Literacy History

Why are one’s historical literacy experiences important?

At the onset of hearing the word literacy, one often considers it to be the ability to read and write; however, there are many factors that influence it and it often goes beyond simply reading and writing.  Some of the factors that can influence literacy include one’s social, economic, political, and cultural identities.  Moje and Luke (2009) researched the influence of identity on literacy.  In fact, they recognized that humans are not only continually making meaning of identification, but also the relationship between learning and identity is inevitable. 

Furthermore, Luna et al., (2004) found that social identity is so intertwined with critical literacy that is actually comes from the center of your being.  This is important because it recognizes the role that one’s life experiences and one’s background plays on literacy.  It is widely accepted that early childhood literacy experiences are significantly related to future academic achievement (Duncan, 2010; Sylva et al., 2010; Torppa et al., 2007). 

Literacy is the ability to look at the meaning and purpose of written texts, visual applications, and spoken words to question the attitudes, values, and beliefs behind them and the goal is to discern meaning from an array of multimedia, visual imagery, and virtual environments, as well written text. Responses originating from visual images allow readers to interpret meaning and construct more sophisticated responses as well as provide deeper levels of comprehension and meaning (Youngs, 2012).

References:

Duncan, S.P. (2010).  Instilling a lifelong love of reading.  Kappa Delta Pi Record,    

          46(2), 90-93.

Luna, C., Maria, J. B., Fontaine, D., French, K., & al, e. (2004). Making the road by walking and talking: Critical literacy and/as professional development in a teacher inquiry group. Teacher Education Quarterly, 31(1), 67-67.

Moje, E.B. & Luke, A. (2009).  Literacy and identity:  Examining the metaphors in

          history and contemporary research.  Reading Research Quarterly,44(4), 415-437.

Sylva, K., Chan, L., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B.

          (2010).  Emergent literacy environments:  Home and preschool influences on

          children’s literacy development.  In S.B. Neuman, & D.K. Dickinson (Eds.).

          Handbook of early literacy research, 3,97-117.  New York, NY:  Guilford Press.

Torppa, M., Poikkeus, A., Laakso, M., Tolvanen, A., Leskinen, E., & Leppanen, P.

          (2007).  Modeling the early paths of phonological awareness and factors supporting

          its development in children with and without familial risk of dyslexia.  Scientific

          Studies of Reading, 11, 73-103.

Youngs, S. (2012).  Understanding history through the visual images in historical

           fiction.  Language Arts, 89(6), 379-395.