Table of Contents
What is Literacy?
In a broad sense, literacy is the ability to read and write using at least one language. However, the exact definition has changed drastically over the past couple of centuries as our expectations and abilities have increased as a species.
In the early 1800s, simply being able to write your name rather than simply using an X when signing documents was enough to consider a person literate. However, by the mid 1900s, countries began to calculate literacy rates in their country based on people’s ability to read and understand content from state education grade level standards.
For example, in the 1940s, the United States considered a person literate if they were able to read at a 4th grade level in state schooling standards. However, this standard had changed to require reading at a 6th grade level just 10 years later. (Clifford)
Unfortunately, not only is this system of measuring literacy based on arbitrary red lines, but also a false premise, as new research has shown that literacy can not be measured globally with a simple yes or no answer. In fact, the research shows that there are actually many different types of literacy, and an ability to read well in one area does not mean a person is equally capable of reading any type of text.
Just because someone is able to read a novel for an English class does not guarantee that they will be able to read and understand other types of texts such as speeches, political articles, or science research studies. Each different type of text will have different vocabulary, different writing conventions, and structure the content in a way that works for the context in which it appears.
For example, a student who has studied poetry may be able to understand the meaning of a poem, but still may not be able to read a legal report. Being able to read a poem requires understanding of line structure, rhyme patterns, and rhythm, but being able to read a legal document requires specialized vocabulary knowledge and understanding of how grammar and register are drastically different in legalese.
Legal documents are not simply a “harder” version of literacy that means someone has obtained a higher reading level. Someone who is highly literate with legal documents may still struggle to understand medical reports or scientific research due to a lack of understanding about the specialized vocabulary and writing conventions required to read those types of texts successfully.
Even more casual topics such as sports and video games require specific literacy. A highly educated person may be very confused trying to read a gaming text that contains sentences like “The offtank needs to focus on keeping aggro while kiting as they are too squishy and don’t have enough OS buttons to simply yolo into mobs.” but many gamers will understand perfectly.
There are actually an innumerable number of different types of literacy. Each of the different types of literacy only allows a person to read within that specific domain and requires understanding of jargon and specific grammar conventions of the text type.
On top of that, in the modern era some types of literacy go beyond simply reading texts and describe a person’s ability to intelligently use other types of texts such as technology, numbers, and even coding languages.
What Are the Different Types of Literacy?
There are an infinite number of possible types of literacy depending on how a person chooses to separate different types of texts. However, there are several commonly discussed types of literacy that are worth mentioning due to their impact on a person’s ability to navigate the modern world.
- Functional Literacy
Functional literacy describes a person’s ability to read basic text they come across in their daily lives. This could include things like being able to read signs, order from a menu, and fill in basic forms such as those at the doctor’s office or a government building.
Functional literacy is not the same from individual to individual but instead changes based on the texts that a person comes across in their personal lives. For example, for one person functional literacy may be being able to read signs and prices at their local market, but another person may need to be able to fill in forms at work and order food online.
Rather than being a standardized set of things any person needs to be able to do, functional literacy describes a person being able to read and write sufficiently to successfully navigate their day regardless of how that day looks.
Functional literacy is often discussed in the context of students with severe learning needs. Students who have severe developmental difficulties may struggle to read even very simple texts. Because of this, teachers will often leave out most academic reading exercises and focus on teaching basic literacy skills to ensure the person can live independently later on in life.
However, functional literacy is also important to discuss for students of all levels. Many people argue that schools focus on overly specialized academic topics such as calculus and biochemistry but don’t teach functional literacy skills such as how to do taxes or understand a nutrition label.
A very small percentage of each class will ever use much of the high level content in almost every subject, but absolutely all students need a basic functional literacy in how to do taxes and understand what they are putting into their bodies. Literature and social studies courses are often no better, focusing too much on the “great man” approach of teaching through studying grand generals and prolific writers of the past while completely ignoring functional literacy skills important in the modern day like critically understanding political rhetoric and being careful on social media.
While it is important to challenge highly able students, it is also important to ensure everyone has a strong baseline for the things that matter most. It is often better to focus on functional literacy concepts in class as many times even the strongest students will be overconfident in these basics and teachers can always give extra challenges and resources for students who are interested in going further academically.
This guide for challenging advanced students will be useful for teachers who are worried about high level students not getting the attention and time they deserve.
- Digital Literacy
In the modern world, another commonly discussed type of literacy is digital literacy. Digital literacy describes a person’s ability to use technology such as computers, smart phones, and digital kiosks to complete tasks.
Digital literacy is often discussed in the context of older adults who often struggle with literacy in technologies that they have not grown up with. While some people may be able to do basic tasks with their computer or phone, they may struggle with more complicated tasks and get confused with updates that change the user interface.
This shows that whether a person is literate or not really can not be answered with a simple yes or no, but is more similar to how a person’s ability to speak a foreign language is measured. Different digital tasks are more difficult and different contexts require different skills that may or may not be easy for someone depending on their level of literacy and experience working in that context.
Someone may be able to make a simple phone call on their phone, but not know how to download new apps. Similarly, someone may be able to download new apps, but not know how to change specific settings or troubleshoot issues they come across.
A basic amount of digital literacy is extremely important to be a functional adult in the modern world, however. Many businesses require customers to navigate websites, fill in forms, and make appointments or orders using online tools. While many businesses try to help people who struggle with technology through customer support, this still requires the person to be able to understand and follow the directions they are given.
- Health Literacy
Health literacy is another of the important types of literacy that often is not discussed enough. Especially with the rise of health influencers online, the ability to understand what makes a medical claim reliable is increasingly important to not be fooled by fake news campaigns or simply be strung along by ignorant influencers.
World Health Organization data from a research study conducted around Europe found that almost 50% of Europeans had an inadequate health literacy that was “associated with riskier behaviour, poorer health, less self-management and more hospitalization and costs.” (Kickbusch, et al.) This data shows that a lack of health literacy is not just dangerous for an individual, but can lead to actual financial consequences and worse health outcomes.
Health literacy requires a person to understand not only a good amount of health related vocabulary, but also have a basic understanding of biology, chemistry, and other science fields. Being able to read and understand this type of content does not simply rely on knowing words and their meanings, but how those concepts work together to see if claims make sense or are likely fabricated.
Anyone with significant health literacy will immediately be put on guard if an influencer uses terms like “toxins” or “cleanse”. This is because they know that the body already has a system in place to deal with waste materials and other toxins and simply drinking some juice is not going to cause the body to change how it processes these toxins.
This example explains why just knowing the definition of a term, like toxins, is not enough to be truly literate in health information, but requires a deeper understanding of the context and basic science. Just as someone who can read a book and understand the plot may not understand deeper themes and references in a novel, someone who can read the words of a social media post on health does not necessarily understand their implications or value.
Students need to be taught this type of literacy separately, as even many very educated people can still be easily fooled due to their lack of understanding of difficult scientific topics like nutrition, diseases, and vaccines. Classes need to be taught not just on science itself, but also on how to verify and evaluate information from various types of sources.
Scientific studies can be incredibly difficult to understand due to the amount of data and purposefully abstract vocabulary used when writing in that type of text. This is why many people believe that vaccines cause autism, because there was one study once that found a connection between the two.
After that study went through peer review however, it was found to have a huge amount of problems and the authors had made many unfounded assumptions. Further research has found no connections between vaccines and autism, but the fake news has stuck with many for years due to their lack of health literacy and ability to verify source validity.
- Numerical Literacy
Numerical literacy describes a person’s ability to understand and use numbers in various contexts. Numerical literacy is another important type of literacy that people can use in a variety of different situations such as with their finances, when looking at data, and in understanding time and other measurements.
Obviously this type of literacy would be helpful when looking at the scientific papers discussed before. Being able to look at and read a data table is a very different skill from looking at sentences and pulling meaning from them. This is not the only place where numerical literacy is important however.
Numerical literacy is also important for financial wellness and budgeting. Understanding how numbers add up, being able to make a functional budget, and calculate the risks and rewards of various investments are also skills improved by higher numerical literacy.
People with low numerical literacy may always find themselves short of money to pay bills or making risky investments that end up costing them more in the end than simply keeping the money under their mattress. As financial options like retirement, investment, and budgeting get more complicated in our digital world, numerical and specifically financial literacy is becoming more and more important to teach separately from basic mathematics.
- Information Literacy
Information literacy, sometimes called “news literacy”, is often not considered one of the types of literacy, but describes a person’s ability to understand and critically evaluate new information they read. While a person may be able to read and understand the content of a news story because they understand the vocabulary and grammar structures used, they may fail to understand whether that information is trustworthy or not.
This type of literacy is connected to many domains such as health, as discussed above, but also politics, economics, and really any other topic where information is interpreted and not simply black and white. Understanding what makes a post online authoritative requires a different type of literacy and ability to research to look at the claims made, who made them, and what others in the field are saying.
Understanding when new information is reliable or not requires a very different type of literacy through understanding of conventions and an ability to note logical flaws and malicious attempts to manipulate the reader. Not being fooled by clickbait titles, recognizing common logical fallacies, and knowing how to search the internet to verify information that a person has read is a very important type of literacy that is unfortunately often not taught mindfully until university.
Schools generally focus on gaining information from a text by teaching vocabulary and text conventions, but often only include high quality texts that students are supposed to trust. Teachers really need to begin including texts of a low quality that students must evaluate so that they can learn to recognize what makes information reliable.
Rather than only giving students high quality novels to analyze in English class, or clear and factual science textbooks to learn from, students should be mindfully exposed to manipulative social media advertisements and dangerous fake news about health topics so that they will not simply be fooled by news outlets or influencers that only want money.
This will help them recognize common mistakes others make and cause them to be less likely to make those mistakes themselves. Rather than focusing so much on what students read, teachers should focus on teaching students how to read, whether it is a classic and trusted text or a new unfounded news story.
Conclusion
Literacy is often thought of as a simple black and white concept that a person either has or does not have. This article should make clear that there are many types of literacy, but also that literacy is a skill that a person can have to varying degrees in different domains.
According to research, it is important that teachers actively teach different types of reading strategies in order to help their students gain different types of literacy. Currently schools focus far too much on intensive reading and do not present students with enough low quality content requiring extensive extratextual research to evaluate.
This practice leads students to be too trusting of the things they read as they are not accustomed to reading poorly written things in school. While it may seem counterintuitive, research shows that students need a wide variety in the quality of the examples shown to them in class.
While adults are generally very functionally literate in the modern world, many seriously lack news and health literacy as evidenced by the massive rise in fake news and its impact on politics and in health decisions made during the pandemic. Teachers can no longer expect “literacy” to be something that is taught only by elementary school teachers and then counted as an achieved skill from then on. Instead, every teacher must work to make their students more literate in their subject by explicitly teaching them to use different reading strategies that are important for learning in their specific subject.
This will create not only more literate students, but also more independent learners. Rather than relying on authority figures to tell them right from wrong, students today need to learn how to use the internet responsibly and efficiently to verify information and stay safe in an increasingly confusing world.
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References
Clifford, Geraldine Jonçich. “Buch Und Lesen: Historical Perspectives on Literacy and Schooling.” Review of Educational Research, vol. 54, no. 4, 1984, pp. 472–500. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1170171. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.
Kickbusch, Ilona, Pelikan, Jürgen M., Apfel, Franklin & Tsouros, Agis. (2013). Health Literacy. WHO Regional Office for Europe.
