2 Before we begin: What do literacy and numeracy mean to me?

Unit standard 21204 version 5 asks us to critically compare four different definitions for literacy and numeracy.

Why four? Is that a significant number.

I suspect that this implies that a single definitive definition does not exist. If so, then this would suggest that it is difficult, if not impossible, to create one. But perhaps from a range of definitions we may glean a better gist of what literacy and numeracy refer to. Let's proceed from there, then. 

I propose at the outset to create my my own definition. I shall do so without first examining any others in order to establish my own starting point. Later, I shall check back to see whether my research has changed my view, and to what extent.

Very well, my understanding and usage of the terms have to do with my area of work - which is to improve the literacy (in English) of non-English background adult learners.

Literacy

Literacy obviously has to do with living language as opposed to literature.  It has to do with usage, not rules. Messages, not exercises. 

Literacy has more to do with writing, it seems to me, than any other language skill. It doesn't have so much to do with the skill of reading. It has even less to do with speaking. And, finally, it seems to me that literacy has almost nothing to do with listening. My initial standpoint, or prejudice, is that literacy mostly concerns the written form of a language.  

Furthermore, in an environment where more than one language is being used, literacy has more to do with the predominant language  (i.e. the language being used by the greater proportion of the people or, alternately, a lesser proportion holding a disproportionate amount of societal leverage). The reason being that literacy has to do more with the  language that has 'status'. It is the language, effectively, of power.

To be considered literate, a person needs to be able to handle the written form of the predominant language well, which is to say that he or she must be able decode the written symbols rapidly, easily and automatically more or less as competently as they would communicate orally.

To be considered literate (which I equate with literacy), it is paramount that one can handle the common, formal conventions around 'serious' transmission of messages (as opposed to isolated symbols and words).

Simply knowing how to spell, punctuate, demonstrate penmanship and replicate the current grammar patterns is not enough (although these are prerequisite). For a person to be considered literate, it is important that he or she can understand and use current jargon, idioms, and expressions-of-the-day. Literacy is pragmatic, not merely literal. It has depth. A knowledge of the underlying cultural norms is required.

If you can wielding a language in this way, this allows you to become a fully-fledged member of society. You achieve and may maintain a certain degree of status. Being able to deftly handle and understand the language that occupies your environment enables you to play the 'language game' with a reasonable chance of doing well. That 'gift of the gab' empowers you to take your place in society.

Literacy for me, then, involves being able to practice the predominant language well. It equips a person to engage on an equal footing with other members of society holistically, organically and 'humanly'. (These are important concepts, as I discover later on when exploring the Maori point of view.)

Numeracy

Numeracy is a word not contained in many dictionaries. At least, most spell checkers don't handle it well.

Numeracy is actually about concepts, not numbers. Most people don't realize that. Numeracy is largely a subset of literacy. To me, from the 8 years of  work that I put in at what was then called the Student Learning Centre, 18 months at an English-medium school in the Punjab 35 years ago, and 2 years as a Chemistry, General Science, and Maths teacher at a predominantly Maori high school in Wairoa, I observed that numeracy only becomes an issue where numeracy is divorced from literacy.  

Literacy includes numeracy. And numeracy is not Mathematics or Arithmetic. Any student that is able to handle language is, in my experience, is able potentially to handle numerical concepts if these are presented in the right way and not reduced to dry equations or figures, matchstick or otherwise.

It may also be useful to consider what illiteracy might consist of, and whether it is possible to be literate in more than one language.

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