Becoming Literate Essay

Once upon a time, if you were able to denote your signature with an X you were considered literate (Reay, 1991). Today however the meaning of literate is far more complex. Whilst defined in its most simplistic form as being ‘able to read and write’ the term literate is also applied to being ‘educated or knowledgeable’ (Stevenson & Vaite, 2011. p831) in a specific area such as quantitatively or technologically literate. Figures reported by the economic think tank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, demonstrate that the literacy skill set of the UK population is waning with adults aged 55 – 65 outperforming 16 – 24 year olds at foundation levels (OECD , 2013). With a government response of a possible earn or learn policy, and undoubtedly a consequential influx of learners into the FE sector, the role of the teacher in language, literacy and numeracy development (LLN) becomes ever more prominent.
The recognition of LLN skills shrinkage has focused attention on our teachers’ ability to provide learners with these skills within educational and training settings. In order for teachers to impart LLN knowledge upon their learner for example, it is considered that teachers must themselves possess firstly a minimum level of knowledge about LLN as well as insight and understanding into the …show more content…
Likewise teachers must be able to listen attentively and respond sensitively to learner contributions (LSIS, 2013), the effectiveness of such listening in terms of learner perception however will depend on the recognition of differing verbal and non-verbal cultural conventions which indicate active