Am I illiterate, or literate? Because who really knows…

I do not even know where to begin with this article because so much of Scribner’s piece relates directly to my life and to the people I work with daily.  As Madi also stated, I grew up in a middle-class family where the pressure was on for my siblings and myself to succeed.  My parents divorced in my sophomore year of high school and this had a huge impact on the way my family lived.  My father is not the most involved, and my mother, who has been a stay at home mom for over 20 years, had to now go back out into the work force to try and find a new profession.  For ten years my mom worked as a paralegal in the Bay Area, but when one considers how quickly terminology, requirements and education change within even just one year, you could imagine how difficult it was for my mom to get rehired as a paralegal.

On Tuesday our group had one of the most interesting discussions I have ever had about the idea of literacy.  As we dissected our piece of the Scribner article on Power we spoke a lot about how literacy has an impact on not only the quality of life one has, but the opportunities one has because of the literacy one may or may not have.  As Scribner stated, “definitions of literacy shape our perceptions of individuals who fall on either side of the standard (what a ‘literate’ or ‘nonliterate’ is like) and thus in a deep way affect both the substance and style of educational programs.”  This statement blows my mind.  As my group discussed, where is the line drawn between literate and nonliterate?  How do we test or determine this?  As my group discussed, socioeconomic and household income are not the only things that affect how one’s life plays out.  For example, after my mom went back into the work force, she still had a loving family and great friends, but the opportunities she had at 55 years old, no college degree, and being out of work for over 20 years affected the way our family was able to live.

Although literacy comes in many forms, it is ever changing and the fact that we expect ESL students or employees to become immediately “literate” without giving them any tools to do so seems to cruel.  I know that when I go to Mexicali, Mexico every year I do my best to communicate with the natives after my 12 semesters of Spanish, but there are always going to be obstacles in my communication because I am not completely literate in the Spanish language.  However, the natives that I speak to and communicate with NEVER laugh at me or accuse me of being stupid.  Instead, they appreciate me trying to communicate in their language.  Why do we not appreciate this in the United States?  Aren’t we supposed to be a melting pot?

All in all, there is no exact line between literate and non-literate.  I think it is disgusting that as a nation we consider those who are not able to communicate as effectively in the English language as non-literate people.  I hope that when we do come to a conclusion about how to define literate and non-literate that we will give those who we consider non-literate the tools to better themselves and their quality of life by becoming literate.