Cultural literacy

Cultural literacy is a term coined by E. D. Hirsch , referring to the ability to understand and participate fluently in a given culture. Cultural literacy is an analogy to literacy proper (the ability to read and write letters). A literate reader knows the object-language's alphabet, grammar, and a sufficient set of vocabulary; a culturally literate person knows a given culture's signs and symbols, including its language, particular dialectic, 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, while the culturally illiterate person fails to understand culturally-conditioned allusions, references to past events, idiomatic expressions, jokes, names, places, etc.

Examples of cultural literacy

For example, British author G. K. Chesterton writes, "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.".^[2] This statement, especially the latter half, might be opaque to an American who does not know that "omnibus" is a less common, British word for "bus" or that "Hanwell" is the name of an insane asylum.

Causes of cultural literacy

Children of a given culture typically become culturally literate there via the process of enculturation. 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 considering acculturation of 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 culture in general and Anglo-American culture in particular is a bibliocentric culture. It often trades in allusions to the Christian Bible,^[3] the influential works of Early Modern English such as works of William Shakespeare, the Thomas Cranmer Book 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.

Consequences of cultural literacy

The benefits and detriments of cultural literacy are debated. For example, social mobility increases 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.

Research and controversy

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 the dominant culture?
The Multicultural Question: 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?

The varying (and often competing) answers to these questions are being studied by sociologists, educators, philosophers, and professors of literature

External links

References

↑ Watson, Rita (Oct 1987). "Learning Words from Linguistic Expressions: Definition and Narrative". Research in the Teaching of English 21 (3): 298–317.
↑ Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy. Chapter II, "The Maniac".
↑ Mangalwadi, Vishal Mangalwadi (2012). The Book that Made Your World. Thomas Nelson. p. 464. ISBN 1595555455.
↑ Applebee, Arthur N.[A.N.A] (Oct 1987). "Musings...: Cultural Literacy". Research in the Teaching of English 21 (3): 229–231. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
↑ 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. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

Culture

Outline

Sciences	Anthropology Cultural ecology Cultural neuroscience Cultural studies Culturology Culture theory

Subfields	Cultural anthropology Cultural economics Cultural geography Cultural history Cultural psychology Intercultural relations Philosophy of culture Semiotics of culture Sociology of culture Theology of culture Sound culture Visual culture

Types	Bullying culture Dominant culture Folk culture High culture Low culture Official culture Political culture Popular culture Primitive culture Subculture list Super-culture Culture by location

Aspects	Acculturation Cultural appropriation Cultural artifact Cultural baggage Cultural behavior Cultural capital Cultural communication Cultural conflict Cultural cringe Cultural deprivation Cultural dissonance Cultural framework Cultural heritage Cultural icon Cultural identity Cultural invention Cultural landscape Cultural memory Cultural pluralism Cultural practice Cultural property Cultural region Cultural reproduction Cultural system Cultural universal Enculturation High- and low-context cultures Interculturality Material culture Non-material culture Trans-cultural diffusion Transculturation

Politics	Colonial mentality Consumer capitalism Cultural assimilation Cultural attaché Cultural backwardness Cultural Bolshevism Cultural conservatism Cultural diplomacy Cultural exception Cultural feminism Cultural genocide Cultural hegemony Cultural imperialism Cultural intelligence Cultural learning Cultural liberalism Cultural nationalism Cultural pessimism Cultural policy Cultural rights Cultural Zionism Culture change Culture minister Culture war Interculturalism Monoculturalism Multiculturalism

Related	Bennett scale Conformity Cross-cultural Cultural bias Cultural competence Cultural critic Cultural diversity Cultural lag Cultural mosaic Cultural movement Cultural relativism Cultural revolution Cultural tourism Cultural turn Cultural sensibility Culture gap Culture hero Culture industry Culture shock Death and culture Emotions and culture Intercultural competence Media culture Organizational culture Transformation of culture

Portal Category changes

Literacy

Teaching literacy	Reading education in the USA Phonics Whole language Dick and Jane National Council of Teachers of English NCLB Family literacy Adolescent literacy

Defining literacy	Functional illiteracy Critical literacy

Literacy internationally	International Reading Association List of countries by literacy rate Literacy in India International Literacy Day List of Chinese administrative divisions by illiteracy rate

Major contributors to literacy	Frank Laubach Ruth Johnson Colvin Paulo Freire Griffith Jones Marie Clay James Paul Gee

Related concepts	Agricultural literacy Aliteracy Asemic writing Computer literacy Cultural literacy Dyslexia Diaspora literacy Early literacy Ecological literacy Electracy Emergent literacy Emotional literacy Financial literacy Health literacy Information literacy Information and media literacy Literacy test Media consumption Media literacy Mental health literacy Mental literacy New literacies Numeracy Oracy Orality Oral literature Postliterate society Racial literacy Scientific literacy Statistical literacy Technological literacy Transliteracy Visual literacy Writing system

The dictionary of cultural literacy