You raise an interesting issue that has bothered me as well. My wife for instance had been and English major and with the growth of so many forms of communication she does not like to write. As humans we will have means to communicat even if it is thru simple gestures. But we will lose something if writing and literacy go by the way. Reading in the ways I am used to are not that common anymore and I do note the critical reading and thinking that are needed now are simply not given the attention they should. Our language is so rich and the ability to read it and do things with words adds so much to one's experience. I do know that writing in long hand or thru a keyboard improves my thinking on any given topic I am immersed in. I recall the historian of another day, Wm Manchester often said that without his writing he could not exist. Now we all don't see it quite that way but I always appreciated what he meant by the enrichment that comes from reading and writing.
Schools do struggle with the teaching of reading and the so called reading wars over the best way to do this has been with us for over forty years. But of late the deep research on the topic seem to conclude that a solid immersion in phonetical awareness is the key to learning to read. The teaching of writing is perhaps a bit more haphazard but here too, diving into all kinds of literature will enhance one's writing skills.
So thanks for bringing all this to our attention. Our young need to be literate for all of the other means they use in communicating with one aanother.
TBH, I listened to the audio of this post while washing the dishes...
You raise an interesting issue that has bothered me as well. My wife for instance had been and English major and with the growth of so many forms of communication she does not like to write. As humans we will have means to communicat even if it is thru simple gestures. But we will lose something if writing and literacy go by the way. Reading in the ways I am used to are not that common anymore and I do note the critical reading and thinking that are needed now are simply not given the attention they should. Our language is so rich and the ability to read it and do things with words adds so much to one's experience. I do know that writing in long hand or thru a keyboard improves my thinking on any given topic I am immersed in. I recall the historian of another day, Wm Manchester often said that without his writing he could not exist. Now we all don't see it quite that way but I always appreciated what he meant by the enrichment that comes from reading and writing.
Schools do struggle with the teaching of reading and the so called reading wars over the best way to do this has been with us for over forty years. But of late the deep research on the topic seem to conclude that a solid immersion in phonetical awareness is the key to learning to read. The teaching of writing is perhaps a bit more haphazard but here too, diving into all kinds of literature will enhance one's writing skills.
So thanks for bringing all this to our attention. Our young need to be literate for all of the other means they use in communicating with one aanother.