Literacy. A word that we see everyday but do we really know what it means? Barton and Hamilton took a different approach what literacy practices are. A different approach as in a way to explain what the true meaning of literacy practices. I agree with Barton and Hamilton about their discussion of literacy practices. They define literacy practices as “what people do with literacy” (7). Literacy practices goes hand in hand with social practices. That’s confusing right? Because we always viewed literacy is something as boring as just writing and reading. This means with literacy, it comes with social events and practices because when people write, it connects them to their social interactions and lives. For example, there can be a handbook on yoga poses with instructions, which is the literacy practice, but literacy is a set of social practices. Yoga is something that is learned and practiced in their daily lives (social practice). It’s something you can do socially. They can read a handbook which is a printed or written and it can be something that someone verbally shows you from a yoga instructor. When we do our everyday social activities, we are practicing the act of reading and writing without even knowing it. Knowing this information about the relationship with literacy and being social, I realize that everyday I am gaining insight and knowledge on literacy. Literacy comes in all different types. That’s where Barton and Hamilton explain what discourse communities are. First of there are different domains such as the work place, school, home, etc. These domains guide and are associated with discourse communities. Discourse communities are “groups of people help together by their characteristic ways of talking, valuing, interpreting, and using written language (11). People will write, read, and talk differently if there are in school rather than if they are home. I would never use improper language and “slang” as we like to call, or words like “gtg” (unless a teacher calls for slang in my writing) in my writing in school because it wouldn’t be following the curriculum and isn’t proper. However, I would say or write this at home or when I’m with my friends. This is how they shape our literacy practices. The different expectations and the social practices in each discourse communities are what shape our literacy practices. In high school, I was a part of a soccer team. As a child, I used to watch soccer games on the TV (visual) and would practice with my dad every Sunday. This is a literacy practice because I would visually watch the game but would also have to know and read the rules of soccer (written or could be verbal). I would never have viewed soccer as a social aspect of literacy. If it weren’t for the social interactions involved with learning the rules and techniques, whether it was verbally or as a written text, and visually looking at soccer games, I would have never became the soccer player I was. Literacy shaped me into the soccer player I am today because of how literacy is a social practice.
If people knew what the word literacy means, would they tackle literacy different? If students knew that literacy is a social practice, would they be more motivated to work and want to learn more because of the social aspect involved that people are unaware about? I wonder since now I view literacy as a social practice, will I change in terms of the way I work and do everyday tasks? Will I be more mindful? Overall, the big picture here is that literacy isn’t something just as simple as reading and writing. People should know that it’s a set of social practices, which are shaped by different types of communities.
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