ACQ Vol 11 no 2 2009

Literacy

Literacy – it’s so important for all of us. Those of us who have high literacy levels may well take it for granted. I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, and seem unable not to read everything I see in the environment around me. And print is everywhere around us, so I am continually reading. Some of you may remember a time when it was suggested that developments in electronic communication would mean that demands on literacy would decrease. We all know that this has not happened – if anything, literacy is more important than ever. Widespread literacy is, however, a relatively recent development in historical terms. The invention of the printing press in the mid 15th century made books available to more people, and so literacy rates began to increase. Of course, universal literacy is still some way off. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics states that more than 744 million people world wide are illiterate (http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?URL_ ID=6401&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201). Of these, some 64% are women. Literacy rates vary widely from country to country, and are lower in the less developed areas of the world. The UNESCO data centre has details on literacy rates in some, but not all, countries (see: http://stats. uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document. aspx?ReportId=143&IF_Language=eng). In Australia, information regarding literacy levels is collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Five areas of literacy are considered – prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy, problem solving and health literacy – and five levels of skill. Level 5 is the highest ranking, and level 3 is seen as the minimum required to “meet the complex demands of everyday life and work in the emerging knowledge-based economy” (http://www.abs. gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4228.0Main%20 From the President Literacy notes Cori Williams

Features22006%20(Reissue)?opendocument&tabn ame=Summary&prodno=4228.0&issue=2006%20 (Reissue)&num=&view=). The report of the 2006 survey shows that significant numbers of Australians aged between 15 and 74 years scored at level 1 or 2 in each of the areas of interest. To be specific, 46% scored at this level for prose literacy, 47% for document literacy, 53% for numeracy and 70% for problem solving. The report shows that older people generally have lower levels of literacy, but that there has been an improvement in levels over the past decade. Despite it being a first-world country, Australia still needs to improve its literacy levels. Literacy is clearly a crucial issue, and one which falls squarely within the scope of speech pathology. The significant body of evidence which demonstrates the existence of poor literacy levels in children with language difficulties reinforces the importance of the provision of speech pathology services to these children. This understanding is the basis for Speech Pathology Australia’s statement on the provision of services to school-aged children. The Association will continue to put this position forward to politicians, administrators and educators at every opportunity. Speech pathologists are also well equipped to provide a valuable service to those adults whose literacy levels are affected by stroke or other acquired difficulties, and to work with clients with complex communication difficulties. All of these areas are included in the range of artiicles contained in this edition of ACQ – it behoves the Association to ensure that they are also reflected in the range of position papers available. If you feel that there is a need to update the existing papers, or to develop new papers, please do let us know – either direct to National Office, or through the branch executive in your state. Speech Pathology Week 2009 is the perfect time to help raise the profile of the profession. 23-29 August 2009 This year’s theme is ‘Communicate to participate’ Start planning your events and promotions and check out the website for inspiration: www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Cori Williams

communicate to participate

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ACQ Volume 11, Number 2 2009

ACQ uiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing