CULTURAL LITERACY

RESEARCH FINDING:

Students  read  more fluently and with greater  understanding  if 
they  have background knowledge of the past  and  present.   Such 
knowledge and understanding is called cultural literacy.

COMMENT:

Students' background knowledge determines how well they grasp the 
meaning of what they read.   For example,  students read passages 
more deftly when the passages describe events, people, and places 
of  which the students have some prior knowledge.   The more cul-
turally literate students are,  the better prepared they will  be 
to read and understand serious books,  magazines, and other chal-
lenging material.


Most school teachers, college professors, journalists, and social 
commentators agree that the general background knowledge of Amer-
ican  students  is too low and getting lower.   Surveys  document 
great  gaps in students' basic knowledge of  geography,  history, 
literature,  politics,  and democratic principles.   Teaching  is 
hindered  if  teachers cannot count on their students  sharing  a 
body of knowledge, references, and symbols.

Every  society maintains formal and informal mechanisms to trans-
mit understanding of its history,  literature,  and political in-
stitutions from one generation to the next.   A shared  knowledge 
of  these elements of our past helps foster social cohesion and a 
sense of national community and pride.  

In  the United States,  the national community comprises  diverse 
groups and traditions; together they have created a rich cultural 
heritage.   Cultural  literacy not only enables students to  read 
better and gain new knowledge;  it enables them to understand the 
shared  heritage,  institutions,  and values that draw  Americans 
together.

Anderson,  R. C., Soiro, R. J., and Montague, W. (l977).  School-
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Finn, Jr. C. E., Ravitch, D., and Roberts, P. (Eds.) (1985.)  Challenges
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Hirsch,  E.  D.,  Jr.  (Spring l983).   "Cultural Literacy."  The 
American Scholar, Vol. 52, pp. l59-l69.  

Hirsch,  E.  D.,  Jr.  (Summer l985).  "Cultural Literacy and the 
Schools."  American Educator, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 8-l5.

Levine,  A.  (l980).  When Dreams and Heroes Died:  A Portrait of 
Today's College Student.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Resnick, D. B., and Resnick, L. B. (August l977).  "The Nature of 
Literacy:   An Historical Exploration."  Harvard Educational  Re-
view, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 370-385.