"Literacy Privilege"

[Spang]

[...]

It might turn out through subsequent forum posts that Jonny is actually a bit of a dick. Maybe he expresses obnoxious opinions in childish ways and picks fights with anyone who disagrees. In this scenario, it’s very tempting to crap on his unusual orthography and lack of punctuation. It seems like such an easy way to shut him down. He’s a jerk and he deserves it, right? But I have come to realize that there are problems with this ignoble approach as well.

For one thing, the idea that there is only one right way of doing English – and everyone else is doing it wrong – is inherently flawed. And by “flawed” I mean illogical, elitist and even oppressive. Judgements about what counts as “right”, “good” and “correct” in writing and grammar always – ALWAYS – align with characteristics of the dialects spoken by privileged, mostly wealthy, mostly white people. We make these judgements based on learned biases, as well as a certain emotional attachment to our own way of doing things. But when people study dialects in an objective, scientific way (which is what cunning linguists actually do), they find that low-prestige dialects, such as African-American Vernacular English or Cockney English, have fully-formed grammar rules of their own that make just as much sense as any others. They are perfectly valid and functional forms of communication used by millions of people. The only difference is that they don’t have people running around telling everyone else to do it their way.

So if I crap on Jonny’s spelling, I’m either reinforcing an oppressive status quo, or picking on a person with a disability, or both. And taking part in these kinds of insults, even when they’re directed at an Internet troll, encourages other people to participate in this kind of shaming. It’s frankly also pretty ineffective as a debate tactic. I’m not going to change Jonny’s mind, nor help him improve his writing abilities, by making fun of him. He may be a jerk because he’s never learned how to express himself in a healthy way, and I’m not doing much to help him. And reducing my arguments to the level of adhomonym attacks debases my own credibility – because if I have a valid point to make, I should be able to make it without resorting to pettiness. Furthermore, it is guaranteed that somewhere out there on the Interwebs, there is someone I agree with whose reasoned arguments are disparaged, dismissed or ignored because they come wrapped in a package of nonstandard language.

This is no trifling issue, either. I like to shock the new tutors I train by quoting statistics from theInternational Adult Literacy Survey. I ask them to estimate, in a developed country like Canada or the U.S., what percentage of the population has literacy skills below the very basic level needed to function well in our society. People usually guess ten percent, fifteen percent, maybe as much as twenty-five. Then I pull out the sad, stunning facts: nearly half of all North American adults cannot cope with complex written material of the sort that the other half of us take completely for granted. HALF, you guys. This should be considered a national crisis. Not fodder for sport.

[...]

Source

 

[Envy]

This contains so much errors that I don't even know where to begin.

 

[Spang]

This contains so much errors that I don't even know where to begin.

Pick one.

 

[Freesia]

This contains so much errors that I don't even know where to begin.

Spelling errors.

 

[Freesia]

I had 2 dyslexic boyfriends in a row so I usually dont comment on spelling mistakes (though occasionally i do). I myself cant be bothered spelling correctly all the time.

 

[das_nut]

This contains so much errors that I don't even know where to begin.

*Pulls out the "denying privilege is proof of privilege" card.*

 

[FortyTwo]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I have no sympathy for adults who cannot read.

Unless the following circumstances are true...
1.) The individual in question is suffering from an intellectual or learning disability (in which case reading is either unnecessary to maintain a high standard of living or the individual can be given medical or educational help).
2.) The individual in question was brought up in circumstances where education on even the most basic level was impossible (very rare - even American slaves who were forbidden by law from reading learned as children).
3.) Someone intentionally blocked the individual as a child from learning how to read (in which case the person doing the blocking should be punished and the adult given help immediately).

...then the person is simply being lazy and self-pitying, and needs to actually learn how to do something which is completely essential in modern society. Reading is not difficult, no matter what your innate intelligence is. The "illiteracy epidemic" does not exist.

 

[ledboots]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I have no sympathy for adults who cannot read.

Unless the following circumstances are true...
1.) The individual in question is suffering from an intellectual or learning disability (in which case reading is either unnecessary to maintain a high standard of living or the individual can be given medical or educational help).
2.) The individual in question was brought up in circumstances where education on even the most basic level was impossible (very rare - even American slaves who were forbidden by law from reading learned as children).
3.) Someone intentionally blocked the individual as a child from learning how to read (in which case the person doing the blocking should be punished and the adult given help immediately).

...then the person is simply being lazy and self-pitying, and needs to actually learn how to do something which is completely essential in modern society. Reading is not difficult, no matter what your innate intelligence is. The "illiteracy epidemic" does not exist.

I have volunteered as a literacy coach to adults and teenagers. Reading does *not* come easily for some people. Everyone does not have the same level of intelligence, the same upbringing, the same eyesight, the luxury of taking time to learn to read between roofing houses in the Florida heat 10 hours a day. The world is not a level playing field. Neither is the US.

When my daughter was in kindergarten, one of her classmates told me she had never been in a library, and she had never seen a book in her home. She had never seen a children's picture book before, either, and she had 2 older brothers. (The school is a good public science magnet school in a disadvantaged neighborhood, where local kids go automatically and others applied for admission.) An uncle had just been released from prison, so her bedroom had to be given over, and she was sleeping in the living room with her brothers. She ate the (horrible) breakfast and lunches free at school, and not much over the weekends. I won't blame Justine if she can't read now some 19 years later.

 

[FortyTwo]

I have volunteered as a literacy coach to adults and teenagers. Reading does *not* come easily for some people. Everyone does not have the same level of intelligence, the same upbringing, the same eyesight, the luxury of taking time to learn to read between roofing houses in the Florida heat 10 hours a day. The world is not a level playing field. Neither is the US.

When my daughter was in kindergarten, one of her classmates told me she had never been in a library, and she had never seen a book in her home. She had never seen a children's picture book before, either, and she had 2 older brothers. (The school is a good public science magnet school in a disadvantaged neighborhood, where local kids go automatically and others applied for admission.) An uncle had just been released from prison, so her bedroom had to be given over, and she was sleeping in the living room with her brothers. She ate the (horrible) breakfast and lunches free at school, and not much over the weekends. I won't blame Justine if she can't read now some 19 years later.

Then those people need help. They have my sympathy. It's the people who are given every opportunity, every chance to learn and shun it, and then complain about their lives, that I have no sympathy for.

 

[FortyTwo]

My last few posts were a bit judgmental and ranty, forgive me for that. I'm mostly just bitter because we were assigned a paper in English class about the "illiteracy epidemic" in which the writer manages to beg for sympathy for people who, for vague reasons, never learned how to read, and then offers absolutely no solution on how to help these people, only a rant about the fact that they exist. It painted the subject in a bad light for me.

 

[Envy]

K 'cuz I was liek 2taly pised of ur nazty post do'nt haet on peepz wo can't spel pruperly.

 

[Spang]

Yes, let's mock people with literacy problems.

 

[das_nut]

I suspect it's a similar (although far less) problem as obesity. Sure, in theory, it's easy to stay slim: Just have the self-discipline to eat less.

In practice, a lot of people struggle with it.

 

[Spang]

We should make fun of people with weight problems next.

 

[kazyeeqen]

We should make fun of people with weight problems next.

Where have you been?

 

[Spang]

Where have you been?

What do you mean?

 

[FortyTwo]

I suspect it's a similar (although far less) problem as obesity. Sure, in theory, it's easy to stay slim: Just have the self-discipline to eat less.

In practice, a lot of people struggle with it.

Eh, I see this more as conflicting societal signals. Stay skinny! But buy tons and tons of McDonalds! Naturally there are disorders and whatnot that will cause people to shift to one side or the other but mostly it's just genetics, societal influence, and personal preference. There's nothing wrong with being large, small, or anywhere in-between, as long as you're comfortable with yourself.

I suppose the same thing can sorta go for learning how to read, but you're going to have a hell of a time in modern civilization with that.

 

[kazyeeqen]

What do you mean?

I mean, making fun of overweight folks, that's been well started already.

 

[FortyTwo]

Yes, let's mock people with literacy problems.

I didn't see it as a mock on illiteracy, but more of a mock on the internet writing style of the typical teenager/pre-teen/actually most adults in this day and age.

 

[yakherder]

Literacy is a skill. Like any skill, the better you are at it the more advantage you will gain from it. And also, like any other skill, I don't look down on or criticize people who don't possess that skill, but I can't change the fact that they will be at a severe disadvantage nonetheless regardless of the reason for them not possessing that skill.

That said, as a kid and young adult I just sort of assumed everyone could read without really thinking about it. Over the years, the world has shown me how wrong i was.

When I was first starting to learn Chinese, while stationed in Connecticut with the Navy, as a way to meet more Chinese speakers in the area with whom to practice and improve my fluency, I volunteered with Literacy Volunteers of Southeastern Connecticut. I expected most of my students to be Chinese and, though this did indeed turn out to be the case, I ended up with a lot more American students than I anticipated. Most of them were not developmentally disabled. Some of them even had successful careers. One guy was an experienced HVAC repairman who had never really felt the need to learn to read, but his work was now requiring him to pass a certification, which included an exam, that had previously not been required. Upon realizing he couldn't read (his company had never even noticed), the basically told him he had to learn to read so he could pass the exam or he'd lose his job.

After leaving the Navy and moving to China, I encountered a similar scenario. My (now ex) wife's mother, who had grown up on the countryside in the midst of the cultural revolution, had basically been cheated out of her chance to go to school due to the amount of work it took just to survive that era. She was street smart, business savvy, her work ethic was absolutely ridiculous, and she had managed to be somewhat successful within the context of her own village despite not being able to read Chinese or even speak standard Mandarin (only her own town's local dialect). The growing economic success of China was actually causing her problems because she was having trouble not only competing with the better educated younger generation, but doing business with them without being cheated. She had to rely on a promise and a handshake to secure a deal due to the fact that she had no idea what the contracts actually said. When dealing with her own local village, this worked fine. As the village expanded and people moved in from other areas without the same sense of community, they found it easy to cheat her. Not only did her inability to read prevent her from understanding the contracts, it made it difficult for her to act on breached contracts because she didn't understand how the laws worked.

And later on when I returned to the states, joined the Army, and went off to play in the sand/mountains, don't even get me started on the Taliban. The average prisoner had no freaking idea what the Koran said because they couldn't read it, which made their specific form of religion based solely off word of mouth from other nutcases like themselves.

Literacy is definitely an important issue throughout the world. I can't say for sure what to do about it though. I'm not anti immigration and I don't even want to get into the illegal immigration argument, but obviously we must accept that as a country with a large amount of non-English speaking people coming in, reduced literacy rates are inevitable. Those who are developmentally disabled (and I completely support the idea of doing whatever we can to help care for them and allow them to be productive members of society), will always be at a disadvantage. And education costs money, which means that even those who are not developmentally disabled will be limited in regards to the quality (and quantity) of their education.

People who are literate are also more likely to raise kids who are just as literate. I speak to my son primarily in English and read Children's stories to him in Chinese. My girlfriend communicates with him in French. Both of us had the option to not have to work full time for the first year of his life and now, at 1 year 2 months old, he's already saying random words in 3 different languages. Regardless of what the rest of society does in regards to providing education to those who need it, my son will start with a significant advantage. That's just how things work.