What is literacy?

Literacy is decoding words and written symbols, in addition to understanding the embedded cultural and political references, and implied inferences [“knowledge of the world” (Freire and Macedo 1987, p. 29)]. It involves the use of multimodalities that use the various semiotic resources to decode, interpret, and convey meaning. Literacy is reading the world at various levels of cogency.

What is illiteracy?

Illiteracy is the inability to participate in primarily written language communication that is discipline specific.

What are the characteristics of a literate person?

People who are capable of using all of their knowledge of the world to manipulate language in various modalities. One who of “regularly assimilating discourse” (Freire and Macedo 1987, p. 19) by using all semiotic resources and various modalities.