(Taken from Oxford Dictionary)
Authority
Power: the power to give orders to people, the power or right to do something
Permission: official permission to do something
Organisation: the people or an organisation who have the power to make decisions or who have a particular area of responsibility in a country or region
Knowledge: the power to influence people because they respect your knowledge or official position
Expert: a person with special knowledge

With literacy, we would be able to use the appropriate words at the right context to yield the desired outcomes. The aprropriate choice of words and phrasing would make the speaker appear to be well-prepared and knows what he/she is talking about. As such, the speaker would appear to be more credible. Would you have faith to buy an insurance from an agent who does not seem to be able to articulate himself/herself properly? I would not. I believe literacy gives the speaker authority.

In class, I often highlight the importance of literacy as most, if not all, of us wants to be heard and recognised. To do so, we need to make ourselves heard and understood. I also emphasised to pupils that they need to be able to convince people to win people over to their side, including myself, and this is a skill they need to acquire because literacy does not end in school. It is essential and necessary to face challenges they would meet in the future.

This metaphor is in line with some of the desired outcomes, mainly:

• to be able to distinguish right from wrong
• be able to think for and express themselves
• take pride in their work

If pupils were more "literate", they would be in a better position to interpret and analyse what they have read/heard. They would be able to analyse the topic from various angles, such as taking the context into consideration. As mentioned above, they would be able to express themselves effectively because they are able to use appropriate words suited for the context etc. If the pupils were able to express themselves effectively, they would be able to cast some influence on others in one way or another, boasting their confidence. Pride will come with confidence.

Technology is ever-evolving. We need to educate pupils how to communicate effectively through digital communication means, such as email. Digital communication is very much present and common in our daily lives. Digital communication has definately forced me to 're-think' about literacy because there would be more aspects to consider. For now, whether or not digital communication is involved, literacy is authority.

gancheong-ed at 12:13 AM
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