Beyond the glass ceiling: Towards a multi-sensory definition of functional literacy
Abstract
The world is becoming increasingly visual (Kress, 2009:1).The visually literate
viewer should be able to gather data, place it in context, and determine its validity.
A huge visual world opened up for the users of new technology. It is therefore no
surprise that definitions of literacy have placed a huge premium on the reader to
be able to interpret visual cues. Even in its simplest definition, the ability to read
and write, the understanding of the concept of literacy is based on the visual.
Although new literacies and recent orthographies also emphasise the role of context
and the interaction of different modalities and learning history, like the social
practice approach, it also focus on literacy events in which the written word is still
the fundamental focus. In other words, (visual) texts remain the point of departure
rather than seeing the written word as one part of a larger 'material ecology' of signs
and meanings. This means that the majority of studies in the field of literacy
focus on the individual's ability to interpret the visual and neglects how other
senses permute in literacy events.
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