Summary
2. How is literacy used as a hegemonic tool/ tool of power? By whom? Against whom? Reference at least 2 of this week’s course materials.
Literacy is used as a hegemonic tool by those who have the power and authority to define and impose the major customs and standards of language use, such as governments, corporations, media, and educational institutions. These dominant groups use literacy to maintain and reproduce their social, economic, and political interests, and to reject or banish those who do not conform to their expectations, such as linguistic minorities, speakers of non-standard varieties of English, or people from different cultural backgrounds. Some examples of how literacy is used as a hegemonic tool are:
The enforcement of standard English as the only legitimate and acceptable form of communication in public fields, such as schools, workplaces, courts, and media, which disregards the linguistic diversity and creativity of speakers and writers of other varieties of English or other languages.
The use of standardized tests and assessments to measure and evaluate the literacy skills and the abilities of students, which often reflect the cultural and linguistic biases of the dominant groups and fail to account for the different literacy practices and experiences of students from different backgrounds.
4. How can we help establish more equality for the Black/ African-American community in the US?
To help establish more literacy equality for the Black/African-American community, we need to address these foundation causes and provide more support and opportunities for learning. Now possible ways to do this are investing in early childhood education and intervention programs that can help develop mental and language skills for Black children from low-income families.
Providing more funding and resources for public schools that serve predominantly Black students, such as hiring qualified and diverse teachers, improving programs and instruction, and offering additional activities and enrichment programs.
5. What is the argument in the article titled “With COVID, the African-American Literacy Crisis will get much worse”? Support your answer with evidence from the text, and with your own thoughts on this topic.
The article titled “With COVID, the African-American Literacy Crisis will get much worse” is about how the coronavirus pandemic has worsened the existing gap and inequality in literacy achievement and access among students in the U.S., especially for African-American students who face multiple challenges and barriers in their learning and development. Some facts from the article that support my answer are as follows: The Literacy Center, which highlighted the negative consequences of low literacy on employment, health, civic participation, and crime. Also, the findings of a study by the Northwest Evaluation Association, which showed that Black and Hispanic students in upper elementary grades saw small drops in reading performance compared to last year, while most students performed similarly.
