Literacy in Different Types of Communities

Over the course of my 19 years of existence, I’ve been a part of many different literacy communities. Such communities would be my family, friends, and school communities. For each different community, there is a different set of rules for literacy. There are different forms of communication used for each group.

When I was in high school, I was on the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams. I learned that it is crucial to be able to communicate with both teammates and coaches. Each different sport has a different call for communication. For example, the communication that takes place in a volleyball or basketball game is completely different than the form of communication that takes place in a softball game. During practices or before games, my coached would often write out goals that they wanted the team to accomplish. By practicing and paying attention to what is being said, the game or technique is learned and the literacy increases.

Being in a school community, I’ve learned that it is very clear that literacy is important in order to communicate with teachers and administrators as well as other students. The way a student would be to another student is different than the way a student would be talking to the principal. Paying attention in class helps raise the literacy level and communication skills. The gradual process of going through school shows the progress made over the years. The teachers in this community teach the curriculum as well as helping students learn how to relate and communicate with each other. By learning the material being covered as well as discussing it, the lengths of our knowledge and literacy expands.

Now that I am in college, I have come to find that it is a necessity to be able to communicate with my family members. It has taken some time to get adjusted to not seeing my family but being able to talk to them via email and phone calls has made it much easier. My literacy has allowed me to be able to communicate both verbally and nonverbally with those in my family community. I am able to talk to my aunts and uncles as an adult but am still able to talk and play with my younger cousins as if I’m around their age. When I return home for breaks, my family will get together and everyone will tell stories from different parts of their lives. We are able to relate to each other by these stories. We are able to have intelligent conversations about issues of today’s society that we are concerned about or even about things that we think will happen in the future.

Literacy allows us to be able to understand and relate to others. We are able to express our thoughts and feelings to each other and hold conversations of great intelligence. We can decipher the difference between the different communities we belong to and how communication between us and our peers can differ depending on the situation. Whether participating in a sporting event, a typical day of school, or a family gathering, literacy is important in order to comprehend what is going on and to be able to find the correct way to respond to any situation.