Citizenship Stage 2

Literacy

INTRODUCTION

• Literacy is the ability to read and write one's own name and further for knowledge and interest, write coherently, and think critically about the written word. The inability to do so is called illiteracy or analphabetism. Visual literacy includes in addition the ability to understand all forms of communication, be it body language, pictures, maps, or video.

Ancient and medieval literacy

• In ancient times, literacy in its restricted sense was always confined to a small elite.Although some ruling elite were illiterate, literacy was an important distinguishing mark of the elite, and communications skills were politically important.

Literacy in Asia (China)

• The PRC conducts standardized testing to assess proficiency in Putonghua but it is primarily for foreigners or those needing to demonstrate professional proficiency in the Beijing dialect. Literacy in logographic languages like Chinese has been graded on the number of characters in the speaker's lexicon, with a few thousand considered the minimum for practical literacy. Similar tests exist in other countries where Chinese is an official language. Chinese can be expressed phonetically and alphabetically but Chinese speakers prefer the Chinese logographic system.

Economic impact

• Many policy analysts consider literacy rates as a crucial measure of the value of a region's human capital. For example literate people can be more easily trained than illiterate people - and generally have a higher socio-economic status;[33] thus they enjoy better health and employment prospects. Literacy increases job opportunities and access to higher education.

Credits

• Justin• Desmond• Javier