The advantages and disadvantages of being literate today.

In a modern world, literacy has become a corner stone of civilisation. The way that
literacy has been utilised has left it as an essential component and is vital to fitting
into today's society comfortably. The modern world is full of different parts that can
only be accessed through the use of the written word: books, messages, the internet,
documents and other forms of media. It is used as a store for society's knowledge,
both past and present; so without literacy much of what has been discovered and
recorded would not have been possible. There are advantages that come with
knowledge of literacy and these help individuals in their everyday lives, however it
can also be argued that these skills, in a modern world, can work as a disadvantage.
This essay will attempt to highlight these advantages and disadvantages and will
discuss literacy's place in society today.

Literacy is an important factor for human advancement socially and economically,

therefore education plays an important role. The Collins English Dictionary (2006)
describes literacy as fundamentally the "ability to read and write" (p344). They also
describe literature to be any form of written work, whether they are books, or poems
or plays. This basic understanding of the definition is built upon with the works of
Roberts (2005). Roberts has adapted a framework from the work of Scheffler (1960),
who did research on what literacy is.
Between the scientific or general definitions of what literary means, Scheffler (1960)
notes how literacy in professional fields will have jargon that others out of the field
will struggle to comprehend, whilst a general understanding of literacy will be for the
public's interests.

Literacy, as defined by Roberts (2005), can be split into three types of definition:
stipulative, essentialist and prescriptive.

The stipulative definition for literacy, is where a term can have another link or
description depending on the context or the argument, therefore the word cannot be
said incorrectly: "Stipulative definitions facilitate discussion, allow everyday life and
communication to proceed without unnecessary interruptions and lengthy analysis"
(Roberts, 2005, p34) , this allows for new terms to be created and such a term could
be popular enough to have this extended definition be recognised in the dictionary.
For example, "student" could mean anyone studying in a public school under the age
of 18, or could be someone studying in a university.
If a term is brand new, it is known as an "inventive" form of a stipulative definition.

An essentialist definition for literacy is where a word has a concrete definition that
makes it that word in the first place (for example, a pen is an ink filled tool for
writing/drawing on paper). However, this word may be able to be used elsewhere
depending on the context. In a stipulative definition of literacy, a word may be used
and understood in many other situations (a pen, is a tool used for electronic touch
screens) but the word "pen" will universally be recognised from its original definition.
A group of essentialist theorists would suggest that reading: "is a unitary, individual,
cognitive process, which is in essence the same no matter what the context" (Roberts,
2005, p33), saying that reading could differ depending on the length and depth of
what it is being read, such as works of fiction or leaflets compared to a study in a
journal article, but the reader would still perform the same cognitive processes in
reading them. Those opposing could argue that reading and writing comes to people

almost naturally, from everyday practice throughout their lifetime. In order to learn
true literacy, essentialist theorists would argue that therefore children must learn basic
literacy first then should build up their knowledge over time.
A prescriptive definition for literacy is to allow the countless forms of literacy to be
either one way or another, such as a flowing of ideas for a casual conversation, but on
a meaningful topic.

Having looked at how literacy can be interpreted, the fundamental idea of literacy as a
major form of communication is clear and what it means to be 'literate' today is a
reflection of how literacy has developed over time as a response to new technology
advancements. As discussed by Naughton (2011) Literacy branched out from oral
communication from early humans and historically, literacy has always been seen as a
necessary for the human condition, for social interactions and building up society as
we know it today.
Since Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in 1440, an explosion of knowledge
became available to not only those of higher ranks but also lay people, as information
was more available in multiple copies and therefore more affordable and less strict
about who could access information. As further noted by Naughton(2011), printing
allowed new trades to form and allowed information to be spread cheaply that did not
rely on hearsay or tediously handwritten books, which were previously only available
to the minority that could afford them or were powerful enough to have access to
them. The revolution of the printing press and the ability of creating multiple copies
of text, shows that literacy allowed the development of mass communication so that
people can give out word publicly without any or little change. Fssal (2001) also
argues this point and says: "Newspapers, magazines, broad-sheets, and pamphlets

provided general information and ultimately gave birth to public opinion and created a
forum for the reformation of the Church and the society"(p4), showing the wide
effects that technology and literacy can have when combined on society.
Literacy generally is recognisable as the ability to read and write legibly and
understand text and communicate through written word. However, literacy today can
have a much broader definition with the advancement of computer technology and the
media.
As literacy has developed in the modern world, it has allowed the mass spread of
communication of ideas through media and the internet, creating an even broader
sense of communication across the world. Whether or not this new evolution of the
literate world into the digital is a force for good is debateable, with many positive but
also negative strains of thought being allowed to develop along side one another, and
spread its influence. Leadbeater(2008) notes that the internet can be used as a force
for the development of jealous and resenting thoughts; this ability to express views
that may impact on one another can be seen as rather dangerous. Leadbeater (2008)
also points out that the internet can be used to easily host places for unconstructive or
damaging groups of individuals to grow and persuade individuals to join their cause
and allow fundamentalist ideas to further themselves.

Throughout history, there has been advantages and disadvantages in being literate.
Literacy, as Lehtonen (2013) notes is "understood as a necessary condition for
educating civilised citizens"(p2), so by not being literate or not having knowledge on
literacy, it can distance people from the surrounding society. Historically, people who
were able to read and write were considered civilised, and this view has not changed
in a modern day society. Literacy has been a powerful tool throughout history for

liberating people by spreading messages that the spoken word could not, by
communicating to the masses simultaneously, which has helped advance society on its
path to modernity.
Society demonises people who can not read; Eaton (1882), (as cited by Kalman
2008), states that those who can not read are those who are holding back civilisation.
Dyson (1997), (as cited by Kalman 2008) argues that literacy is a vital component to
function in the social world, being that it is a major form of communication. To
become literate, Dyson (1997), (as cited by Kalman 2008) explains that an individual
must be able to intentionally create literary works of some kind to communicate to the
surrounding culture and other members of society.
Socialisation is the process that teaches individuals the rules of society. One of the
main factors of the socialisation process is education. Education therefore, as noted by
Scott (2006), is crucial for understanding social aspects and gaining knowledge and
skills for life and being able to communicate to others in a society is important.

Literacy in society, as noted by O'Sullivan, Hartley, Saunders, Montgomery and Fiske

(1994) would be seen as an extension of oral communication and also as another form
of communication that needs both physical and social aspects to be executed
successfully (requiring the individual uses tools for writing or typing with, and the
knowledge of a known language to communicate to others with).
Gallego and Hollingsworth (2000) (as cited by Kalman 2008) states that in a Western
society, especially concerning education, literacy is determined by the type of text it is
written as. For example, classical texts and essay writing in literature is favoured and
anything other than this does not identify as proper literacy, including local language,

broken or hybrid text and abbreviated language that is seen, for example, in instant
messaging.
However with the rise of these abbreviated languages and it uses in everyday life
concerning its speed in typing it out and the vast scale in which its being used,
technology must be acknowledged in the way that it plays a big part in modern
literacy. Hirsch (1987) argues that in an ever-increasing world of technology, literacy
has become more vital to society. Today we are surrounded by new resources of
gathering information that is available everyday thanks to the media, with the internet
playing a major part. According to Koltay and Tibor (2011), with an increasing
consumption of the media, this can be damaging to society as the media has the
potential to manipulate and water down beliefs and information. Therefore the
communication of accurate information for education is becoming increasingly
important, especially when the media is so readily accessible.

Unfortunately, according to Breivik (2005), this new ability to be able to search for
information quickly has created a lazy environment for those who use the internet
frequently for research that we take for granted, rather than using a broader range of
resources, which could have more reliable information. Breivik (2005), discusses how
undergraduate students are usually subject to falling back on using the internet for
finding quick information for studies, which is troublesome because web pages could
be altered at any time, be out of date, or have questionable resources.
With the internet, it has gotten to a point where information is so readily available but
the sources are unknown. This causes information to be weakened or watered down
by a lack of scholarly content. Also, a quick access to information via. The internet,
for example, as noted by Ong (1991), can be bad for your memory: "Plato has

Socrates say in the Phaedrus, is inhuman, pretending to establish outside the mind
what in reality can only be in the mind. It is a thing, a manufactured product."(Ong,
P79) written words are static and therefore cannot be argued with or actively taught
through, unlike that of a teacher. The same principle can be reflected in a modern
society through our use of gathering information through resources such as the
internet, or relying on making mathematical calculations using a calculator. This sort
of practice can be numbing our minds, as we are expecting things to be done for us,
rather than working out problems or finding research for ourselves. Books when first
put into production would have originally been seen the same way. However, unlike
having to rely on spoken word, literacy allows the masses to learn, not just a select
few.

Literacy has been shown to be a crucial part of every day life for centuries and will
continue to be a part of it for years to come and the ability to be 'literate' is found in
the majority of the population. Thanks to the digital age, literacy has undergone a
rapid expansion and evolution into forms that are unique to the current generation.
This evolution has its benefits, but is not without its down sides either; the internet
and the accessibility of it has allowed information to flood the masses without
regulation, and creating a potential naivety to the population. Literacy will most likely
exist in many forms in the future and may still have a role in the revolution of the
masses as seen throughout recent history. Whilst it has its negatives, literacy acts as a
major advantage to those who possess it; those without it will be held back and would
never be able to function properly in today's society.

References

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