Literacy

Literacy seems to best be described as the processes of effectively understanding, analyzing, and communicating ideas in a specific concentration. A literate person generally showcases adequacy/ proficiency in a particular skill—which is often a heavily scholastic subject such as reading, writing, mathematics, or fluency in technological systems. While some may highlight reading/ writing proficiency as the only true literacy platforms, one could argue that literacy can take many different forms. In fact, Scientific American recently released an article on the importance of teaching children to code and the emerging necessity of programming literacy in an increasingly digital culture.

It would be difficult to pinpoint one overarching definition for literacy in varying professional fields, but one could argue that literacy is the quality of being accessible, usable, and profitable in a particular area of work or study. For example, if someone describes themselves as a musician they should have the ability to read, play, and possibly even compose/ improvise music. This would showcase the musician’s understanding of basic technique/ note progressions, utilization of that theoretical study in practical application, and their ability to work in an ensemble to produce appealing chords, harmonies, and distinctive compositions.

As an English major—writer of sorts—my literacy strengths may include the critical processing of scholastic readings and the analytical composition/ discussion of those readings through articles and essays. While my understanding, utilization, and production of analytical texts seem to highlight my major specific literacy, my weaknesses include: organizational literacy—with regard to essays and creative works, mathematic literacy, and digital or technological fluency.
Last week we briefly discussed issues in composition which can range from the medium through which a message is being delivered to the accessibility of the message, one’s personal literacy strengths, individual bias—one’s reception of others ideas, and even stylistic choices—or the execution of one’s personal ideas. As professionals in training, college students should be able to jive—or to fully function and troubleshoot issues in composition—within their intended field of work/study to be considered literate. Many of my weaknesses have to do with my issues receiving/ facilitating information from subject areas outside my realm of literacy—such as mathematics and technology. To overcome many of these compositional issues it seems, as communicators, we must learn to adjust our messaging to fit the literacy and accessibility of our audience. Similarly, as audience members and constant facilitators of knowledge, we must work tirelessly to increase our understanding of multiple disciplines—not just those which interest us most.