Yes, I agree for the most part. i do think that at the elementary school
level, the US is doing well, statistically speaking, its about 6th-7th grade
that our schools start failing. And there are still some excellent public
schools, though that number is certainly in question. I agree that proper and
business English is suffering right now, and that it is causing harm.
What I meant in my 5 word foray is: Due to the speed of communication, people
that communicate in the way we do, Email, news groups, instant messages,
etc... especially the young, are evolving this new computer speak we have.
Many find fault with this, I don't. I think we have the opportunity to make a
new, fast and highly functional language, a literacy standard like your
definition below made up of CYAs and LOLs.
Bill Roh
KMO wrote:
> I have considerable sympathy for this idea. Even so, literacy as defined
> as the ability to look at strings of static words on a page or screen
> effortlessly and spontaneously have images and complex ideas form in
> one's consciousness as a result of that activity is a skill that is
> imparted less and less by public education but is still consistently
> imparted to students in private academies and by home schooling. It's not
> the only means of conveying or receiving information, and those, like
> Harold Bloom, author of "Closing of the American Mind," who define
> cultural literacy as familiarity with the cannon of Western Civilization
> are oblivious to important new ways of thinking and communicating.
>
> Still, the ability to express oneself in writing and to be able to read
> and comprehend what others have written is a valuable skill that improves
> ones ability to navigate consciously in a memetic landscape. It is also a
> skill that the institutions of public education in the US are
> increasingly unable to impart to students.
>
> -KMO
>
> Sodom wrote:
>
> > Literacy isn't falling - its adapting
> >
> > Bill Roh
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: owner-virus@lucifer.com
> > > [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf
> > > Of KMO
> > > Sent: Friday, April 09, 1999 2:05 PM
> > > To: virus@lucifer.com
> > > Subject: virus: Too Much TV
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Dr Sebby wrote:
> > >
> > > > Downfall?..sometimes i wonder where it is 'we're' falling from.
> > >
> > > As a society, literacy.
> > >
> > > -KMO
> > >