Concept Paper about Literacy and Illiteracy

By: Kyla Nhey N. Mombay (BSED 3-B)

Reading and writing have long been associated with literacy. Although these are
important aspects of literacy, our understanding of literacy today includes much more.
Literacy is defined by Alberta Education as the ability, confidence, and willingness to
interact with language in order to acquire, construct, and communicate meaning in all
aspects of daily life. Language is defined as a system of communication that is socially
and culturally constructed. Reading and writing have long been associated with literacy.
Although these are important aspects of literacy, our understanding of literacy today
includes much more. Literacy is defined by Alberta Education as the ability, confidence,
and willingness to interact with language in order to acquire, construct, and
communicate meaning in all aspects of daily life. Language is defined as a system of
communication that is socially and culturally constructed. This is the most well-known
form of illiteracy: the inability to read or write. This means being unable to comprehend
written information, such as a fiction book, a menu, a business flyer, or an instruction
manual. This is a type of illiteracy that affects many people, including those from
otherwise successful and educated families.

Literacy refers to the ability to read and write; illiteracy is its inverse. There are
various levels of literacy and numerous criteria for determining who is and is not literate.
Literacy is defined in some cultures as the ability to read the letters of the alphabet or to
read and write one's own name. Literacy, in general, refers to the ability to read and
comprehend a wide range of material, as well as to write clearly and coherently. A
person is literate who can with understanding both read and write a short simple
statement on his everyday life. A person is illiterate who cannot with understanding both
read and write a short simple statement on his everyday life.
A person is functionally literate if he can engage in all activities that require
literacy for the effective functioning of his group and community, as well as the ability to
continue to use reading, writing, and calculation for his own and the community's
development. A person is functionally illiterate if he or she is unable to engage in all of
the activities that require literacy for the effective functioning of his group and
community, as well as to continue to use reading, writing, and calculation for his own
and the community's development. The difference between literate and illiterate people
is explicit here: illiterates had never attended school and are unable to read or write
even single words while literates can (Reis and Castro-Caldas, 1997).

The distinction between functional illiteracy, literacy, and illiteracy is not as clear
as the distinction between literacy and illiteracy. The distinction between these terms
was never operationally defined. Recently, the number of functional illiterates in Europe
was estimated to be about 80 million, their proportion is lowest in Sweden with 8% and
highest in Portugal with 40% (e.g., in Eme, 2011; Grotlüschen and Riekmann, 2011a).
However, the frequently referred original International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)

Kyla Nhey N. Mombay

report does not imply functional illiteracy (OECD and Statistics Canada, 2000). Because
of different definitions and diagnostic assessment standards can result in fundamentally
different epidemiological estimates, any estimates of functional illiteracy rates may be
unreliable.

References:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01617/full#:~:text=%E2%80%9C
A%20person%20is%20literate%20who,statement%20on%20his%20everyday%20life.

Kyla Nhey N. Mombay