Writing and Literacy
Chapter 7
What is this sign?
What is this sign?

It is called the universal sign for “women” but is it really
universal?

Do all women wear dresses?
What is this sign?

What about some traditional men’s clothing?
Contacting Other Planets

This plate was designed for Pioneer 10 in case other life forms
found it

Do you think other life forms (or even other cultures of
humans) would interpret it the same way?
Symbols

So, symbols are arbitrary

Even sounds can be symbols

What sound do these words have in common?
Sure
 Shore
 Machine
 Motion
 Is the sound spelled the same in each word?

Writing

Is this the place writing was invented?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItsRI4IyyDY
Writing

Writing is also symbolic

It is a way to record language by visible marks

Speech is basic, but reading and writing are more complex and
require more learning

Complete writing systems


Can record all thoughts and words
Partial writing systems


Limited by what it can convey by cultural understandings
NASA plaque
Writing

A phonetic sign is a graphic representation of one or more
sounds of a language


The example of the four words earlier
A semantic sign is a graphic representation of a specific idea or
meaning


<2> means ‘two’
<4> can mean ‘four’ or ‘for’ (in texting)
Writing

Are languages with few phonetic or semantic signs less evolved
or less valuable than those with many?
Writing

Pictrographic writing uses pictures or images to represent
things

Ex: the women sign

Rebus writing uses one picture to represent two or more words
that sound the same
This lets you move beyond limitations of pictographs
 Example: picture of an eye can stand for eye or I

Writing

Logographic writing uses graphic signs to represent words or
ideas

Ex: Mayan
Writing
Writing

Syllabic writing uses graphic signs to represent individual
syllables

‘cat’ has one, so one sign

‘caterpillar’ has four, so four signs

This is a significant step in the development of writing styels

Example: Japanese, Chinese, Mayan
Japanese Hiragana:
Writing

Logosyllabic writing combines the logographic and syllabic
forms

Example: modern Chinese

The words for ‘sheep’ and ‘ocean’ sound the same, so you can
use the same sign for each; however, if you add a sign for
‘water,’ then you specify ocean and not sheep.
Writing

Alphabetic writing uses graphic signs to represent individual
consonants and vowels

We probably got our alphabet from ancient Phonecians

Our first two letters are a and b

In ancient Greek they are alpha and beta

In Hebrew they are aleph and bet
Writing

A final, interesting, example is Khipus (Inca)

Language read by tying knots in cords
Literacy

What does it mean if someone is literate?

Illiterate?

What are social judgments that come with being illiterate?

Does being literate involve reading, writing, and speaking?
Literacy

The autonomous approach to literacy says that reading and writing
go together and are different from speaking

But many think that being literate should include being able to
explain what you read or write

But do people have the same interpretations of what they read or
write?
Literacy

Different interpretations are the heart of the practice approach to
literacy

Literacy is a set of behaviors that exists in a cultural context

Remember the article on reading Shakespeare to the African tribe?
Literacy and Orality

Refresher on the word orality: the ability to hear and speak

There are many cultures without written language

Literacy and orality are different

Look at pg. 219
Literacy and Orality

Are oral languages not literate? Do they not have understanding of
their world? Be careful of judgments
Literacy and Power

Literacy can create different conditions in which certain kinds of
literacy are rewarded (seen as ‘proper’) and other kinds are less
acceptable

They key is that one kind of literacy is not inherently better than
another, but that one may be more appropriate or expected in a
specific situation
Literacy and Power: Colonialism

In a society, who should have the right to learn to read and write?

Mayan had their own writing system, but Spanish conquistadores
expected the people they conquered to be illiterate and uncivilized

They labeled the writing as pagan and “dictated by the Devil” and
their job was to convert them, which meant destroying their
language

What other ways has Colonialism affected indigenous languages?
Literacy and Power: Colonialism