Try and imagine
our society without a common language.
This could be quite a hard idea to fathom. Allow me to assist you. If this hypothetical idea were in fact true,
a typical conversation between two individuals would be as follows: one of the
two would begin the conversation by making noises representing their
language, the other person would not
understand these noises and respond with unrecognizable noises to the first
individual. As you can well imagine,
this would get quite frustrating. Rita
Mae Brown describes literacy as, "a social contract, an agreed upon
representation of certain symbols" (420).
If the symbol's (letters) meanings are not agreed upon by those
attempting to communicate, then interpreting one another becomes
difficult. Simply stated, literacy is
very important. Society has proven time
and time again, it will reward those
individuals who are competent and impede those who are not, whether expressed
in terms of employment opportunities (job success) or just on a social level.
One need look no further than their
everyday activities in order to realize how important literary skills are. Without adequate literary skills one may not
be able to identify on a label the correct amount of medicine to give a child,
or read and interpret a sign giving instructions on what to do in case of a
fire. These two examples bring
perspective to literacy's importance.
Nevertheless, recent surveys have indicated that, "4.5 million
Canadians, representing 24 percent of the eighteen-and-over group, can be
considered illiterate" ("Adult Illiteracy" 5). Illiteracy is truly a problem within
Canada. Although many groups are working
to render the problem of illiteracy, much work still lies ahead.
As our society moves on into the next
century literacy is proving vital to economic performance. Without basic literary skills in one's
possession they will become lost in our rapidly changing society. The modern worker must be able to adapt to
the changing job-scene. This often means
gathering new skills and knowledge from printed material, whether instruction
manuals, computer programs, or classroom training (text books). It is quite commonly the case that highly
skilled jobs require a high level of literacy.
Therefore, literary skill level is an important factor in predicting an
individual's economic success. It will
affect an individual's income, their employment stability and whether they even
receive employment opportunities.
Presently, our world revolves around
literacy. Simply being literate allows
one to continuously upgrade one's literary skills to a higher level. It allows one to stay informed of happenings
in and around the world through mediums such as newspapers and magazines. Knowing current news about what is going on
in this ever changing world of ours is the key to staying ahead. Another thought to ponder is this, we rely on
those with high literacy levels to record and document findings and happenings
for future generations to reflect on.
These writings would most likely be dull and inaccurate or would not
exist at all without our current levels of literacy.
When viewed from a social standpoint,
literacy remains just as important as when viewed from the economic
standpoint. Linda Macleod of the
National Associations Active in Criminal Justice, points out that, "65
percent of people entering Canadian prisons for the first time have trouble
reading and writing, low literacy is part of a constellation of problems that
can limit choices in life and thus lead people to criminal activity"
(20). Somebody in possession of a high
level of literacy will most likely be well informed and tend to make wiser
decisions. By obtaining this level of
literacy they have also gathered a large vocabulary giving them many words to
choose from to express their ideas and feelings. Conversely, many would agree that a
conversation with one who has a good grasp of the English language is always
more delightful than with one who is less educated.
Literacy can act as a window, opening
one's view to the world. Presently, we
are being bombarded with information, news, trivia and gossip (not that this is
always a positive feature in our lives).
Without sufficient literary skills one cannot even absorb any of this
information. These people will miss out
on many of life's benefits, socially as well as economically. Without sufficient literary skills one would
have a tremendously difficult time functioning in our current world. Think about your average day, consider how
many times you refer to your literary skills to aid you, could you function
without those skills? Finding an
address, reading a map, reading a menu, performing a bank transaction, these
are just a few common tasks that require your literary skills.
Also, when looking at the importance of
literacy to our nation, its value is evident.
High levels of literacy throughout all sectors of Canada's workforce are
necessary, "low literacy levels of workers' affect Canada's ability to
perform in the increasingly competitive international marketplace"
("Literacy" 7). Literary
skills become building blocks. First
creating a well-educated society, then a highly skilled labour force which can
compete and adapt to the changing market.
These factors lead to an increase in economic growth within the nation
which in turn, results in a higher standard of living for its people.
As our society moves forward into the
future, a higher level of literacy will become more important to one's level of
success. Where would our society be
without our ability to exchange knowledge and information? How many times have
you made a purchase that read on the outside - instructions inside? You and I think nothing of this, and in a
sense take our gift for granted. For
many, deciphering written instructions is a near impossible task, asking for
assistance does little more than to further lower their self esteem. Literacy is important. To truly seize the
benefits possible in one's life it has to be accepted that literacy is the
key. Society will continue to reward
skilled individuals and disadvantage those who are not.
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