Query on Literacy

[Marcia Farr]

Hello everyone,

I have a query having to do with the word "literacy." In English, it 
originated as "literatus," meaning "knowledge of/ability to write Greek 
and Latin" (English was the vernacular and not used for writing yet) 
(see Clanchy chapter in Graff, _Literacy and Social Development in the 
West_).

This origin may partially explain why the word "literacy" in English is 
used so variously---sometimes it's used to mean reading/writing, but 
other times (increasingly) it seems to mean  "knowledge of/competence 
in" (e.g., scientific literacy, computer literacy, health literacy, 
visual literacy, etc.), so could be actualized entirely via oral 
language, with no use of reading or writing at all. In other words, the 
term is bifurcated into two primary ways of meaning, one of which has to 
do with a writing system, the other not.

My question is, what are similar terms in other languages? For example, 
in Spanish the word _alfabetización_ connects literacy directly with 
(learning) the alphabet, and so to writing/reading. There is no term in 
Spanish, to my knowledge, for the other meaning in English (knowledge of 
or competence in). I understand that in Chinese (Mandarin) one word 
implies both knowledge of the writing system and being "cultured."

Can those of you who know other languages let me know how they specify 
something like "literacy" (and if they do or don't)? Thanks. I'll post a 
summary to the list, if you reply to me at <farr.18 at osu.edu>. Or we can 
have an open discussion on this, if people are interested.

-- 
Marcia Farr
Professor, College of Education and Human Ecology
Adjunct Professor, Department of English
The Ohio State University
29 W. Woodruff Ave.
200 Ramseyer Hall
Columbus, OH 43210

(614) 292-0095 Office Telephone
(614) 292-4260 FAX

http://education.osu.edu/mfarr/