Kaestle defines literacy as “the ability to decode and comprehend written language at a rudimentary level, that is, the ability to look at written words corresponding to ordinary oral discourse, to say them, and to understand them” (13). This aligns very closely to my own definition of literacy because just like Kaestle, I believe literacy should not require you to be some sort of expert in reading and writing skills, but rather help you function in everyday tasks. This involves being able to read street signs, menus, newspapers etc. and being able to comprehend what is being said. Not necessarily a long argumentative essay you have to analyze. I think it is important to keep it rudimentary because we live in a society where our individual needs morph our actions and goals. As an individualistic society we can’t expect everyone to be in the same educational level in order to be considered “literate”.
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Wendy, I think you make a totally valid point that I feel is often overlooked by academics. Since literacy has become more widespread and developed, especially in the United States, our expectations and standards for who is “literate” has also gone up. One thing that the highly educated tend to do is under-credit the capabilities of the general population because they’ve grown accustomed to the advanced world of academia. With this mindset it is easy to lose sight of a truer definition of literacy than what they may be basing their research on.
I agree with you, Wendy. I think that it’s important to consider the uses of literacy in everyday tasks. I related this back to Sylvia Scribner’s metaphor of Literacy as Adaptation, where she identifies how we use literacy to navigate our everyday lives. Literacy has a functionality that we use to engage with others and I think that we so often attach literacy to education that we forget to identify its uses in other contexts.
I totally agree with your logic on this point. You shouldn’t have to be a expert in reading to understanding literacy. Im behind you one hundred percent on the part where you said literacy should help you function in everyday tasks. To me, that is a very important part and the most important point that was made.