Through language, human beings learn to identify and express information and ideas, as well as feelings, emotions and the fruits of the imagination. It is the common human experience that an understanding of language, and an ability to use it effectively, are integral to the full realisation of an individual s humanity.
Literacy is the ability to understand, appreciate and use language.
It is both functional and critical. Functional literacy is concerned with controlling and expressing ideas in ways that are understood and acceptable to others. Critical literacy involves understanding and appreciating the variety of styles in which language has been used in the past, and how it may effectively be used now and for the future. In its finest expression, the craft of language becomes the art of literature. The literature of peoples is inextricably tied up with patterns of their collective human culture and consciousness.