Literacy skills are often taken for granted as the set of skills that one ostensibly will develop eventually. However, due to the complexity of the communication process and the importance of clarity of expression, gaining literacy skills as quickly as possible defines one’s ability to become an active member of the community. Therefore, my journey in gaining the needed amount of prowess in communicating my ideas was a rather tricky one. Nevertheless, by focusing on managing weaknesses and fostering the rapid development of the strengths, I managed to gain the needed level of intuitive understanding of the language.
The journey to understanding the language was long and challenging. However, at some point in my journey, something clicked. One day, I realized that the development of literacy skills did not mean merely the ability to string several words together in a coherent sentence. Instead, the idea of literacy as the innate understanding of how the language works and how it is likely to develop became evident to me (Weninger 2018). The specified discovery has contributed to shaping my approach toward the ability to develop an argument and contribute to discourse regarding a certain issue by participating in discussions.
Moreover, the further revelation of the multiple ways in which literacy could be trained and in which literacy skills could be gained opened a plethora of opportunities for me as a learner. In addition, the opportunity to access a large variety of language resources and discussions online has offered a number of options for improving my literacy and the intrinsic understanding of the language (Lesaux, Galloway, and Sky 2016). However, unlike printed sources, among which I had learned to discern those that could be deemed as credible by the time, online resources appeared to be quite difficult to evaluate to me.. As a result, the threat of losing the basic literacy prowess that I had gained constrained my ability to develop further language skills.
Nevertheless, after spending a certain amount of time searching for the content that could be seen as credible and the online discussions that allowed for an intelligent conversation, I managed to continue improving my skills as a learner. The further quest for increasing my literacy mostly implied training the strengths and focusing on the minimization of weaknesses. Specifically, the emphasis on understanding how an argument is structured and how different meanings can be expressed by making slight changes to the vocabulary and the tone has allowed me to gain greater expressivity. In turn, the reinforcement of memory practice has helped to build the vocabulary that would guide me through the process of word building and show how the English language is constructed, in general.
Due to the focus on the development of my strong aspects of language use and the required attention to my weaknesses, I managed to develop the extent of literacy that reaches the intuitive understanding of the language. As a result, the ability to convey the needed ideas and emotions has increased exponentially, allowing me to gain particular expressivity in my speech. The described change has affected my ability to participate in the academic discourse and contribute to discussions of contemporary and relevant issues. Although my journey in studying the language and gaining literacy is not over yet, I believe that I have accomplished quite a lot to build the basis for future positive change.
Bibliography
Lesaux, Nonie K., Emily Phillips Galloway, and Sky H. Marietta. 2016. Teaching Advanced Literacy Skills: A Guide for Leaders in Linguistically Diverse Schools. New York City, NY: Guilford Publications.
Weninger, Csilla. 2018. From Language Skills to Literacy: Broadening the Scope of English Language Education Through Media Literacy. New York City, NY: Routledge.