Living LIteracy: Rethinking Development in Adulthood

The article by Lytle argues that literacy approach in adulthood should be re-thought. The needs and capabilities in low literate or so called "marginal literate" have different connection to literacy.The steps to education should be participatory to learn and to teach to empower their existent literacy in their daily life. Researchers need to conduct farther investigations to bring new concept of education to server better the needs of these categories of people. Researchers and learners should work together to build new foundation for this part of the population which represent 40 million of people.

Writing Is a Technology that Restructes Thought

My understanding of Ong’s essay is that computers and other technologies that involve writing are needed and will be internalized as well as writing was long ago. We have over time interiorized writing so well that it has become natural. Writing or recording stories at some time was seen as unnatural and Plato said people who would write would loose the ability to remember…We think through writing and in order to do things that are important we put them in books, journals, review, etc…Even though writing separates the writer with his readers, alters the time and space, etc….. In fact I haven’t much progress from my first writing….

"From Pencils to Pixels" by Dennis Baron

Baron’s essay was interesting in his development. I like the examples he gave with the pencil that ounce was tedious to make, expensive and seen as the “Top of the technology” of that time. Baron talked also about the phone and the speculation made at the time concerning its use. That was informative in some ways to read about things that we use in our daily lives which have became so ordinary objects that we don’t pay much intention to them at all anymore. The debates about the use of computer are going on like centuries ago with the pencil and the phone in the last century. Same questions are rising with the use of computers and how it will impact writing, communication and also the authenticity of texts found on Internet. I’m sure that in academic writing there are tools available to find quotation or even barrowed sentences from writers. It’s the way it is, some people find the way to break the system and others work and making it safer…The only thing really that I find regrettable is that we don’t hand write much anymore without saying that now handwriting has became ugly like paper printing. It has lost most of its personal “print”, personal identity. There was time in school when we were grated on our writing style and still in some countries when applying for a job the applicant’s writing will be study to find out some of the applicant’s personality traits….This will disappear maybe for the best….I still think that handwriting is part of one’s personality and computers take that away and maybe forever sooner that we think.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

I agree with most of what says Gloria Anzaldua in How to Tame a Wild Tongue. I can relate to some degree to her experience has a Mexican American growing up talking “a patois, a fork tongue, a variation of two languages” like she says (p37). I felt at some point in my life a lost of identity because I wasn’t speaking English as well as I wanted, even though I have worked hard over the years to achieve a respectable level of English. I focused so hard on speaking English that I have forgotten to speak French in a proper form. I found myself in between both culture like I didn’t belong any where, using a French/English language not well accepted in both side. Over the years I also taught myself to do not be revolted about that lost of identity, after all I was living the life I wanted. My ideas and feelings differ from Anzaldua when she says “But for a language to remain alive it must be used” (40) and she declares that by the end of this century English will be the mother tongue of Chicanos and Latinos. Spanish, Tex-Mex, Spanish dialects will continue to be spoken, but the form will change over time and it is inevitable. Can we listen to purists keeping harping on and influence the rest of the society that it is bad on a linguistic point of view? I came to the conclusion that it is what happens when we are living in another country than our parents’ native country. Language evolves over time because of the movement of population from one country to another. I think that language have changed over time because of migration, commercial exchange between countries and other factors. We see this phenomenon growing faster because our society is evolving faster. Any how, I think that we should be proud of talking two or more language on regular basis even though they are considered broken by the purists. We still have advantages over the monolingual. I think so!

A World Without Print

The essay was interesting to read but I didn't learn much of anything new about how children acquire language through reading or writing. After a few psychology and education classes about children I'm not surprise to read that environment is the major compound in children's development. Though, i found interesting the way Jenny could locate new place asking over the phone physical landmarks such as the shape and color of a sign for instance (p410). How her life is restricted in a lot of ways like going shopping at the same stores because she knows their layout. I never thought about how difficult it is for people like her to live in our society, it like been imprisoned and free at the same time.
Even though the Appalachians have a heavy stereotype of uncivilized, ignorant and immoral people Purcell-Gates shows their life (Jenny and big Donny) not so different of what we have in mind of a "normal life style". Jenny cares about her children and wants them to learn how to write and read, she understand the necessity of it. She wants them to have a better life and it is what most parents want for their children. Donny shows manual skills beyond what most of children of his age can do and it is a prove of intelligence and this because parents teach them skills that are relevant of their "culture". It is interesting to see that our brain can be wired differently because of our stimulus in our first years of life. I wished I've read a little more about Purcell-Gates' study and how she proceeded to develop writing and reading skills with Jenny and Donny and the outcome after these two years of study....I was expecting more from this essay.

"I Just Wanna Be Average" Mike Rose

It is always shocking but also comforting to read a testimony like Rose's experience in high-school and how life can change because of an event or a person. I'm not familiar with the American school system and reading this essay makes me think differently about what i thought of it and it also makes me understand it better. I realize that there not much difference between the system I know (French) and the American one. I like to be positive and i hope that the system is changing and by reading testimonies like this maybe we (teachers) will offer equal opportunities to study for all.
Rose mentioned that schools have criticized and made parents responsible for their children's failure because they do not get involved in their education (163). It is revolting when farther in the reading to find out that teachers in the Voc. Ed were just unqualified, troubled, passionless for education, lacked motivation, in other words were just low-grade teachers. Rose was lucky enough to get out of the pack. Finally one of his teacher realized that his scores were not reflecting his abilities but what happen to the others.... They stayed in this "cul de sac" situation, kind of no hope situation. Society and school system allow to perpetrate inequality among social levels and this leave me a little bit puzzled....It makes think of what Freire was saying about oppression and education and i wasn't going with his theory but reading Rose's testimony i can see oppression in education. So what is really education? Freedom for some and oppression for others....depending on which side we are in society, a matter of location and finance.....

Inventing the University

I liked Bartholomae's paper on "Inventing the University". He brought up interesting examples of student essays and how they have to be specific or "specialized" in their writing to satisfy academic standards (p. 511). I agree that students have to mimic professors and write the same language as their discipline to be "members of the academy". "I think that all writers, in order to write, must imagine for themselves the privileged of being "insider"--that is, of being both inside an established and powerful discourse, and of being granted a special right to speak" (p. 516). This quotation made me think. I can relate to these students who are trying to please their professors. I had myself so many times wrote just for my teachers. Through my years at the university, I believe that most of my papers were empty, just words put together to satisfy the number of pages required to pass the exam. I recognize that this approach is wrong and i've never thought much of it before, but Bartholomae almost convince me that to be successful and truthful to my writing I must write as a writer who knows her topic as much or more as my audience, I have to extend myself through my writing to reach my readers.

"A Kind Word for Bullshit" was easier to read comparing to "On bullshit". I would say pleasant, coherent and lively due to many examples used in the text. Eubanks and Schaeffer make an appropriate and concise definition of Bullshit: "Bullshit is disconnected from the truth in a way that lying never is (p. 375). Both agree that they perpetuate academic bullshit and they think that some are unavoidable and beneficial (p. 372). I cannot come to the conclusion, how can it be beneficial?