I talked to my mom over Skype for my entry in literacy narratives. The experience itself has been kind of a weird trip; my mom only recently got a tablet (and slightly earlier, a cell phone), so communicating using the same tools I’d been using for years (instant messaging, texting, etc.) was very much seeing literacy passed up to the previous generation.

My mom’s never been incredibly tech adverse, but really hadn’t had a whole lot of experience with regular computer use and the like, so I particularly liked hearing her answer on the future of literacy:

I think some will continue with paper/book reading with e-books getting popular. Kids are being required to do more on touchscreens and keyboards. They have a hard time now with writing. I think the skills needed for literacy online are harder for kids right now, as they have so much information in front of them–it’s so easy to plagiarize, they seem to just copy it, not take time to assemble the information on their own.

There are already schools that gave students tablets to do research, homework, schoolwork. Will they be able to write or figure out problems on paper? Will they need to? I think some students/teacher’s, will get behind as others move ahead. Not everyone has the same level of education. Not all have access to computers or the web. I think if we were all able to have the same access, it would help everyone to succeed.

I really liked reading about Scribner’s study of the Vai people of West Africa. Their written language is particularly interesting; a relatively recent invention (roughly around 1820) it is one of the few self-created forms within sub-Saharan Africa. And the Vai have two additional scripts, Arabic, primarily tied to their Muslim faith, and English, primarily associated with Liberia, where most of the Vai are found.

Vai as a written language is interesting because despite these cultural pressures it persists, occupying a distinctive niche both for pragmatic uses, but also personal ones as well. Additionally, the creation of a script has not managed to diminish a history of oral tradition either. Vai fits into a complex collection of different forms of literacy, each providing their own social benefits for having literacy in.

The Vai written language is a rare opportunity to see an emergent culture form around a form of literacy. Vai offers them opportunities separate from those without the knowledge, a combination of practical information retention, private correspondence, and burgeoning creative composition. Knowledge of the local script also provides social status; respect and reverence are bestowed upon those who can read and write in it.

The Vai also serve as an example of the importance of culture in defining the relative value of a given form of literacy. The merits of knowledge in a particular script are tied to their actual usage, with English providing a link to the Liberian government and its literacy programs, Arabic tied to spiritual matters, and their home-grown script connected to predominantly local or personal concerns. This compares with our own struggle to define what literacy is. Mercurial modern forms compete against often rigidly codified older ones, but each proves to be an enabler within their sphere of influence. While these newer forms, text speak, twittering, blogging, etc., lack the history of say the English canon, they represent their own emergent culture, growing from pragmatic application to a new way to creatively express one’s self.

1)      Introduce yourself. What’s your story?

Chico is the end result of a second try at college for me. My first go, at Yuba College right out of High School, didn’t pan out. I’d been hoping to become a computer programmer, only to find out assembly language was the first class capable of putting me to sleep. I stopped attending after a point, and worked awhile in retail. Years later, I gave it another go, instead just going for a general AA rather than a specific one, more or less content to just take whatever I wanted. After a few years of this the college appeared to be somewhat tired of me, and I was forced into declaring a major. I’d nearly all the requirements necessary for an English AA, so that became my major.

I looked into working towards a BA, initially even considering for profit options. But I’d done rather well in offsetting the disastrous first go through community college, enough to consider state colleges. By virtue of proximity to my home town (and CSU Sacramento’s year long delay before accepting transferring students) Chico won by default.

Initially I transferred here as an English Literature major. I wasn’t really sure what I planned to do with it, but I liked reading. A few suggestions over the course of my first semester here led me to consider English Ed, and I switched midway through. I think what eventually sealed the deal was the possibility of teaching abroad. I’d long wanted to learn Japanese, and the ability to take it here in Chico, along with the Study Abroad people here on campus helped connect my interest in English with my interest in Japanese. Long story short, I’m looking to go abroad to Japan in 2015, hopefully completing my degree and eventually seeking out teaching opportunities there. If nothing else, the opportunity to go is one I’m most excited to have.

2)      Talk about your own literacy practices in relation to Szwed: what do you read and write? What is the purpose of that reading and writing? What does it DO for you? What is your take away from reading Szwed? What struck you as interesting or new or confusing?

I used to read novels more often than I currently do. Both my parents were big Sci-fi fans, so there were always thick tomes around the house to enjoy. It’s taken me most of my adult life to really identify what I like, but I think invariably it comes down to really liking to hear a good story. A well-crafted narrative, in whatever form it takes, be it television, books, movies, comics, or even blog entries or forum posts have been what I most enjoy reading lately. I like seeing a good story come to a satisfying conclusion. I think in part this is what attracted me to Japanese media. The standard procedure with American media is to keep producing more of something that takes off until everyone is sick of it. Particularly prevalent in American TV, it’s disheartening to have a narrative stretched until it no longer becomes profitable to do so, and either unceremoniously dropped, or hastily wrapped up. I grew up with things like the X-men and the like too, but if it’s one thing American comics seem to love to do it’s to retell the same stories over and over again. So I’ve turned to manga and the like. They’re still capable of following the American pattern of grinding things into the ground, but occasionally you find a story that just knows when to pack it in, and complete the story while it’s good.

As for what I write, I find outside class work I tend to tell people they’re wrong on the internet.

My takeaway from Szwed is that literacy in the modern era is not merely a matter of reading the English canon, or writing letters. The internet enables so many different forms of literacy, each valid in their own right. While few would argue they’re all equally important, they should at the least not be dismissed outright. Platforms like Twitter may occasionally be the equivalent of standing on a box and shouting at passersby about what you had for breakfast, but it also represents a way of rapidly communicating important and fresh ideas to massive numbers of people.

The digital era utterly reshapes the nature of content creation and consumption. Just as the printing press enabled rapid publication and dissemination of written works, the internet breaks the barriers to getting your work out there. The form content takes too has dramatically shifted. From 30 minute television shows to five minute youtube skits. From magazine and newspaper articles to user commented blog articles.

While books will remain a valid form (if increasingly, a digital one), our understanding of what makes an individual literate today must adapt to modern forms as well. A literacy standard cannot be relevant if completely detached from what people do with the language.