Reflecting on these four articles; ‘There is reading … and then there’s reading,’
‘Taking literacy skills home,’ ‘The importance of the act of reading,’ and ‘the new literacy studies’ I cannot help but appreciate and celebrate the beauty of the milestones of achievements literacy know-how has bequeathed us with, enabling us have a personal intimate interaction with the world- even our world.
The articles highlight this utility value of literacy in our society and promote the application of theoretical-linguistic research findings in a bid to fully exploit our literacy potential. Varied literacy approaches, strategies and models are brought to the fore, stirring us to develop an inquisitive appetite for a sustainable lifelong literacy exploration.
Of necessity is the keen realization of the involuntary nature of acquiring knowledge through spontaneous interaction of the self and the world’s social, physical, political, spiritual structures in the course of one’s life.
This portrays the community as an indispensable platform for literacy development and evolution, in reciprocate; literacy equips every community with the necessary social interactive tools for a harmonious coexistence. It is, therefore evident that spontaneous involuntary understanding of the world always precedes the literal reading of the word.
This immutable spontaneous yet consistently progressive nature of literacy endowments is the basis of literacy research; investigating about viable literacy acquisition genres, formulating strategies of retaining the a comprehended literacy parameter, recommending varied areas of application of accomplished literacy know-how and promoting lifelong literacy exploration for all persons (evident in adult aided education programs).
Obvious as it may seem, the literacy models theoretically presented in these four articles are of a unique, central and pivotal role in shaping a strong literacy foundation for all people.
Key among the models is the fact that no one can read unless he/she looks at the print, recognizes the letters and then the words, text font sizes and their presentations are pivotal in this respect; the effectiveness of this hypothesis is appreciated in the ease with which it aids literacy encoding processes, boosting the realization of the ultimate goal of all literacy endeavors-comprehension of the literacy item.
It is important to clarify at this point that decoding is not reading; only comprehension is. This is true because, learning to read and write cannot be reduced to encoding mere words, syllables, or letters, a process of instruction in which the learner fills his/her supposedly empty mind with formal literacy tools; but accomplished literacy internalization is only realized through a thorough comprehension of the literally genre.
Thus, it is of paramount importance that literacy instructors facilitate a learner-centered – autonomous approach in their instruction processes; after all, the students are the subject of the learning process and should, therefore, be active player in steering their literacy acquisition with minimal aided attention from teachers. Thus, the instruction process should be dynamic, aiding the learner (whether young or adult) to adapt and expand their literacy practices.
Literacy research proponents hold the view that a fully accomplished reader develops a holistic approach to reading, processing words as wholes and even skipping words, parts of words, or entire sections without necessarily altering the intended meaning. Though unconventional, this premise is the pillar of the literacy prestige of individualized literacy discoveries and inventions, for it enshrines the recognition of the diversified of literacy practices and embraces the flexibility of the steadily evolving literacy discipline.