What is literacy?

Literacy is a word that has been evolved for too long by

generations. Firstly, the meaning of literacy was the one defined as “the ability to
write and read”, in the same way that you can read on the screen. However, this
word has changed in big ways. Different people have tried to give their own
definition about what literacy could mean, for example, on the screen you can read
that Literacy can be defined as critical in helping us make sense of the world. In
this way, literacy has been considered as a way of living since everything that we
do is related to literacy.
People who are able to read and write are called literate and the ones who cannot
have this ability of reading and writing are called illiterate. Now I am gonna tell you
some issues or reasons that have been taken into account by professionals who
believe in why people are considered illiterate. First, we have the lack of books at
home and the lack of stimulation to the importance of reading; another reason can
be that some children do badly at or drop out of school, and this is seemed in
several cases in Colombia, since many people have not completed high school.
Another factor is the one related to difficult living conditions, including poverty; this
is because some of them are not able to pay for education, since this is not free at
all. Then we have learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.

What is writing? Learning to read and write is something that we all do in

school, and it’s something that can open a lot of doors if you have a talent for it.
Currently, I can say and it has been demonstrated that many people think that
writing skills are something that only authors and special writers can do, but in
here, these people are wrong. Firstly, I have to say that writing has become a
bridge between communication and the cultures and people of today's world.
Because of this, it seems necessary to say that we all can write since, as I said
before, we could learn something when we were kids. Every one of us can improve
this skill, but it is said that the writing skill is not considered at all, especially when
people are trying to learn and foster a foreign language such as English. Also, I
can say over here that learning how to write is a remarkable thing that we all can
do due to this is gonna help us to become better in our carriers.
As you can see on the screen, it says that writing is the process of using symbols,
however, this symbols can mean several things while transmitting some kind of
information to another person. Finally, I think you all know we are able to
communicate through writings, so the impact that it has is the one that matters.
This is because thanks to it, you can chat with different people or even write short
sentences or phrases in a handwritten way.
Where does literacy take place?
As you can notice on the slide, it is said that literacy not only occurs in high school
but also in our daily life. This is because we always use our skills to do something.
For instance, I know all of us have a phone, so when we want to type something
we are developing our writing skill, and when we are checking some messages, we
are developing our reading skill. Both of them are important and we use them in
our everyday life. Also, it can be seen that literacy opens the door to the world,
since we are able to do as many things as we can, the best thing is that we can get
better at them if we want to do it.
Now im gonna tell you about five levels that we can find while improving our
reading and writing skills.
Level 1 indicates people with very poor skills, where the individual may, for
example, be unable to determine what is written or how to read something such as
a sentence, phrase or a short paragraph.
Level 2 describes people who can deal only with material that is simple such as
phrases or sentences.
Level 3 is considered a suitable level in which people can understand some things
by reading or writing.
Level 4 and level 5 describe people who are able to write whatever they want but
expressing these ideas in a good way. Also, these people can read not only
paragraphs but also big amounts of words that can be found in stories, articles,
essays, and even books.

In this same way, I wanna explain even further about 5 stages by Matthew Lynch in
which you have to pass through while growing up. These 5 stages are the ones
considered by the reading skills in people after few months they are born to the
lifetime of the person.
STAGE 1: THE EMERGENT PRE-READER (TYPICALLY BETWEEN 6 MONTHS TO 6 YEARS
OLD): WORDS, IMAGES, SENTENCES, PHRASES

STAGE 2: THE NOVICE READER (TYPICALLY BETWEEN 6 TO 7 YEARS OLD): LETTER AND
SOUNDS.

STAGE 3: THE DECODING READER (TYPICALLY BETWEEN 7 – 9 YEARS OLD):

VOCABULARY, FAMILIAR STORIES, MEANINF OF WHAT THEY READ AND FLUENCY.
STAGE 4: THE FLUENT, COMPREHENDING READER (TYPICALLY BETWEEN 9 – 15 YEARS
OLD): NEW ATTIUDES WHILE WRITIG AND READING, NEW FEELINGS, THE ABILITY OF
READING NEWSPAPERS, ARTICLES, SHORT STORIES. GRAMMAR, SYNTAX,
VOCABULARY.

STAGE 5: THE EXPERT READER (TYPICALLY FROM 16 YEARS AND OLDER): ADVANCED
MATERIALS, FLUENT AT READING AND WRITING.

TYPES OF LITERACY

Health Literacy
This is the type of literacy that allows you to understand the health care system, such as:

 Medications
 Communicating with doctors and specialists
 Getting the necessary help
Having poor health literacy skills is dangerous and can result in taking incorrect medications,
trouble following instructions from your doctor about lifestyle, food, and referrals, missing
appointments, and so on. More information can be found at our Health Literacy Infographic.

Financial Literacy
 Financial literacy is "having the knowledge, skills and confidence to make responsible
financial decisions": Some advtanges:
 Understanding how finances work and applying them to your life
 Planning for your financial future and managing your personal funds
 Being confident to make important decisions
 Navigating financial systems and institutions
 Making the best use of the resources you have

Media Literacy
Media Literacy refers to your ability to understand the  messages you are being told on
television, radio, video games, movies, news programs, social media, and more.

Emotional literacy - is the one related to Identifying, validating, and

expressing our feelings, as well as recognizing and responding to the feelings of others.