The Concept of Literacy - Essay Example

Nonetheless, culture creates a definition of this aspect, literacy is connected to most of the attributes in individuals’ and community life and remains an important basis for learning through life and should always be considered as a human right.

Literacy involves a long-term and academic procedure of achieving meaning as a result of a critical understanding of the text or written text. The main characteristic of all literacy is the development of reading, which is a development of skills that start with the ability to understand spoken words and interpret written words that end in a better understanding of the text. The development of reading abilities involves a variety of complicated language foundations such as being aware of speech sounds, patterns of spelling, the meaning of words, grammar as well as the patterns used in forming words to provide a necessary stand that leads to ease in reading and ability to understand the text.

When these skills are acquired, the person who is reading can achieve full language literary that includes the capacity to critically explore printed material, conclude and create, write accurately and reasonably, and use the information and understanding from the text as the basis for informed choices and creative thoughts. An inability to achieve all these aspects is referred to as illiteracy. The English language has gone through a lot of significant changes throughout history and in the previous decade alone, the level of literacy of students has increased past the traditional characteristics such as reading, ability to understand, grammar and writing to encompass applications that are more digital and interactive.

With the present learners experiencing numerous traditional and digital literacies, parents are left with the question of how they can be able to develop the skills that will lead to effective navigation and interpreting of constant information streams that surround the children. Presently, numerous children are taught as digital natives and remain comfortable online in the same way they are offline. Access to the Internet has allowed unlimited educational possibilities and continually evolving information streams, nonetheless, the extent of the Internet may become a limitation to the children who cannot efficiently sort through and interpret the material they come across.

Strong literacy skills are an important tool used by children in their judgment and understanding of information allowing them to use the Internet fully and ensure that the digital footprint that they will leave is safe, correct and a reflection of their actual selves.