Contribution

Argument

Instructor: Geoff Sauer

With the growing global economy and the United States' decreasing verbal scores, concerns have been arising relative to America's literacy status. In response to this situation, scholars have moved their efforts to defining the literacy problem and trying to design a viable solution through essays, articles and books. But, despite their efforts, there is much confusion and disagreement on the subject. Some questions that have surfaced, pertaining to the issue, are what is literacy, is it important for maintaining a strong community, does America have a literacy problem, and what is the solution to amend it. In this essay, I will attempt to address the literacy issue by introducing several key arguments based on various writers, teachers, and scholars. I will discuss their views in terms of the definition of literacy, the literacy problem in America, and the means to rectify it.

One of the greatest dilemmas in addressing the literacy issue is finding a definition. The problem stems from the fact that there is no single definition that covers this topic entirely. One of the best attempts at defining literacy comes from the essay, "Literacy in Three Metaphors" by Sylvia Scribner. In this essay, Scribner classifies the definition in these three parts: literacy as adaptation, literacy as power, and literacy as a state of grace. For the purpose of brevity, I have integrated the last two categories into one, and as an alternative, I have added a third category which discusses the role of culture in discourse.

Literacy as adaptation can be defined in the following sentence: "... functional literacy is conceived broadly as the level of proficiency necessary for effective performance in a range of settings and customary activities" ( Scribner p.9). In other words, functional literacy is the ability to understand basic language in order to carry out daily routines such as filling out forms, reading signs, and carrying on simple conversation. To be functionally literate, one only need to be able to grasp simple concepts of letter and word associations and have a rudimentary vocabulary. But, functional literacy is neither constant nor homogeneous. Levels of competency may vary relative to region, race, or class. Certainly, people of one country should not have to know the language of another in order to survive in their own environment, nor should people in an urban setting need to understand the farming terms for people in a rural setting. Likewise, the scientific knowledge needed to be a doctor may not be necessary for a layer, merchant, or proletariat. Another aspect of functional literacy is its evolution with time as is seen in the following excerpt cited from Scribner: "During World War I, a fourth grade education was considered sufficient to render one literate; in 1947, a U.S. Census sample survey raised that figure to five years; and by 1952 six years of school was considered the minimal literacy threshold... Today's standards for competency need to be considered in light of tomorrow's requirements" ( Scribner p.10).

The second category of the definition of literacy combines the metaphors of literacy as power and state of grace, for these two areas are close in relation. This metaphor implies that literacy is more than a tool for communication, but it is also an implement for higher understanding of abstract concepts like democracy, economy, socialism, and philosophy. By this analogy, a literate man is highly cultured in the fields of humanity and science, and has the ability to influence the economic and political state of society. The patterns of history have shown the trend that the most powerful civilizations were also the most literate. "When masses of people have been mobilized for fundamental changes in social conditions- as in [Russia], China, Cuba, and Tanzania- rapid extensions of literacy have been accomplished" ( Scribner p.12). Conversely, this metaphor also suggests that there exists a link between illiteracy and lack of power. "Problems of poverty and political powerlessness are, as among some populations in developing nations, inseparably intertwined with problems of access to knowledge and levels of literacy skills" ( Scribner p.12). The theory behind this fact is that illiterate persons not only lack the ability to communicate ideas proficiently, but also lack the ability to perform intellectual activities due to lower thought capacity.

The third category of the definition of literacy relates to the aspect of speech, its context, and how it is affected by culture. In "Language and Power," Fairclough illistrates a case in which a conversation is being carried on between a police officer and a witness. The police officer askes the questions which appear to be in crude, incomplete language, yet the witness instinctively understands his meaning through the context of the conversation. This is the idea defined by Fairclaugh as "discourse as a social practice." However, a more lucid definition on the same topic is given by Hirsch in, "Cultural Literacy." "We know instinctively that to understand what somebody is saying, we must understand more than just the surface meanings of words; we have to understand the context as well" ( Hirsch p.3). Hirsch goes on to discuss that the importance of"context" is that everyone must share the same knowledge of it based off of culture. In this sense, literacy is universal with the bounds of the community as defined by their culture, and that the level of that literacy is also reflected by the strength of that culture.

Now that we have established a basic picture of the concepts of literacy and its applications to society, we must inherently ask ourselves, "Does America have a literacy problem?" In addressing this question, I will first discuss the research on standardized test scores as reported by Arthur Applebee in his article, "Learning to be Literate in America." next, I will deliberate on more specific arguments from John Ogbu concerning literacy among Black minorities in America.

In order to determine America's literacy status, we turn to the work of Applebee who has gauged the literacy levels in the US through reports which had been based off of the grades from standardized tests of the NAEP, a national literacy census organization. In Applebee's reports, a sample population throughout America was tested in the areas of reading and writing. The analysis of the grades were then subdivided into two categories which relate back to Scribner's metaphors of literacy. The first involved those who had a "surface understanding" pertaining to text, and the second involved those with the ability to "reason effectively" more difficult subjects. The results of the tests showed that a majority of young adults did have at least an elementary level of skill in both reading and writing. "Some 97 percent of the young adults had attained basic comprehension skills, and 84 percent had attained intermediate levels" ( Applebee p.7). However, skills on higher level information were considerably lower with only half of the percentage population having intermediate skills and a fifth having advanced proficiency. By advanced, we mean the knowledge required to understand college level text. It is evident from these findings that almost all Americans have at least a basic literacy level, which by Scribner's definition, allows at functionality in society. However, in light of

In addition to these findings, it has also been shown that Black and Hispanic minority groups have scored consistently lower on standardized test scores in the areas of reading and writing. "One undisputed fact about illiteracy in America is its concentration among poor, elderly, and minority-language groups...without effective participation in our country's economic and educational institutions (Hunter and Harman 1979). ( Scribner p.12). With this statement in mind, one may ask himself the question, "What is the cause for deficiency among subordinate minorities?" One noteworthy hypothesis on this issue is given by John Ogbu. He explains that, due to the "castelike" status of Blacks, they are negatively influence by their discriminated and economically disadvantaged past. In other words, he suggests a relationship between the literacy disposition of a community with their social status. In addition, Ogbu suggests a course of action that involves "considering the economic expectations of blacks as the root cause rather than a consequence of school failure and literacy problem" ( Ogbu p.149).

In summary, we have discussed the definition of literacy in terms of functionality, power, and cultural discourse. We have seen that about fifty percent of the young Americans have a less than intermediate level of literacy both in the field of reading and writing, and the scores of Black and Hispanic minorities are consistently lower. Finally, we have discussed speculation that the reasons for failure among subordinate communities may stem from societal infancies. With this information in mind , we try to assess whether America has a literacy problem, but before that, I will discuss one more argument. In "Literacy in Three Metaphors," Scribner discusses a case study of the Via people. In this case study, she explains that despite the existence of literacy in their culture, there has not been a need for it in relation to any of the metaphors of literacy. Through this example, she implies that literacy is a choice of the people and not a necessity. In the case of America, I believe that this is only partially correct. Literacy is a choice for the people but I would like to suggest that as a country based on democracy, it is the choice for us to be more than just functionally literate. Democracy is not just the right to vote, but also the responsibility to understand the issues that are being voted on ( Hirsch p.12). Therefore it is imperative that universal literacy be mandated in our school system at least in the subjects pertaining to our nations political structure and other relavent topics.