Socio-cultural Factors Impacting Literacy

Various socioeconomic and cultural factors have been shown to impact a student’s literacy acquisition.  Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) discuss several of these factors in their book, Improving Literacy in America, and why these factors can contribute to illiteracy.

Primarily, socioeconomic status is measured by parental income, education, and occupation.  Generally, children of families with a lower level of parental education score lower on reading assessments than children whose parents have a higher level of education (Morrison, Bachman, and Connor 2005).  In addition, children from lower socioeconomic status families begin kindergarten and first grade behind their higher economic status peers in terms of verbal and reading skills.  In addition, long durations of poverty can have negative impacts on a child’s general verbal skills.  According to Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005), “Parents living in poverty tended to talk less to their children and often communicated with a more limited vocabulary than did parents with more education or financial security” (23). 

In addition, racial or other cultural factors can influence a student’s acquisition of literacy.  The racial achievement gap that exists within our society is often used to point out the discrepancies between the white achievement rate and the minority achievement rate.  While it is difficult to determine exactly how race or cultural influence literacy, several factors will be discussed.  First, centuries of systematic discrimination against minority cultures in America cannot quickly be erased by social reform.  Institutionalized racism is still present in many areas of society, including education, and this can contribute to minority children’s literacy development.  In addition, minority parents may have less experience with the education system or possess less “cultural capital” (Morrison, Bachman, and Connor 2005).  This can negatively impact the support their children receive in the educational system and can affect how parents help their children acquire literacy.

Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) state, “Literacy acquisition requires environmental support, both to provide instruction and to arrange the setting and time for practice” (pg. 36).  Students are impacted by their home, school, and community environments.  If students do not have the ability to practice their literacy skills in the home, or do not receive adequate teaching in the school, student literacy will be heavily impacted.  Within a sociocultural context, various factors such as poverty, parental involvement, cultural capitol, and the institution of education itself, can contribute to a child’s illiteracy. 

1. Morrison, F.J., Bachman, H.J., & Connor, C.M.  (2005). Sociocultural factors.  Improving literacy in America (pp. 19-42).  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Defining Literacy

Before looking into the problem of illiteracy in the educational system, it is important to create a working definition of literacy for this blog.  Various definitions of literacy include:

Merriam-Webster Definition:  “Literacy – The quality or state of being literate

                                                    Literate: a. Educated, Cultured b. able to read and write”

Encyclopedia Britannica Definition: “Literacy – Capacity to communicate using inscribed, printed, or electronic signs or symbols for representing language”

In addition, the definition for literacy as presented by Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) is “having knowledge or competence” including “developing knowledge and skills that facilitate learning” (pg. 9).

While definitions for literacy range from broad or general to specific, it can be difficult to determine the best language to describe literacy.  Overall, this blog will define literacy as the quality of being able to read and write, and will look specifically at formative literacy (when students are just beginning their education).  Illiteracy would then be the inability to read or write.  However, at times, the definition from Morrison, Bachman, and Connor will be revisited to incorporate the wider definition of obtaining knowledge or competence in a subject.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog dedicated to ending childhood illiteracy.  In this blog, I will research the topic of childhood illiteracy in detail specifically looking at the questions below: 

                   

1) What is the current illiteracy rate among children in America and how does it compare to children in other countries?

2) What are barriers that exist for children with regard to literacy?

3) What are the current policies and pedagogies used to teach children to read?

4) How can teachers best support children and encourage literacy?  What practices or pedagogies exist to encourage literacy?

In addition, I will look at childhood illiteracy from various perspectives including historically and sociologically.  Childhood illiteracy is a problem in our educational system and one that must be fixed.  This topic is significant to me because I hope to work in early childhood education, specifically pre-K to 3^rd grade.  This is the time when students should acquire the skills to become independent readers.  However, many of them are not and I want to understand why students are struggling with literacy in our country today.  If students do not acquire these skills, they often become disadvantaged within the public school system and end up contributing to the achievement gap.

Reading is an integral skill for members of our society and it is my hope that all students in the public education system learn to read.  Through this blog, I will examine the causes and trends in childhood illiteracy and hopefully discover new insights into solutions or literacy pedagogy.