What is Literacy? Empirical Perspectives on Literacy from Two Rural Communities in Ghana

Article Sidebar

Section

Research Articles

Issue

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2025): In Progress

How to Cite

Nkansah, T. (2025). What is Literacy? Empirical Perspectives on Literacy from Two Rural Communities in Ghana. Social Science Insights and Applications, 1(1), 2-16. https://journals.explorerpress.com/index.php/ssia/article/view/10

Main Article Content

Authors

Theophilus Nkansah
Ashanti Regional Coordinator, SOCODEVI, Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

The concept of literacy is complex and dynamic, having evolved across contexts, cultures, and scholarly traditions. This paper reports findings from two rural Ghanaian communities, Juaso and Saaman, to explore how literacy is perceived and practiced. Framed within the theory of Literacy as Social Practice, the study employs a qualitative comparative case study design, drawing on interviews, observations, focus group discussions, and document review. Findings reveal that literacy extends beyond reading and writing to include functional knowledge, wisdom, and effective communication. While learners prioritize reading and writing, especially in English, opinion leaders and facilitators view literacy as encompassing broader skills and social practices. Tables summarizing perceptions and the importance of reading and writing illustrate the diverse conceptualizations of literacy in the two communities. The study concludes that literacy is not merely about the cognitive capacity of individuals and the ability to acquire and use the neutral and de-contextualized technical skill of reading of reading and writing. Rather, literacy is about what people do with reading and writing and other semiotic forms and multi- modal texts including   sound, image, visuals   and gestures to make meaning of their day to day lives. Literacy cannot be understood in a vacuum. Instead, it necessarily must be linked with a social activity.

Keywords:
literacy, social practice, rural communities, ghana, adult education

Article Details

References

[1]Street BV. (2003). What’s “new” in New Literacy Studies? Critical approaches to literacy in theory and practice. Current Issues in Comparative Education. 5(2):77–91.

[2]Barton D. (1994). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language. Oxford: Blackwell.

[3]Heath SB. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[4]Scribner S, Cole M. (1981). The psychology of literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[5]Street BV. (1984). Literacy in theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[6]Barton D, Hamilton M. (1998). Local literacies: Reading and writing in one community. London: Routledge.

[7]Perry K. (2012). What is literacy? – A critical overview of sociocultural perspectives. Journal of Language and Literacy Education. 8(1):50–71. Available from: http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/What-is-Literacy_KPerry.pdf

[8]Prinsloo M, Baynham M. (2008). Renewing literacy studies. In: Prinsloo M, Baynham M, editors. Literacies, global and local. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. p. 1–16. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1075/z.146.01pri

[9]Hager P. (2005). Philosophical accounts of learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory. 37(5):649–666. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2005.00146.x

[10]Barton D, Hamilton M. (2000). Literacy practices. In: Barton D, Hamilton M, Ivanić R, editors. Situated literacies: Reading and writing in context. London: Routledge. p. 7–15.

[11]Freebody P. (1999). Assessment as communal versus punitive practice: Six new literacy crises. In: Baynham M, Prinsloo M, editors. AILA Scientific Commission on Literacy: Virtual Seminar 1.

[12]Baynham M. (1995). Literacy practices: Investigating literacy in social contexts. London: Longman.

[13]Heath SB. (1982). What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and at school. Language in Society. 11(1):49–76. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500009039

[14]Street BV. (2001). The new literacy studies. In: Cushman E, Kington GR, Kroll BM, Rose M, editors. Literacy: A critical sourcebook. Boston: St. Martin’s Press. p. 430–442.

[15]Gee JP. (2000). The new literacy studies: From ‘socially situated’ to the work of the social. In: Barton D, Hamilton M, Ivanić R, editors. Situated literacies: Reading and writing in context. London: Routledge. p. 180–196.

[16]Barton D. (2001). Directions for literacy research: Analyzing language and social practices in a textually mediated world. Language and Education. 15(2–3):92–104. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1080/09500780108666803

[17]Street BV. (1995). Social literacies. London: Longman.

[18]Barton D, Hamilton M, Ivanić R. (2000). Situated literacies: Reading and writing in one community. London: Routledge.

[19]Coiro J, Knobel M, Lankshear C, Leu DJ. (2008). Central issues in new literacies and new literacies research. In: Coiro J, Knobel M, Lankshear C, Leu DJ, editors. Handbook of research on new literacies. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. p. 1–21.

[20]Gee JP. (2008). Learning in semiotic domains: A social and situated account. In: Prinsloo M, Baynham M, editors. Literacies, global and local. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. p. 137–149.

[21]Pahl K. (2008). Habitus in children’s multimodal text-making: A discussion. In: Prinsloo M, Baynham M, editors. Literacies, global and local. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. p. 74–91. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1075/z.146.06pah

[22]Prinsloo M. (2008). Children’s games as local semiotic play: An ethnographic account. In: Prinsloo M, Baynham M, editors. Literacies, global and local. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. p. 27–46. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1075/z.146.04pri

[23]Cope B, Kalantzis M. (2012). Multiliteracies: New literacies, new learning. London: Routledge.

[24]Goody J. (1968). Literacy in traditional societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[25]Goody J. (1977). The domestication of the savage mind. New York: Cambridge University Press.

[26]Ong WJ. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. New York: Methuen.

[27]Gough PB. (1995). The new literacy: Caveat emptor. Journal of Research in Reading. 18(2):79–86. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.1995.tb00078.x

[28]Maruatona T. (2001). Literacy for what? A critical analysis of planning for the Botswana National Literacy Programme [PhD dissertation]. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.

[29]Freire P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.

[30]Freire P, Macedo D. (1987). Reading the word and the world. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.

[31]Giroux HA. (1997). Pedagogy and the politics of hope: Theory, culture, and schooling. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

[32]Hernandez A. (1997). Pedagogy, democracy, and feminism: Rethinking the public sphere. New York: State University of New York Press.

[33]UNESCO. (1960). Second international conference on adult education. Paris: UNESCO.

[34]UNESCO. (2005). Education for all global monitoring report 2006: Literacy for life. Paris: UNESCO.

[35]Bhola HS. (2008). Adult literacy for sustainable development: A policy perspective. International Review of Education. 54(5–6):409–417. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s11159-008-9092-3

[36]Bryman A. (2008). Social research methods. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[37]Hancock B, Oakford E, Windridge K. (1998). An introduction to qualitative research. Nottingham: Trent Focus Group.

[38]Maykut P, Morehouse R. (1994). Beginning qualitative research: A philosophic and practical guide. London: Falmer Press.

[39]Johansson R. (2003). Case study methodology. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Methodologies in Housing Research; 2003 Sep 22–24; Stockholm. Available from: https://www.psyking.net/HTMLobj-3825/case_study_methodology-_Rolf_Johansson_ver_2.pdf

[40]Gillham B. (2000). Case study research methods. London: Continuum.

[41]Yin RK. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[42]Stake RE. (1998). Case studies. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS, editors. Strategies of qualitative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. p. 86–109.

[43]Yin RK. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[44]Willis JW. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[45]Creswell JW. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[46]Rule P, John V. (2011). Your guide to case study research. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers

[47]Denzin NK, Lincoln YS. (1994). Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[48]Miles MB, Huberman AM. (1984). Qualitative data analysis: A sourcebook of new methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

[49]Coffey A, Atkinson P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data: Complementary research strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[50]Hammersley M. (1992). What’s wrong with ethnography? Methodological explorations. London: Routledge.

[51]Seale C. (2004). Researching society and culture. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.

[52]Silverman D. (1993). Interpreting qualitative data: Methods for analysing talk, text and interaction. London: Sage Publications.

[53]Silverman D. (2000). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. London: Sage Publications.

[54]Cooper DR, Schindler PS. (2005). Business research methods. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

[55]Olson DR. (1977). From utterance to text: The bias of language in speech and writing. Harvard Educational Review. 47(3):257–281. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.17763/haer.47.3.q5n42308x0j176q1

[56]Olson DR. (1994). The world on paper: The conceptual and cognitive implications of writing and reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[57]Apple MW. (1999). Power, meaning and identity: Essays in critical educational studies. New York: Peter Lang.

[58]Dorvlo LK. (1993). Adult literacy teaching in Ghana: Adapting the Freirean approach and technique. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.

[59]Prinsloo M, Breier M. (1996). The social uses of literacy: Theory and practice in contemporary South Africa. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1075/z.80

[60]Wedin Å. (2004). Literacy practices in rural Tanzania: The case of Karagwe. International Journal of Educational Development. 24(6):691–702. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2004.02.003

[61]Robinson-Pant A. (2008). Women, literacy and development. In: Street BV, Hornberger NH, editors. Encyclopedia of language and education. New York: Springer. p. 588–599. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_44

[62]Nabi R, Rogers A, Street B. (2009). Hidden literacies: Ethnographic studies of literacy and numeracy practices. Bury St. Edmunds: Uppingham Press.

[63]UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2013). Literacy and women’s empowerment: Stories of success and inspiration. Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. Available from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.