Literacy.

        After the discussion in class Tuesday about literacy I found myself with more questions than answers regarding the correlation between literacy and knowledge. Also, I began to question how either relates to a persons worth and place in society as well as in the workforce. I feel that there are several misconceptions that are common when discussing literacy in these contexts.                              First, we must find a definition, that most accurately matches what literacy means to us as a society. This may prove to be the hardest part, as being able to test ones ability to read and write may be a simple task, but being able to determine who can do so well, may be more difficult. Then, we must ask ourselves if those who are literate, by the standards of our tests, are any more intelligent than those whom the test deem illiterate. Also, not a simple task as there are numerous reasons that could cause inconsistencies in the results of the test. These reasons include such things as dialect, cultural influences, regional influences, and formality or context of the situation. As an example I refer to a study that I have read about in the past. The study compared similar students in high income schools to those in lower income schools in the same general area, the students were asked to provide synonyms for the words provided. Many of the words received the same answers, but a few of the words drew attention from the scorers. The word 'blaze' in particular stood out to me, as the high income schools' students were able to provide an answer that was 'correct' such as fire or burn. Several students at the lower income schools however used the words 'to smoke' as their answer, which was marked wrong for the purpose of the test, but given their history and the culture that they have been accustomed to, it was a correct answer to them. Literacy would be an easy quality to quantify if there were not so many subtle differences and inconsistencies throughout our language, however there are those differences. Those differences and the ability of language to adapt and evolve to fit the surroundings and the situation is what makes it so important in society today.         Next, we discussed the relation of ones worth or place in society and said persons literary ability. This topic is one that, I feel, has likely changed the most over time, as in the early years of the 20th century the literacy requirements in the workplace were probably of the least importance they have been, something that eventually changed into  more of what we see today where an employee must show the ability to read and write just to apply for a position. However, I believe that technology is leading us to become more lazy and complacent with what we have learned about reading and writing. Twenty years ago there was no such thing as spell check on computers and now our PHONES will auto complete and auto correct our sentences and words for us, if we even still type them, as now many programs have been developed to read and write for us by speaking. I feel that this advance in technology is solely responsible what I consider to be the beginning of the end as far as intelligent language is concerned. A statistic that I feel supports this theory is that of the most recent SAT scoring studies that prove the generation of students (those graduating 2013) have had the lowest SAT scores since the conception of the SAT in 1926. I feel this to be a direct result of the technology dependent society we live in today.