Literacy

Literacy is traditionally understood as the ability to read and write. The term's meaning has been expanded to include the ability to use language, numbers, images and other means to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture. The concept of literacy is expanding in OECD countries to include skills to access knowledge through technology and ability to assess complex contexts.

The key to all literacy is reading development, a progression of skills that begins with the ability to understand spoken words and decode written words, and culminates in the deep understanding of text. Reading development involves a range of complex language underpinnings including awareness of speech sounds (phonology), spelling patterns (orthography), word meaning (semantics), grammar (syntax) and patterns of word formation (morphology), all of which provide a necessary platform for reading fluency and comprehension. Once these skills are acquired, the reader can attain full language literacy, which includes the abilities to apply to printed material critical analysis, inference and synthesis; to write with accuracy and coherence; and to use information and insights from text as the basis for informed decisions and creative thought. The inability to do so is called illiteracy or analphabetism.

Literacy (journal)

Literacy is a peer-reviewed academic journal published thrice annually by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the United Kingdom Literacy Association. The journal was established in 1967 as Reading and obtained its current name in 2004. It covers research on the study and development of literacy, including topics such as phonics, phonology, morphology, and language. The editors-in-chief are Cathy Burnett (Sheffield Hallam University) and Julia Davies (University of Sheffield).

According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2011 impact factor of 0.400, ranking it 91st out of 162 journals in the category "Linguistics" and 150th out of 206 journals in the category "Education & Educational Research".

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