Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum

1. INTRODUCTION OF KEY CONCEPTS
PROF EDUC 110 – BENLAC
DR. CRISTIE MARIE C. DALISAY (FACULTY)

2. LITERACY
 Defined by dictionaries as the state of being
able to read and write (Literacy , Literate,
n.d.)
Such traditional definition no longer suffices
in the information age, a thorough
understanding of literacy and its past
nuances will give us a solid foundation in
exploring and discussing the “new” literacies
of the 21st century and why possessing them
is now mandatory for both teachers and
students on all levels of education.

3. TRADITIONAL OR CONVENTIONAL
LITERACY
 The word “literacy” stems from the word “literate”
which first appeared in the 15th century and is in
turn derived from the Latin word litteratus,
meaning “(a person) marked with letters” – that is,
“distinguished or identified by the letters”-and it
carried with it the idea that such a person was
cultured and educated.

4. MILLER (1973) DIVIDES THIS CONVENTIONAL
CONCEPT OF LITERACY INTO THREE SUB-
CATEGORIES:
1. Basic Literacy – it is the ability to correspond visual shapes to spoken sounds in order to decode
written materials and translate them into oral language. Simply put, it is ability to recognize
letters and words. This would be akin to recognizing that the sequence of letters “b-a-s-a”
forms the word basa in Filipino, even without understanding what it means.
2. Comprehension Literacy – it is the ability to understand the meaning of what is being read. To
capitalize on the example above, this would be like knowing that basa can mean either “to
read” or “to be wet”.
3. Functional or Practical Literacy – it is the ability to read (i.e., decode and comprehend) written
materials needed to perform everyday vocational tasks. This is the equivalent of reading the
text “Ang bata ay nagbabasa” and being able to understand that basa here refers to reading and
not being wet.

5. EXPANDED VIEWS OF LITERACY
- ROBERTS (1995)
NOTES THAT “IN THE PAST FIFTY
YEARS, HUNDREDS OF
DEFINITIONS OF ‘LITERACY’
HAVE BEEN ADVANCED BY
SCHOLARS, ADULT LITERACY
WORKERS, AND PROGRAMME
PLANNERS,” WITH EVEN THE
UNITED NATIONS
EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC,
AND CULTURAL
ORGANIZATION (UNESCO,
2006) ACKNOWLEDGING THAT
LITERACY AS A CONCEPT HAS
PROVEN TO BE COMPLEX AND
DYNAMIC, IT BEING
CONTINUALLY DEFINED AND
INTERPRETED IN MULTIPLE
WAYS.
 In 2004, UNESCO formally defined literacy as “the ability
to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate
and compute, using printed and written materials
associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a
continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve
their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential,
and to participate fully in their community and wider
society.
 Note that “reading” does not appear in UNESCO’s
definition of literacy. Instead, literacy has taken on a
definition more akin to “knowing about something and
what to do with it.”
 This shift in the definition of literacy from “reading and
writing” to ‘knowledge” is especially important as we
explore the “new” literacies of the 21st century that seem
far-removed from the contexts upon which conventional
literacy is based.

6. LITERACY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
• New Literacies arose from the increasing availability of communication technologies that
were once unavailable to the average individual.
• Technologies like blogging and vlogging, social networking, and even text-messaging
change and expand both the extent and the form of our communication blending text,
sound and images in ways unforeseen and unprecedented (Richardson, 2014).
Simply put, three things have been critical in the rise of the new literacies:
1. Increase Reach – We are communicating with more people, from more diverse cultures,
across vaster distances than ever before.
2. Increased Means of Communication – We are communicating in more ways and at faster
speeds than ever before.
3. Increased Breadth of Content – We are communicating about more things than ever before.

7. WRAP UP
• Traditional Literacy is the ability to read and write.
• The traditional or conventional concept of literacy can be divided into sub-categories:
1. Basic Literacy, which is the ability to recognize letters and words;
2. Comprehension Literacy, which is the ability to understand the meaning of what is being
read; and
3. Functional/Practical Literacy, which is the ability to read written materials needed to perform
everyday vocational tasks.
• Modern views of literacy equate it with knowledge.
• New literacies have risen due to increased reach, increased means of communication, and
increased breadth of content. These new literacies are globalization and multicultural literacy,
social and financial literacy, media and cyber/digital literacy, ecoliteracy, artistic and creative
literacy, and critical literacy.

8. EARLY
LITERACY/
EMERGENT
LITERACY
Early literacy/emergent literacy is a type of
literacy that deals with the earliest behaviors that
relate to a kind of literacy in form of the skills,
knowledge, and attitudes that are manifested
before the actual conventional level of literacy is
attained.
The term was first used in 1966 by a New Zealand
researcher Marie Clay to describe the behaviors
seen in young children when they use books and
writing materials to imitate reading and writing
activities, even though the children cannot
actually read and write in the conventional sense
(Ramsburg, 1998).
“Emergent literacy is concerned with the earliest
phases of literacy development, the period
between birth and the time when children read
and write conventionally. The term emergent
literacy signals a belief that, in a literate society,
young children even one and two year olds, are in
the process of becoming literate”.

9. EARLY
LITERACY:
POLICY AND
PRACTICE IN
THE
PRESCHOOL
YEARS
• As early childhood education moves front and center in
the public policy debate, more attention is being paid to
early literacy. Early childhood professionals have long
recognized the importance of language and literacy in
preparing children to succeed in school.
• Early literacy plays a key role in enabling the kind of
early learning experiences that research shows are linked
with academic achievement, reduced grade retention,
higher graduation rates and enhanced productivity in adult
life. This report synthesizes the body of professional
knowledge about early literacy and offers research-based
recommendations.

10. BASIC LITERACY
• Basic Literacy refers to a type of knowledge that is
expected to be known by everyone in a particular field.
• In the world today, people expect everyone to know
basics of conventional literacy that is to know how to
read and write.
• For example, everyone is expected to know how to
read and write as a basic literacy skill.

11. BASIC LITERACY SKILLS
(a) Initial Literacy – A type of literacy that looks at the time or stage an individual learns or is
expected to learn the basics or the process of acquiring basic skills in a particular field such as
reading and writing in a particular language. It is a critical foundation of conventional literacy as it
has to do with knowing expected skills in a conventional manner.
(b) Critical literacy – A type of literacy that involves interpreting a piece more than mere piece of
work such as determining what effect a writer is attempting to bring about in readers, why he or
she is making that effort and just who those readers are. According to (Freire, 1970) Critical
Literacy looks at the teaching of critical consciousness skills relating to an individual’s ability to
perceive social, political, and economic oppression and to take action against the oppressive
elements of society. Critical literacy involves the analysis and critique of the relationships among
texts, language, power, social groups and social practices.

12. (c) Film Literacy – skills and abilities possessed by an individual to practice the art and craft of film
making and its processes. Processing the messages packaged in films is also a form of film
literacy.
(d) Teaching literacy – A form of literacy that focuses on an individual’s abilities to teach effectively
in a particular subject matter. He or she understand the craft of teaching and the necessities that
can be applied for an effective teacher.
(e) Computer Literacy – A type of literacy that look at an individual’s knowledge and ability to use
computers and technology efficiently. It includes the comfort level someone has in using computer
programs and other applications that are associated with computers.

13. (f) Technological literacy – This form of literacy refer to an individual’s ability to use technology
tools to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create and communicate information. It also
extends to the knowledge possessed to create or develop technology related products in a
broad sense. This includes to that look at technological issues.
(g) Information Literacy – A type or type of literacy that look at the ability to recognize the extent
and nature of the information needed, to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed
information in the manner that would befit it. It constitutes the abilities to recognize when
information is needed and to locate, evaluate, effectively use, and communicate information in
its various formats. A person is said to be information literate if they are able to recognize when
the information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the
needed information. Information literacy has to do with knowing when and why you need
information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical
manner, implies knowing several skills.

14. (h) Media Literacy – A type of literacy similar to information literacy that look at an individual’s
ability to understand information or read information from the different media by filtering or sifting
through and analyzing the messages that inform, edutain and sell to us everyday. Media literacy
is having the ability to bring critical thinking skills to bear on all media; from music videos and web
environments to product placement in films and virtual displays on billboards
(i) Visual Literacy – A type of literacy that deal with an individual’s ability to interpret, negotiate,
and make meaning from information presented in the form of an images, graphic designs and
other visuals aspects. Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that
meaning can be communicated through a process of reading. It is an instance of Visual Memory:
retaining a “picture” of what a word or object looks like and how to make sense out of it.