Re:Nearly half of adult Canadians struggle with literacy
by noobermin on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @04:29AM
(#25831553)
While I believe I'm sympathetic to you, I think the hang up people have is in your use of the word "literacy." I think most people wouldn't call people who can read a news article illiterate.
I do agree it would be better if people read more actual books but this seems like a degree of literacy issue while illiterate tends to mean "completely unable to read."
Re:Nearly half of adult Canadians struggle with literacy
by tapland on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @04:48AM
(#25831673)
It's usually called 'functional illiteracy'.
If you can read the words in an article, but don't understand what it says, should you really be considered literate?
Understanding what it says is not understanding the meanings of separate words, but the meaning of the text in question.
Re:Nearly half of adult Canadians struggle with literacy
by noobermin on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @07:06AM
(#25832627)
Sure but even that's a bit of a distance from what they're arguing. I can imagine that someone can totally not read a book every year but still understand context of say a news article they've read. That is nowhere near functional illiteracy.
In an idiocracy, it doesn't.
Literacy meant more than simple being able to read and write on a technical level. (Not that most people not reading "even a book a year" can read and write coherently or "read the Economist" otherwise).