 2 kids (one is chinese, the other american) and they are talking back and forth in their own language, but the computer is translating it for them at the bottom of the screen. But I don't have a crystal ball and I can't see into the future. All I know is that if literacy can't evolve, then we can't as a society either.
"The history and future of literacy"
Literacy can be used as a way to look at history, changes through time. It shows how people and cultures have come to change. For example in the past the ability to read and write showed power and place in the society. Whereas today no matter whom you are you are expected to know how to read and write. One thing I found interesting was the part on the changes in our lifetimes. When I was learning to read and write computers were not in the classrooms. We simply practiced on paper. Today I have a six-year-old brother who is in the process of learning to read and write. Not only does he practice on paper, but also practices on the computer. There are programs on the computer that helps him practice reading and sounding out words. It makes u think when he has children how will they be learning. Something that it is scary is that as time goes by technology makes it so reading and writing becomes less needed. Maybe one day we won’t need to read or write. We cannot know the future of literacy. It is changing so rapidly it is impossible to predict what will come next.
Reading this article was very enlightening to me it showed me tha we all may not be as literate as we think we are. I had always thought that literacy dealt mainly with the the written word and how it was interpreted and comprehended by those that read it. The fact that how those in the past communicated without the written word, but through pictures or symbols never caused me to think outside of what I had always read or thought.
Although I've been using the computer and the internet I did not realize until after reading the assignment that understanding and using the technology of the computer and the internet is a literacy in its self. It never accured to me that instead of learning the art of cursive they may be typing and learning word processing formats.
In a way it was frightenening to read this article. Frightening in the sense that although we want to move forward and have every one literate it may not happen. If we are to look at literacy as it was maybe fifty years ago and then today, I feel we are still in the same position. More people may know how to read and comprehend, but are they computer literate. Can they confidently move on with the skills in basic comuter lingo that have taken over. Can they develop all the skills and discipline one has to be come a well rounded person in society? I would argree with the auther when he added this to his paper, 'The more the new technology transforms the classroom in its own image, the more a technical logic will replace critical and ethnical understanding' (Hannon, 2000). It is my hope that as we do move forward we not forget the structres of the past inregard to 'literacy' and all the avenues it may entail, but that we expand and learn from each as more come about.
English 112
English 112Before I read this article, I perceived literacy as the ability to construct and analyze arguments. To me... it is the art of coherently expressing oneself in a variety of media; orally or visually. Literacy is a sixth sense that makes a member of a specie more successful than it's competitors.
The Author perceives literacy as a mode of sophisticated communication skills; with it's development spaning many thousands of years ago. In this case it is the 'written language' was used to parallel literacy. It had a rich history, beginning with the most minute representation of modern technology. He successful created a sense of retrospect to the development of the language. I realized that as time progresses, technological advancements give rise to new uses of the written language. This provides a ray of possibilities for the advancement of the 'written language' itself. However, literacy has no definite fate. We cannot predict the future...no one can tell what time may bring. Besides, the Greeks and the Romans weren't thinking about the endless possibilities that time offers. Then again the ability to think of the future may be percived as a component of modern literacy. The possibilities are endless.
"The History and Future of Literacy" (RoutledgeFalmer)
With all prompts, write your response as a full, flowing paragraph, not as single sentence answers to each question. Feel free to respond to others' responses (again, fully and respectfully). You're welcome to link to resources and sites (if you're not sure how, look up Blogger's help guide or ask!).Post by 8 p.m. EST 1/29 in order to earn credit.Before reading this chapter, how did you define literacy? How has reading this chapter affected your definition, and, how does the chapter achieve its goal "to reflect upon some aspects of the history of literacy and to imagine possibilities for its future" (19)? What do you envision for the future of literacy?
(not to answer, just to think about)
- fifteen years ago, would "lol," "idk," "ruok" have had meaning?
- what about texting? IM-ing?
- do you know what a carriage return is?
- is reading/writing/communicating literacy related to cultural literacy?
Yes, this is only a test.
Had this been an actual blog, you would have been notified.
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