Twenty-First Century Literacy

Abstract

This paper surveys five broad areas in which important and dramatic changes are occurring today. The first concerns democracy, and in particular, the issue of universal literacy; the second relates to work, with a focus on changing demands for literacy in the workplace; the third takes us to social relations, and especially, the emerging global society; the fourth concerns the evolution of language; and the fifth relates to technology, with an emphasis on the way our literacy practices are immersed in new technologies. Although the areas of democracy, work, social relations, language, and technology cover much ground, I hope to show that trends in these areas exhibit some convergence. Given the many facets of literacy that pervade our lives, these speculations will necessarily be abbreviated, and like all such imaginings, their naiveté will become most apparent as reality actually unfolds.