INTRODUCTION TO

21ST CENTURY
LITERACIES
OBJECTIVES

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to

develop a clear and practical understanding of the
following:
definitions of conventional literacy: and
expanded views of literacy in the 21st century.
OBJECTIVES

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to

develop a clear and practical understanding of the
following:
definitions of conventional literacy: and
expanded views of literacy in the 21st century.
Literacy is defined by dictionaries as
the state of being able to read and
write (Literacy, Literate, n.d.).
The "new" literacies of the 21st
century is now mandatory for both
teachers and students in all levels of
education.
“Skills and bodies of knowledge” that
is necessary for survival and
 This chapter explores several definitions
of literacy and what being literate means
in the multiplicity of contexts in the 21st
century, with the goal of raising
awareness in readers who might be
presently unaware of the evolving
perspectives on literacy and giving
teachers the opportunity to pause and
reflect on their own literacies even as they
attempt to teach the new literacies to
their students.
TRADITIONAL OR CONVENTIONAL LITERACY
 The word "literacy" stems from the
word "literate," which first appeared in
the 15th century and is in turn derived
from the Latin word litteratus, meaning
"(a person) marked with letters"—that is,
"distinguished or identified by it carried
with it the idea that such a person was
cultured and educated.
 Since the subjects of the time (e.g.,
grammar, logic, arithmetic, geometry,
etc.) all had written texts (which were
composed of letters) that had to be
studied, the ability to read and write was
therefore of prime importance, leading
to the strong association of being
"literate" with the ability to read and
write.
 MILLER (1973) DIVIDES THIS CONVENTIONAL
CONCEPT OF LITERACY INTO THREE SUBCATEGORIES:

1. Basic Literacy — is the ability to correspond visual

shapes to spoken sounds in order to decode written
materials and translate them into oral language.
Simply put, it is the ability to recognize letters and
words. This would be akin to recognizing that the
sequence of letters "b-a-s-a" forms the word basa
in Filipino, even without understanding what it
means.
 MILLER (1973) DIVIDES THIS CONVENTIONAL
CONCEPT OF LITERACY INTO THREE SUBCATEGORIES:

2. Comprehension Literacy — It is the ability to

understand the meaning of what is being read. To
capitalize on the example above, this would be like
knowing that basa can mean either "to read" or "to be
wet."
 MILLER (1973) DIVIDES THIS CONVENTIONAL
CONCEPT OF LITERACY INTO THREE SUBCATEGORIES:

3. Functional or Practical Literacy — It is the ability

to read (i.e., decode and comprehend) written
materials needed to perform everyday vocational
tasks. This is the equivalent of reading the text "Ang
bata ay nagbabasa. " and being able to understand
that basa here refers to reading and not to being wet.
 BASED ON THE CONVENTIONAL VIEW OF LITERACY, WE NOTICED
TWO THINGS FOR READING (AND THEREFORE LITERACY) TO
EXIST:

1. A text (consisting of symbols and grammar) to be

read.
2. A meaning or message being communicated by the
text for the reader to extract.
* Without a text, there would be nothing to read,
without a meaning, the text is reduced to series of
incomprehensible doodles.
 UNESCO DEFINES LITERACY AS:

The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,

communicate, and compute, using printed and written
materials associated with varying contexts.
Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling
individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their
knowledge and potential
 These so-called “new” literacies. These so-called
"new" literacies arose from the increasing
availability of communication technologies that
were once unavailable to the average individual.
 Technologies like blogging and vlogging, social
networking, and even text-messaging change
and expand both the extent and the form of our
communication—blending text, sound, and
images in ways unforeseen and unprecedented
(Richardson, 2014).
 THREE THINGS HAVE BEEN CRITICAL IN THE
RISE OF THE NEW LITERACIES:

1. Increased Reach — We are communicating with

more people, from more diverse cultures, across
vaster distances than ever before.
2. Increased Means of Communication — We are
communicating in more ways and at faster speeds
than ever before.
 THREE THINGS HAVE BEEN CRITICAL IN THE
RISE OF THE NEW LITERACIES:

3. Increased Breadth of Content — We are

communicating about more things than ever before.
 TO BETTER ADDRESS THE NEED FOR TEACHERS TO BE LITERATE
IN THESE NEW LITERACIES THIS BOOK DISCUSSES AND EXPLORES
THEM IN THE ENSUING CHAPTERS, NAMELY:

Globalization and Multicultural Literacy discusses

how our increasing ability to communicate with almost
anyone, anywhere, in real-time requires new skills and
attitudes in interacting with people with cultures,
perspectives, worldviews, and priorities different from
our own, particularly with the end-view of not only
peace and understanding but also mutual benefit and
productivity.
 TO BETTER ADDRESS THE NEED FOR TEACHERS TO BE LITERATE
IN THESE NEW LITERACIES THIS BOOK DISCUSSES AND EXPLORES
THEM IN THE ENSUING CHAPTERS, NAMELY:

Social and Financial Literacies explores the need

for the ability to navigate our own social networks—of
both the online and offline variety—to not only
communicate clearly but also to leverage resources
that we ourselves might not possess. At the same time,
the chapter addresses the notorious problem of short-
sightedness in Filipino culture regarding personal
finances and how this must be addressed at an
 TO BETTER ADDRESS THE NEED FOR TEACHERS TO BE LITERATE
IN THESE NEW LITERACIES THIS BOOK DISCUSSES AND EXPLORES
THEM IN THE ENSUING CHAPTERS, NAMELY:

Media and Cyber/Digital Literacies explore the

emerging need to locate, verify, and ultimately manage
online information, especially in an age where
information is power and were having the right (and
wrong) information and the ability to communicate it
with others and use it to address real-world problems
easily spell the difference between both personal and
career success and failure.
 TO BETTER ADDRESS THE NEED FOR TEACHERS TO BE LITERATE
IN THESE NEW LITERACIES THIS BOOK DISCUSSES AND EXPLORES
THEM IN THE ENSUING CHAPTERS, NAMELY:

Eco literacy and Artistic and Creative Literacy

explore the emerging demands for knowing how to
effectively and sustainably manage the natural
resources that our increased industrialization and
demands for productivity are so rapidly eating up. The
chapter also explores how this increase in productivity
also brings with it an increased demand for arts and
aesthetics and the need to develop ways of effectively
 TO BETTER ADDRESS THE NEED FOR TEACHERS TO BE LITERATE
IN THESE NEW LITERACIES THIS BOOK DISCUSSES AND EXPLORES
THEM IN THE ENSUING CHAPTERS, NAMELY:

Critical Literacy addresses the increasing need to

discern the underlying (and often tacit) messages
behind the new "texts" of the 21st centum particularly
in an ever-increasingly multicultural society where
ideas, cultures, and ideologies vie with one another for
power and dominance in the minds of the masses.
 ACTIVITY:

One of the ways students can be trained in the new

literacies is to engage them in digital storytelling,
wherein the students take part in the traditional process
of storytelling, but with some digital enhancements.
They choose a topic, conduct research, write a script,
develop a story, and through the use of multimedia,
create something that can be played online or on a
computer. Digital Storytelling can be broken down into
1. Writing — Write about a particular story from your
life. The story must have a central theme.
2. Developing a Script — Develop a script that
identifies the important points of your story.
3. Creating a Storyboard — Create a storyboard
that visually organizes the flow of the story. Assign a
particular image to portions of the script.
4. Locating Multimedia — Use search engines to
locate photos and videos. Photos and videos from one's
personal collection may also be used.
5. Creating the Digital Story — Record the
voiceover for your movie. Create the movie using the
software that is available to you.
6. Sharing - Share your story in class.
THANK YOU!