My definition of literacy is to be able to use all 4 skills in our daily communication,

which are reading, writing, listening and speaking effectively in a logical sense. The word

‘literate’ is a Latin word, meaning learned or lettered. It is important to have the ability of using

these 4 skills especially in learning language otherwise, you will not be able to do well. Growing

up in the technological era, these skills are needed to be used in modern technologies, not only in

social medias but also navigating our life physically and virtually. Anyone who are not possessed

with these skills are called illiterate and it would be hard for them to connect with people and

managing their daily life well.

Literacy is also the capability of adapting these skills in different situations especially in

modern era. There are 3 Literacy skills within the 21st-century skills i.e. Information Literacy,

Media Literacy and Technology Literacy. Information Literacy is the capacity to comprehend

data, statistics and facts. It is to be able to search for the things you need and extra information

including differentiating between the truth and lies. Media Literacy is identifying publishing

techniques and sources while discerning which ones are reliable or not. Not everything that we

see and read online are believable. Some of it could appear as lies or propaganda to hide the

truth. Therefore, identifying trustworthy sources are important, for example recognizing reliable

sources related to Israel-Palestine conflict. Believing false news will make us illiterate.

Technology literacy refers to the ability to use the gadgets and platforms that deliver the

information to us. For example, on how to use phone, laptop or computers to access the

information on different search engines such as Google and Mozilla Firefox.

References

1. National Literacy Trust (2023). Literacy. Retrieved from,

https://literacytrust.org.uk/information/what-is-literacy/

2. Sheehan, L (2021). What are the 3 Literacy Skills and why are they so important for

children to learn? Retrieved from,

https://zeeko.ie/what-are-the-3-literacy-skills-and-why-are-they-so-important-for-

children-to-learn