Literacy in America

Rym

In looking for a funny statistic to burn someone in another thread, I discovered something sad.

WikipediaA five-year, $14 million study of U.S. adult literacy involving lengthy interviews of U.S. adults, the most comprehensive study of literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government,[2] was released in September 1993. It involved lengthy interviews of over 26,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information."

A follow-up study by the same group of researchers using a smaller database (19,714 interviewees) was released in 2006 that showed no statistically significant improvement in U.S. adult literacy... These studies assert that 46% to 51% of U.S. adults read so poorly that they earn "significantly" below the threshold poverty level for an individual.

The 15% figure for full literacy, equivalent to a university undergraduate level, is consistent with the notion that the "average" American reads at a 7th or 8th grade level

I didn't get a chance to read the root studies, where it appears that you can see where the literacy rates break down (rural/urban, rich/poor, north/south, etc...)

I am saddened, not by these facts, but by the fact that they surprised me.

Railith

I assume the reason why the stats are so poor is because you do not have to read at a high level to survive in America.

WindUpBird

I assume the reason why the stats are so poor is because you do not have to read at a high level to survive in America.

"But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encloses you when you drop a seed in a TV parlor? It grows you any shape it wishes! It is an environment as real as the world. It becomes and is the truth. Books can be beaten down with reason. But with all my knowledge and scepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full colour, three dimensions, and I being in and part of those incredible parlors. As you see, my parlour is nothing but four plaster walls. And here," He held out two small rubber plugs, "For my ears when I ride the subway-jets."

Kate Monster

I am saddened, not by these facts, but by the fact that they surprised me.

I am saddened by the facts. If I started assuming that this were the case, I think it would be even sadder.

This is why I want to teach English. Literacy is one of the most valuable commodities a person can attain on a vast number of levels. It is truly heartbreaking and also highly motivating.

Andrew

Via Wikipedia

Kate Monster

Graph

*tear*

Apreche

Graph

*tear*

Uh, the graph is going down. The world is getting smarter, but the US is getting stupider.

George Patches

Illiteracy may be declining, but as this study showed, while people can read, they aren't actually extracting meaningful information from the reading.

Kate Monster

Graph

*tear*

Uh, the graph is going down. The world is getting smarter, but the US is getting stupider.

No, I am tearing because even with it getting better, it is still unacceptably bad.
The U.S. is getting worse? Where did you see that? I saw that it was holding steady (based on Rym's posted information).

Rym

The U.S. is getting worse? Where did you see that? I saw that it was holding steady (based on Rym's posted information).

That's what I saw, too.

Rym

This is why I want to teach English. Literacy is one of the most valuable commodities a person can attain on a vast number of levels. It is truly heartbreaking and also highly motivating.

Our only hope is that maybe the linguistics researcher I mentioned on the show a while back (forget her name) is right in that the Internet has, in just the last few years, begun a revolution of literacy in the industrialized world.

Her premise was simply that, prior to the recent explosion in social media, the majority of the industrialized world's citizenry had almost no cause to write anything on a regular basis. People read newspapers and signs, but that was about that, and aside from a minority (certain professions and those who corresponded regularly via the mail), no one ever had to express their ideas in writing to any meaningful extent.

Twitter and Facebook, little that they are, are infinitely more valuable to our future than nothing.

It was an interesting paper: I need to find it again.

Jason

I can believe the statistic. I work in an environment where I teach employees to data mine policy databases for solutions to billing and tech issues. The policies are dumbed down to nearly a fourth grade level, but my employees' greatest problem is finding the appropriate data and then applying it to client accounts. It's even in an "if this, then do that" logical format.

The biggest issue seems to be that employees cannot stand to start at the top of a policy and read down. Their eyes zip all over the text and cannot focus on core ideas. They are born magazine readers, not paragraph readers. I think it boils down to a combination of laziness and learned helplessness.

Viga

Illiteracy may be declining, but as this study showed, while people can read, they aren't actually extracting meaningful information from the reading.

So, wouldn't that be more of a comprehension issue?

Axel

Illiteracy may be declining, but as this study showed, while people can read, they aren't actually extracting meaningful information from the reading.

So wouldn't that be more of a comprehension issue?

So, people are just...Stupid? Not new news.

I think it goes beyond comprehension, and moves into the territory of being willing to comprehend. I find I'm able to explain school concepts to other kids better than a textbook, but I often have to explain it multiple ways. The textbook is complicated, and they're unwilling to work and decipher the meaning. I translate the meaning into various different forms until they can understand it. As such, I'm doing the work, and not them.

So, people are just...Lazy? Not new news...

Viga

Illiteracy may be declining, but as this study showed, while people can read, they aren't actually extracting meaningful information from the reading.

So wouldn't that be more of a comprehension issue?

So, people are just...Stupid? Not new news.

I think it goes beyond comprehension, and moves into the territory of being willing to comprehend. I find I'm able to explain school concepts to other kids better than a textbook, but I often have to explain it multiple ways. The textbook is complicated, and they're unwilling to work and decipher the meaning. I translate the meaning into various different forms until they can understand it. As such, I'm doing the work, and not them.

So, people are just...Lazy? Not new news...

So, it boils down to willful ignorance, eh?

Axel

Illiteracy may be declining, but as this study showed, while people can read, they aren't actually extracting meaningful information from the reading.

So wouldn't that be more of a comprehension issue?

So, people are just...Stupid? Not new news.

I think it goes beyond comprehension, and moves into the territory of being willing to comprehend. I find I'm able to explain school concepts to other kids better than a textbook, but I often have to explain it multiple ways. The textbook is complicated, and they're unwilling to work and decipher the meaning. I translate the meaning into various different forms until they can understand it. As such, I'm doing the work, and not them.

So, people are just...Lazy? Not new news...

So, it boils down to willful ignorance, eh?

That's what I've found. They are unwilling to work hard to acquire information. I meet smart people who choose to be dumb because it's easy. It's...Depressing? I don't know if that word explains it strongly enough.

Viga

Disheartening, perhaps?

Axel

Maybe distressing...Yeah, something along those lines. It makes me feel bad for those kids, our future...What's gonna happen when everyone over 40-50 or so right now is dead? I can't imagine that a lot of the kids around me are our future. Some of them, but not enough.

theknoxinator

Disheartening, perhaps?

I'd go with disappointing. Just complete utter disappointment.

Kilarney

Uh, the graph is going down. The world is getting smarter, but the US is getting stupider.

It would have been hilarious if Kate Monster misread a graph on literacy. For my own entertainment, I'm going to believe that it happened.

I think we should be very encouraged by that graph. We are making tremendous progress. Sure, there is still a problem, but why be upset with steady and significant progress? Rome wasn't built in a day. We should be rejoicing. Until you compare those results with our capacity to improve literacy during that time period, there is no basis to criticize an unquestionably positive trend.

Do people need to be as literate today? With an explosion of content available from non-printed sources (e.g. video), do we need to read at the same level to consume and retain the same amount of information? I don't know. A reduction in literacy would still be a bad thing, IMHO, but I'm just wondering if the actual impact would be less today than in the past. Does a reduction in literacy negatively impact one's ability to process and retain other types of information? It obviously impacts one's ability to communicate with others.

Jason

Do people need to be as literate today?

Literacy is a reciprocal aspect of organized thought. In my experience, people who have trouble reading are less logical, less informed, less organized, and less open to new ideas.

Rym

Do people need to be as literate today? With an explosion of content available from non-printed sources (e.g. video), do we need to read at the same level to consume and retain the same amount of information?

I believe we do, due to the fact that most information-of-depth is still in textual form, as is most of the Web. Text is also still the most accessible way to publish information on a mass scale at low cost.

Kate Monster

Do people need to be as literate today?

Literacy is a reciprocal aspect of organized thought. In my experience, people who have trouble reading are less logical, less informed, less organized, and less open to new ideas.

This. Many people think via language. Literacy boosts their ability to think in a very literal way. This not only allows greater and deep comprehension of information, but also allows more subtle, nuanced and specified understanding and much stronger critical thinking skills. Moreover, literacy improves ones abilities to clearly communicate and interact with others. This allows thought to move into the realm of interaction and eventually action.

Kate Monster

This is why I want to teach English. Literacy is one of the most valuable commodities a person can attain on a vast number of levels. It is truly heartbreaking and also highly motivating.

Our only hope is that maybe the linguistics researcher I mentioned on the show a while back (forget her name) is right in that the Internet has, in just the last few years, begun a revolution of literacy in the industrialized world.

Her premise was simply that, prior to the recent explosion in social media, the majority of the industrialized world's citizenry had almost no cause towriteanything on a regular basis. People read newspapers and signs, but that was about that, and aside from a minority (certain professions and those who corresponded regularly via the mail), no one ever had to express their ideas in writing to any meaningful extent.

Twitter and Facebook, little that they are, are infinitely more valuable to our future thannothing.

It was an interesting paper: I need to find it again.

While this a a great hope, this if by far not our only hope. There are several nations that have near 100% literacy rates. Education and education reforms, societal pressure for greater literacy, and improved parenting are just a few aspects that add into technology that give hope for the future. Most importantly, a better economy and a large middle class will improve this problem greatly. While class is not the only factor in literacy (and education in general) , it has been shown time and time again to be the most dividing factor.

Rym

There are several nations that have near 100% literacy rates.

That statistic is deeply flawed, however. Some nations lie outright. Some nations simply have a very low standard for what constitutes literacy.

If you consider literacy as being able to read signs and communicate simple ideas, even the US has a very high rate. If you consider literacy as being the ability to effectively parse and convey complex concepts in written form, then then people who are able to do so are a small minority of the world population. "Literacy" is a sliding scale.

Look at my original post. 15% of Americans have "full" literacy. For any given hundred people you meet on the street, 15 have a full grasp of their own language. I highly, highly doubt that Cuba or any of these other nations with high reported literacy fare much better. Being able to read and write words is one measure of literacy. Being able to express an idea or extract even simple information from a short text is another skill entirely, with a much lower rate of proficiency. Anything beyond that is a scarce and valuable skill.

Kate Monster

Out of my full post, that is what you address? Okay. :P

Rym

Of all of what I posted, that is what you address? Okay. :P

The rest of it was fine, and required no further comment. ^_~

There is also a fair deal of thought on the notion that 100% full literacy rates are impossible to achieve simply due to the bell curve spread of human intelligence. It may well be possible that, for some possibly large percentage of the population, "full" literacy is physically impossible.

George Patches

Literacy is a reciprocal aspect of organized thought. In my experience, people who have trouble reading are less logical, less informed, less organized, and less open to new ideas.

So are people illiterate because of poor education or because they're simply stupid? Perhaps both?

Jason

So are people illiterate because of poor education or because they're simply stupid? Perhaps both?

Many factors, including those. The one annoying me most lately is the villification of intelligence. I work with many people who think reading is "gay," a symptom of weakness. Having anything other than a rudimentary vocabulary is seen as socially unacceptable. I was openly mocked by an employee last week for using the word "capricious."

KusanagiRyu

Oh, memories of high school.

In my 12th grade English class, maybe three people, including myself, actually read assigned books; everyone else googled the cliffnotes. They didn't even try to read the books, the only one of which was remotely difficult was The Taming of the Shrew, and even then it had a nice column next to all the text to help people decipher the old english. For most of them, the most recent book they'd read was Harry Potter.

It came as no surprise to me that when it came time to do final essays, most of them wrote like grade schoolers in a display of such ineptitude that it made me wonder if there was a high rate of suicide among high school english teachers.

Most people I know just don't seem to care about reading, as if putting forth more effort than sitting on a couch and staring at a screen would somehow strain something and put them in the hospital. Probably their brain. I think they're just lazy.

Viga

So are people illiterate because of poor education or because they're simply stupid? Perhaps both?

Many factors, including those. The one annoying me most lately is the villification of intelligence. I work with many people who think reading is "gay," a symptom of weakness. Having anything other than a rudimentary vocabulary is seen as socially unacceptable. I was openly mocked by an employee last week for using the word "capricious."

I didn't know that happened often with adults. In school and college you would get weird looks or mocked for showing anything other than the usual vernacular. I normally never encounter that attitude with people over 30. It seems more status quo.