Literacy is a Worldwide Concern - Even in the Top Schools

In my experience as an educator, modern students are exposed to more language than ever before, yet engage deeply with it less than any previous generation.

This thought captures a paradox many educators now recognize instinctively, even if we struggle to name it. In an age of constant connectivity, instant information, and endless text, literacy is not improving. In many contexts, it is quietly eroding.

And this erosion is not limited to under-resourced schools or communities with limited access to education. It is increasingly visible in well-funded private schools, international schools, and high-achieving academic environments.

According to UNESCO, literacy is defined as: The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.

This definition matters. Literacy, in this sense, is not about decoding words or passing language exams. It is about meaning-making, comprehension, interpretation, reasoning, and communication.

Under this definition, a student may read fluently, write grammatically correct sentences, use sophisticated vocabulary, and still be functionally illiterate.

Years ago, a mathematics teacher asked me a question I have never forgotten:
“Why should I be concerned about literacy? I teach math.”

It was a revealing question. Mathematics depends on literacy. Students must read word problems accurately, interpret instructions, distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, follow logical sequences, explain reasoning, and justify solutions. When students fail to do these things, the problem is rarely mathematical knowledge alone. It is often a literacy problem.

The same applies to science, humanities, technology, and the arts. Literacy is not the responsibility of language teachers alone. It is the foundation of all learning.

Several powerful forces are converging to weaken literacy across age groups and contexts.

1. The Internet Rewards Speed, Not Understanding
Students are conditioned to skim, search, and extract rather than read, reflect, and synthesize. The habit of sustained attention—essential for literacy—is disappearing.

2. Social Media Fragments Language
Short posts, captions, comments, and emojis dominate students’ daily language exposure. These formats prioritize reaction over reasoning and brevity over clarity.

3. Information Access Is Confused with Knowledge
Students can locate answers quickly but often cannot explain them, evaluate them, or apply them in unfamiliar contexts. The appearance of competence masks shallow understanding.

4. AI Short-Circuits the Literacy Process
When tools generate text instantly, students can bypass the struggle that builds comprehension and expressive clarity. Editing replaces thinking. Output replaces understanding.

5. Reading Stamina Has Declined
Many students find extended texts exhausting. They struggle to follow arguments across pages or even paragraphs.

6. Schools Assume Literacy Instead of Teaching It
In high-performing schools especially, literacy is often assumed to be “already in place.” As a result, it is rarely taught explicitly outside language classes.

This is not a local problem. Educators worldwide report the same patterns, across curricula, languages, and income levels. The issue is not access to schooling. It is the quality of engagement with language.

When students cannot interpret, analyze, evaluate, or articulate meaning clearly, learning becomes fragile. Knowledge does not transfer. Critical thinking weakens. Democratic participation, ethical reasoning, and informed decision-making all suffer.

The solution does not lie in banning technology or adding more tests. It lies in reclaiming literacy as a shared responsibility.

Every teacher can:

• Make reading visible
  Ask students to explain how they understood a problem, not just what the answer is.

• Slow the process down
  Build time for rereading, annotating, and discussing meaning. Speed should not be the goal.

• Insist on explanation and justification
  Whether in math, science, or art, students should regularly explain their thinking in complete, coherent language.

• Teach vocabulary in context
  Subject-specific language must be unpacked, revisited, and actively used. (See the example in the PEN Handbook).

• Design tasks that require interpretation, not retrieval
  Questions with no single obvious answer force students to engage deeply with text and ideas.

• Use AI transparently and critically
  If AI is used, students should analyze, critique, and improve outputs, not submit them unexamined.

Most importantly, teachers can name literacy explicitly. When students understand that reading, writing, and thinking are central to every subject, expectations change.

Literacy is no longer something we can assume students “pick up along the way.” In a world saturated with language but starved of depth, literacy must be taught deliberately, practiced consistently, and protected intentionally.

It is not an add-on.
It is not the job of one department.
It is the core of education itself.

識字能力是全球性的關注議題——即使在最好的學校也是如此

以我作為教育工作者的經驗來看，現代學生接觸到的語言比以往任何一個世代都多，然而，他們對語言進行深度理解與投入的程度，卻比任何前一代都來得低。

這句話點出了許多教育者如今本能地察覺、卻難以清楚表述的一種矛盾現象。在一個高度連結、資訊即時、文字無所不在的時代，學生的識字能力並未隨之提升；在許多情境中，它正悄然流失。

而這種流失並不僅限於資源不足的學校或教育機會有限的社群。它愈來愈明顯地出現在設備完善的私立學校、國際學校，以及學業表現優異的學習環境中。

根據聯合國教科文組織（UNESCO）的定義，識字能力是指：
能夠在不同情境中，運用印刷與書寫材料進行辨識、理解、詮釋、創作、溝通與計算的能力。

這一定義極為重要。在此意義下，識字並不只是解讀文字，或通過語言考試，而是關於意義的建構——理解、詮釋、推理與有效溝通。

依據這一定義，一名學生即使能流利閱讀、寫出語法正確的句子、並使用高階詞彙，仍可能在功能上屬於識字能力不足。

多年前，一位數學老師曾問我一個我至今難忘的問題：
「為什麼我需要關心識字能力？我教的是數學。」

這是一個極具啟發性的問題。數學本身高度依賴識字能力。學生必須能準確閱讀文字題目、理解指示、區分相關與不相關資訊、遵循邏輯步驟、說明推理過程，並為答案提供合理的論證。當學生無法做到這些時，問題往往不在於數學知識本身，而是在於識字能力。

同樣的情況也適用於科學、人文學科、科技與藝術。識字能力並非語言教師的專屬責任，而是所有學習的基礎。

目前，有多股強大的力量正同時削弱不同年齡層與不同教育情境中的識字能力。

一、網路獎勵速度，而非理解
學生被訓練去快速瀏覽、搜尋與擷取資訊，而非閱讀、反思與統整。對識字能力至關重要的持續專注力，正逐漸消失。

二、社群媒體使語言碎片化
貼文、標題、留言與表情符號主導了學生的日常語言接觸。這些形式重視即時反應，而非推理；追求簡短，而非清晰。

三、資訊取得被誤認為知識
學生能迅速找到答案，卻往往無法解釋、評估，或在陌生情境中應用這些資訊。表面的熟練掩蓋了淺層的理解。

四、人工智慧使識字歷程被捷徑化
當工具能即時生成文字時，學生便可能跳過建立理解與表達能力所需的掙扎歷程。編輯取代了思考，產出取代了理解。

五、閱讀耐力下降
許多學生覺得長篇文本在心理與認知上都令人疲憊。他們難以跨越多頁、甚至多段落來追蹤一個論點。

六、學校假設學生「已具備」識字能力，而非實際教授它
特別是在高表現學校中，識字能力常被視為理所當然，因此除了語言課程之外，很少被明確而系統地教導。

這並非地方性的問題。全球各地的教育者，在不同課綱、語言與社經背景下，都回報了相同的現象。問題不在於是否能進入學校，而在於學生與語言互動的品質。

當學生無法清楚地詮釋、分析、評估或表達意義時，學習便變得脆弱。知識無法遷移，批判思考能力削弱，民主參與、倫理判斷與明智決策的能力也隨之受損。

解方不在於禁止科技或增加測驗，而在於重新將識字能力視為共同的責任。

每一位教師都可以：

• 讓閱讀歷程變得可見
要求學生說明他們是「如何理解」一個問題的，而不只是給出答案。

• 放慢學習節奏
刻意安排重讀、註記與討論意義的時間。速度不應成為目標。

• 堅持解釋與論證
無論是在數學、科學或藝術課程中，學生都應經常以完整且連貫的語言說明自己的思考。

• 在情境中教授詞彙
各學科的專業語言必須被拆解、反覆使用，並實際應用。（可參考 PEN 手冊中的範例）

• 設計需要詮釋而非擷取的任務
沒有單一標準答案的問題，能迫使學生與文本與概念進行深度互動。

• 以透明且批判的方式使用 AI
若使用 AI，學生應分析、批評並改進產出，而非未經思考即提交。

最重要的是，教師應明確地「點名」識字能力。當學生理解閱讀、寫作與思考是所有學科的核心時，學習期待便會隨之改變。

識字能力已不再是學生能「順其自然學會」的技能。在一個語言氾濫卻缺乏深度的世界中，識字能力必須被有意識地教授、持續地練習，並刻意地保護。

它不是附加項目。
它不是某一個部門的責任。
它是教育的核心。

翻譯：ChatGPT