literacy for life; EFA global monitoring report, 2006 - Institut de ...

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200 / CHAPTER 8
Education for All Global Monitoring Report
Literacy
acquisition in
highly schooled
or literate
countries should
not be taken
for granted
literacy skills. Indeed, recent international studies
have revealed that significant proportions of the
adult population in these highly literate countries
have substandard literacy skills (see Chapter 7),
results which are typically greeted with shock and
disbelief by the public and government officials
(Guy, 2005; Bailey, 2004).
Several factors may contribute to such
illiteracy pockets. For example, adults whose
mother tongues are different from the language
of instruction tend to have lower literacy levels
than other groups; immigrants (both legal and
illegal) typically must contend with this problem.
Illiteracy is also prominent among those nativeborn
adults who have had to struggle with
poverty, ill health or discrimination (Box 8.3).
Individuals with disabilities and prisoners
(discussed in Chapter 7) are additional examples
of groups with literacy problems. High drop-out
rates, low-quality schooling and lack of support
for special needs further exacerbate literacy
problems among these groups (Bailey, 2004;
Benseman and Tobias, 2003).
In short, literacy acquisition in highly schooled
or literate countries should not be taken for
granted. The damage of missed opportunities
to acquire sustainable literacy skills during
childhood and adolescence may be compounded
during adulthood, especially among those with
limited employment opportunities.
Placing literacy in a social context
The spread of formal schooling, adult learning
opportunities and (in some countries) organized
literacy campaigns have played a significant role
in historical literacy transitions. By contrast,
political strife, warfare and economic decline have
hindered progress towards widespread literacy.
Today, illiteracy continues to affect those groups
which were denied opportunities to acquire
literacy in the past. In more developed regions,
such groups typically constitute a minority of the
population. In those developing countries where
educational access is limited and social exclusion
is pervasive, however, these groups constitute a
majority.
In practice, one’s literacy skills and
competencies are largely determined by a
complex interplay between one’s own motivations
and the available learning opportunities. This
relationship between the demand and supply of
literacy opportunities is itself influenced by the
broader social context. The next sections discuss
three critical issues – multilingualism and
linguistic diversity, the social character of literacy
practices and the importance of literate
environments – in order to illuminate the social
contexts of literacy and to suggest improvements
for existing policy interventions (see Chapter 9).
Languages and literacy
Box 8.3
Illiteracy in Japan
The Burakumin are descendants of a formerly excluded
caste created during Japan’s feudal period and are among
the 50,000 people in Osaka prefecture (population
8.8 million in 2000) who have substantial difficulties in
everyday reading and writing. Although the caste was
abolished in 1871, Burakumin are still subject to social
discrimination, particularly in education and employment,
and live in difficult conditions of poverty. Educational
attainment and average income for members of this group
are significantly lower than the national average.
According to a 1980 study, illiteracy among this group in
the Osaka prefecture was over 8%. Their situation is an
example of how discrimination reduces literacy
opportunities and incentives to acquire literacy among
socially disadvantaged groups in highly literate societies.
Sources: Shikiji Nihongo Centre, 2005; Burakukaihou Jinken Kenkyusho,
2005; New Media Jinken Kikou, 2005.
Language policies and practices have played –
and continue to play – an important role in
literacy transitions and the development of
literate communities. Despite the fact that, in
practice, literacy skills are applied or used in a
specific language, most definitions of literacy view
it as a generic set of skills that are comparable
across languages. According to this dominant
view, whether a person acquires or practises
literacy skills in Urdu, Modern Standard Arabic,
Mandarin Chinese, Swahili, Portuguese, Amharic
or English makes little substantive difference.
Given the longstanding interest in measuring,
monitoring and comparing literacy levels across
diverse language contexts, this position is
understandable.
Yet, in reality, the nature of literacy is not
homogeneous across all languages, just as the
features of different languages are not
homogeneous. Thus, linguists use the notion of
‘language development’ to talk about the level
and status of a language – e.g. whether it is