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Jacob Driscoll

Professor Raymond

UWRT 1103

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September 21,2015

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M), literacy_ryg1tiye !s long-a1d slightly complicated.

up to North Carolina from Florida and I

I moved

S#ilrO.rgarten. In philosophical terms my literacy

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from my community and when language was first invented atthe start of human history. The /\}^"
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reason I identified those two points is because logically it1fes start when I was first bom
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because all humans learn language from their comm,rrritfnfi,ever, philosophically it does start

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starts of when

narrative starts iogically at two different points, when I was born and I could start hearing

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when human language started to develop thousands of years ago, and as time passed language

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systems diversified and progressed to what

it is toaaylln
,l this essay I'm going to start at when I

moved up from Florida to North Carolina. I am lucky enough to be in a bilingual family, my

mom spoke both Spanish and English, and my step-father at the time only spoke English. The

I point this out is because it gives my literacy narrativebiggerspreaC-and depth because I

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reason

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was learning at ieast a small of both languages and Similar skills in understanding

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than everyone

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.rrliivr,.n I first starred

kindergarten my mother put me idthe program early, gs my birthday is in October which is a lot
later than most children who started at the same time as I did. In my eyes I think this decision to
put me in school early was a good thing, not only because I would not have the friends that I do
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today but I also had more time to iiurt tel*i"g than the older kids. There is some research that

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at an earry age.

on the universitv of

cambridge website' David

whitebread writes in his articre
about his study of school
starting
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ages that' "By the age of
11 there was no difference
in reading ability between
the two groups,
but the children who started
at 5 developed less positive
attitudes to reading, and showed
poorer
texr comprehension than those
children that starred later,, (whitebreaol.roi

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authors Sandra Black' Paul

Devereux, Kjell Salvanes;
offer potentiar advantages
such as more
time to learn' children will leam
more at school than at home,
and parents may be more
invorved
in helping their children at
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literacy narrative was mostly

influenced by books and
my communiry.

The most memorable books

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of books that I have read so fu,

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Eragon book series' I read

both of the series, both of
which are high school level readings,
during
middle school' I can remgnue-ry
mother talking to her friends
and saying, ,.Jacob is so
smart,
he is already reading
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He arways has a book laying
u.ornd,,.6;'r'nt',.community was fairly small
when I was growing up, so
my literacy narrative_did not
end up
growing as rapidlv as others
who might have grown up
in bigge..orn*uud

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my literacv narrative might

have been hindered because
of my

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way I can relate to the character

"Liry,, in the book The Secret
Life of Bees. During my
childhood I had a lot of family
turmoil, maybe not as bad as
Lilry,s; but simlar in that neither

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ourenvironmentswereconducivetowardsleamingandeducation./
one of the more enlightening pieces
of literature rrrut r

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autobiography by Malcolm
X called "Learning to Read". one
of the major themes that the
piece
brought to my attention was
how important learning ranguage
and writing is to understanding
the
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rest of ogr world. Not only does reading

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way for us to display our thoughts and

it helps us to understand the rest of the world and abstract concepts throughn^*,
e^motions,but
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a -: \cofirmurucating with others. Some of the most distinct cultures of the world were created through
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the collection of ideas and thoughts into a distinct identity lielp by large groups of people around
the world. These characteristics also happen to transfer to everyone despite class, race, and
socioeconomic status; as long as someone knows how to communicate to another and can
understand it, then it cannot be stopped. This concept is how the world was educated, and more

importantly

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rocky development of
I"ry
frow.ffii developed and matured as my life progressd.

my literacy narrative is also very similar to my rough start to developing my identity and
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character

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side effect of the turmoil throughout my life never left room for

that concentration on academics, or at least as much

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I tried not to let

it. Tv" n1 r hi'r"

Another important topic that needs to be discussed along with my literacv narrative is

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affect not just mine but the world's. After the invention of
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how technology has also+aeeenedto

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the internet and telephone I think that the global literacy narative has progressed at an
exponential rate. Communicating thoughts, ideas, and new forms of language faster than in the

history of mankind. While at the same time, technology has streamlined many of the common
languages; turning sets of words into two or three letter expressions. Some examples of this

streamlining are:

1o1,

language.has also created a big gap

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jk, lmao, wtf, and etc. This evolution of

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between the new generations and older generations; because of how

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it

is harder for aged people to understand and grasp new concepts that are being formed. Many
concepts that teens use today seem completely unimportant and unrelated to say a sixty year old

man.

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has also heavily affected my literacy narrative.

own,
Technology has connected with more areas of the world than I would ever be able to on my
in a way
and therefore broadened my literacy narative and expanded its scope. However,
technology has also narrowed my vocabutary and the types of language that I use. I{@neral
progress. This
technology has always been about streamlining the process of development and

idea also applies to the ttrings that technology is used for, and most importantly

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this case it has

are used to
sffeamlined vocabulary and the ideas behind that vocabulary. Words like lofimao,

and sentences.
express feelings that would have otherwise been displayed through longer words

writes,
In her review of how modem communication technology influences literacy Helen Watt
.oSome

researchers have termed this form of langUage "written speech" or "spoken

writing"

(Crystal, 2006). It has been suggested that this form of "netspeak" maY represent an entirely new
language register (Greenfield

& Subrahman- ynm, 2003)" . I am not only

o1e in this situation

language
because as more and more generations are born than the new form of technological
become a bigger part of their lives.

will

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Bibliography

Black, $andra E-, Paul DeYereux, and KjellG. $alvanes.'1/OX

CEpR's policy portal.,,

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Effects of schod-startingAge. N.p., 21 June 200g. web. 21

sept. 2015.

t) Watt, Helen J. "How

Does the Use of Modern Communication Technotogy Influence

Language and Literacy Development?

A Review.n HowDoes the Use ofModern

Communication Technology Influence Language and Literacy Development?

Review 37 e0l0): 141-4g. Asha.org. Web. 22Sept. 2015.

'rtl Whitebread, David. "School Starting Age; The Evidence." University of Cambridge.
university
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cambridge,24 sept. za]f.. web.2r sept. 2015.

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