Literacy Matters

[akashiver]

Y'know, every so often I get annoyed by the "we don't have a problem with declining literacy" brigade. Fact is that literacy - at least on the college level at IU - is way below where it should be. I'm not talking about misplaced commas, here, but about a substantial portion of students not knowing sentence structure or the meanings of words. Worse, no matter how clear a sentence is, some of them just can't follow its meaning once it gets beyond a single phrase. (I was watching _Good Night and Good Luck_ last night and wondering how many Americans today would be able to follow the debate style of the 1950s.)

I've heard this blamed on the education system, on the rise of non-literate technologies, and on students in general. I don't know what the cause is. But reading and being able to interpret sentences accurately is not just an academic exercise. Witness the problems people have with Prescription Bottles".

Comments

[fallenrose.livejournal.com]

Well, be fair. There's a difference between dumb and uneducated. It's really unkind to label people that way because they have trouble reading. Maybe they are stupid, but maybe it's more due to poor education. The public educational system is (and has never been) the greatest about keeping people from falling between the cracks. For instance, my father is one of the most intelligent people I know; he is well-education, informed, and very smart from the get-go. But he's also dyslexic. When he was a kid he scored 99th percentile on everything but reading, which he almost failed, and the teachers just said he was stupid and lazy. Granted, this was in the '60s when dyslexia was not exactly common knowledge, but problems like that happen all the time. Yes, some people are stupid. And goodness knows there are people that do things SO stupid that maybe we'd all be better off without them. But people that have trouble reading aren't (necessary) that.

That said, when I was at Ivy Tech I grades some really, really sad tests. Mostly people with nigh-nonexistant spelling and grammar skills, but there were also a few who a)obviously had just recently learned how to write, or had not written much in their entire lives, and/or b) would leave answers blank because they had trouble understanding the questions/weren't sure how to write in a good answer. So it's not just college level literacy that's the issue, basic literacy is also an issue in this country.
My personal opinion is that literacy has been given a backseat in the educational system in an era when math and science are the big deal. Just look at how peopel value different majors in undergrad. "Hard" skills like math, computing, accounting, management (can't think of better examples, but there are some) are viewed highly because they offer good, well-paying jobs in the future, whereas "soft" skills like literature, theatre, and art are derided as leaving one without a future. And literacy is not a priority with technical jobs, though of course to have a really good job literacy is important; it is just not emphasized in the educational system or viewed well by "end results" people, people who want a degree not for the educational value but for the job. Which is also a class issue. So... yeah. It's complicated. And I think everyone would benefit by 1) more emphasis on literacy in school, and 2)literacy programs for adults, which do exist but are not always that strong.

[fallenrose.livejournal.com]

Yuck, that's full of typos. *facepalm*

[unforth.livejournal.com]

I'm not trying to say that sometimes it isn't the systems fault; I just think it's also important that it be kept in mind that some people ARE stupid and/or lazy. The system sucks, but to blame everything on it is to ignore the achievements of those who succeed despite the system, ie the people who are intelligent and/or hard working and motivated.

[fallenrose.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm just saying you can't blame it all on them, nor do they deserve to die just because they are stupid.

[arcana-mundi.livejournal.com]

ITA. Keying to the LCD is all too common in American education, and maybe in American culture in general. I despair at the mindset that says "Oh, let's just keep lowering our standards so people who aren't bright or motivated can still succeed/get what they want regardless of accomplishment or action." By removing all possible incentives to improve, the system literally stultifies the mainstream population and creates an ultimately untenable sense of entitlement.