Cultural literacy

Cultural literacyis a term coined by American educator and literary criticE. D. Hirsch,referring to the ability to understand and participate fluently in a given culture. Cultural literacy is ananalogytoliteracyproper (the ability to read and write letters). A literate reader knows the object-language's Alpha bet, grammar, and a sufficient set of vocabulary; a culturally literate person knows a given culture'ssignsandsymbols,including its language, particulardialectic,stories,^[1]entertainment,idioms,idiosyncrasies, and so on. The culturally literate person is able to talk to and understand others of that culture with fluency.

Causes[edit]

Children of a given culture typically become culturally literate there via the process ofenculturation.Enculturation seems to occur naturally, being intertwined with education, play, family relationships, friendships, etc. The cause of cultural literacy is a more difficult question when consideringacculturationof immigrants, outsiders, cultural minorities, strangers, guests, etc.

Literacy of a given culture seems to arise over time with consistent exposure to and participation in that culture, especially certain key cultural strongholds, like business, story, arts, education, history, religion, and family. One could become literate for an oral culture (with no written language or recorded media) only by extended conversation. Alternatively, one could become literate for a written culture through conversation as well as reading culturally relevant books or exposure to culturally relevant films, plays, monuments, television shows, etc.

Western culturein general and Anglo-American culture in particular is a bibliocentric culture. It often trades in allusions to the Christian Bible,^[2]the influential works ofEarly Modern Englishsuch as works ofWilliam Shakespeare,the Thomas CranmerBook of Common Prayer,Geoffrey Chaucer's poetry, and many others. Knowledge of these books (among others) contributes largely to cultural literacy in the west. However, also essential are exposure to the art, history, and the lived experience of members of that culture.^{[citation needed]}

Examples[edit]

For example, in 1908 British authorG. K. Chestertonwrote, "Complete self-confidence is a weakness... the man who has [self-confidence] has 'Hanwell' written on his face as plain as it is written on that omnibus ".^[3]This statement, especially the latter half, might be opaque to a reader from outside the United Kingdom, who does not know that "omnibus" is a less common British word for "bus" and "Hanwell" was the name of a (now defunct)insane asylum.

Consequences[edit]

The benefits and detriments of cultural literacy are debated.^{[by whom?]}For example,social mobilityincreases when one is able to comfortably participate in conversation with gatekeepers like employers and teachers. Non-native members of a culture, such as missionaries to a foreign land or refugees from a native land, may experience negative consequences due to cultural illiteracy. However, the achievement of cultural literacy may seem to come at a cost to one's own native culture.^{[citation needed]}

Research and questions[edit]

Discussions of cultural literacy have given rise to several controversial questions:^[4]

The Literature Question: How important are books to cultural literacy in the west? And which books?
The Content Question: What kinds of knowledge are important for cultural literacy? Knowing such and such facts, names, dates or more ethereal experiences like having heard such and such a song?
The Minority Question: Is cultural literacy part of the hegemony of thedominant culture?
TheMulticulturalQuestion: Which culture are we talking about when we say "cultural" literacy? Should we be talking about one or several—and which one(s)?^[5]
The Education Question: Should advancing cultural literacy be one of the goals of education? If so, what is the best means of doing so?
The Assessment Question: How do we evaluate cultural literacy? Is there a best way to test someone's cultural literacy?

References[edit]

^Watson, Rita (Oct 1987). "Learning Words from Linguistic Expressions: Definition and Narrative".Research in the Teaching of English.21(3): 298–317.JSTOR 40171117.
^Mangalwadi, Vishal Mangalwadi (2012).The Book that Made Your World.Thomas Nelson. p. 464.ISBN 978-1595555458.
^Chesterton, G. K. (1908).Orthodoxy.Chapter II, "The Maniac".{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Applebee, Arthur N.[A.N.A] (Oct 1987). "Musings...: Cultural Literacy".Research in the Teaching of English.21(3): 229–231.JSTOR 40171113.
^Wiener, Harvey S. (Sep 1985). "Multicultural Literacy for Faculty: Accommodating Non-Native Speakers of English in Content Courses".Rhetoric Review.4(1): 100–107.doi:10.1080/07350198509359111.JSTOR 465770.

Further reading[edit]

E. D. Hirsch Jr.(1987).Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.ISBN 0-395-43095-X.
Hirsch, Eric Donald; Kett, Joseph F.; Trefil, James S. (2002).The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy(3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.ISBN 0-618-22647-8.
Christenbury, Leila "Cultural Literacy: A Terrible Idea Whose Time Has Come"The English Journal78.1 (January 1989), pp. 14–17.
Broudy, Harry S.(Spring 1990). "Cultural Literacy and General Education".Journal of Aesthetic Education.24(1, Special Issue: Cultural Literacy and Arts Education): 7–16.doi:10.2307/3332851.JSTOR 3332851.
Anson, Chris M. "Book Lists, Cultural Literacy, and the Stagnation of Discourse"The English Journal77.2 (February 1988), pp. 14–18.
Zurmuehlen, Marilyn "Serious Pursuit of Cultural Trivialization"Art Education42.6 (November 1989), pp. 46–49.
Simpson, Alan "The Uses of" Cultural Literacy ": A British View"Journal of Aesthetic Education25.4, 25th Anniversary Issue Winter, 1991), pp. 65–73.
Reedy, Jeremiah "Cultural Literacy and the Classics"The Classical Journal84.1 (October 1988), pp. 41–46.
Murray, Denise E.Diversity as Resource. Redefining Cultural Literacy(Alexandria, Virginia) 1994.
Bernard Schweizer."Cultural Literacy: Is It Time to Revisit the Debate?"Thought & Action25(Fall 2009).
"Cultural Literacy Tests - Challenge Yourself With Our Free Online Cultural Literacy Tests".The Literacy Company.Archived fromthe originalon 2021-07-29.Retrieved2014-02-26.

[1] Watson, Rita (Oct 1987). "Learning Words from Linguistic Expressions: Definition and Narrative".Research in the Teaching of English.21(3): 298–317.JSTOR 40171117.

[Mangalwadi,_The_Book_that_Made_Your_World-2] Mangalwadi, Vishal Mangalwadi (2012).The Book that Made Your World.Thomas Nelson. p. 464.ISBN 978-1595555458.

[Orthodoxy-3] Chesterton, G. K. (1908).Orthodoxy.Chapter II, "The Maniac".{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[Musings...:_Cultural_Literacy-4] Applebee, Arthur N.[A.N.A] (Oct 1987). "Musings...: Cultural Literacy".Research in the Teaching of English.21(3): 229–231.JSTOR 40171113.

[Multicultural_Literacy-5] Wiener, Harvey S. (Sep 1985). "Multicultural Literacy for Faculty: Accommodating Non-Native Speakers of English in Content Courses".Rhetoric Review.4(1): 100–107.doi:10.1080/07350198509359111.JSTOR 465770.

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