PERSONAL LITERACY EXPERIENCE

Personal Literacy Experience

Personal Literacy Experience

Introduction

The terms literacy though related to reading, are neither synonymous nor unambiguous. Typically reading is subsumed by literacy, with the latter term referring to reading, writing, and other modes of symbolic communication that are valued differently for social, economic, and political reasons often imposed by a dominant culture. Simply broadening the definition, however, does not alleviate the ambiguity. For instance, the assumption that literacy exists in the singular has been criticized by Brian Street in 1995 and others for ignoring the socially situated aspects of one's multiple literacies (print, nonprint, computer, scientific, numeric) and their accompanying literate practices.

A preference for literacies, as opposed to literacy in the singular, also signals a critique of the autonomous model of reading that has dominated Western thinking up to the present. It is a model that views reading largely from a cognitive perspective - as a "natural" or neutral process, one supposedly devoid of ideological positioning and the power relations inherent in such positioning. Conceiving of literacies in the plural and as ideologically embedded does not require giving up on the cognitive aspects of reading. Rather, according to Street, the ideological model subsumes the autonomous model of reading in an attempt to understand how reading is encapsulated within broader sociocultural structures (schools, governments, families, media) and the power relations that sustain them. This focus on literacies and reading as social practices within various contexts is central to untangling the "realities" (the so-called knowns), unsupported assertions, and controversies that surround the practices.

Realities

Not many people would understand what that means unless they are a member of facebook. Facebook is an online directory for college students to connect to people through groups at their school. Students make a profile that contains their information such as name, birthday, classes, and pretty much anything else you need to know in order to be a stalker. You can put your phone number, your picture, your address, even the high school that you graduated from on your profile. Technology has gone far since I was in elementary school. I remember having computer class in the 3rd grade. Today's young adults are so fluent with computers that it is in our nature. We can sit down at a computer and find something to do so easily. Facebook gives you many different profiles to read to keep you entertained.

Facebook has more then 4.1 million registered users on its site. Every month they get around 2 billion hits. For one website that singles out only college students, this is a huge deal. They aim, obviously, for people between the ages of 18-24. According to www.thefacebook.com, they say "the uses that facebook has to offer are; to look up people at your school, to see how people know each other, and to find people in your classes and groups." On this website you can find other people that live in your dorm or apartment complex and make new friends. You could also be nosey and read peoples profiles that you ...