The word literacy has many meanings to different people. In the traditional sense, literacy is considered to be possessing the ability to read and write, or more the ability to use language to read, write, listen and speak. In a more modern definition, literacy could mean having the ability to participate successfully in a particular society. However simple this may seem, literacy has evolved into having the knowledge and ability to absorb a cultural group into harmony with another, or assimilation; thereby changing how we respond to and conform with various situations. This assimilation requires one to not only identify and understand varying contexts, but to also be able to interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written material associated with these varying contexts. Each individual's personal challenges in the assimilation process, are intertwined with the tools they receive and the people they emulate. Barbara Mellix and Amy Tan both illustrate the struggles they encounter in this process of taking something new unto themselves, as they navigated through the values and customs of different social and cultural groups, just as Andrea Fishman explains how Amish children "learn" to read, but more for functional reasons and not so much for pleasure. In today's society, literacy is an important tool for successful assimilation.
Successful assimilation does not come without personal struggles and tensions. In her essay, "From Outside, In", Author Barbara Mellix walks us through some of the challenges she faced in her own assimilation, including many aspects of race, class and gender, however, she hones in on the generative power of language. Mellix was brought up speaking two diverse, but similar languages, Black English and Standard English. She grew to understand the importance of where and how to use each language. Her everyday language, the "country coloreds" dialect was used in the presence of that was "associated to her life, including family, friends, neighbors, teachers and ministers" (386). Her Black English was the language she was most comfortable with; the language she felt the safest with. This language was used in the warm, safe confines of her everyday societal dealings. This was the language that she knew well and basked inthe confidence it gave her; her very identity. Then there was the "Proper English". This was the "language of others; the proper blacks, transplanted relatives and one time friends" (386). This was the language that left her family feeling tense and uncomfortable; the language that gave the illusion of being educated and influential, articulate. Speaking this Proper English demonstrated equality with the 'others', but left the ambivalent feeling that somehow by speaking this language, they were admitting that their language was inferior. Writer, Amy Tan explores her struggles of being from both a Chinese and an American Background, in her essay "The Language of Discretion". After reading a passage from Edward Sapir, Tan feels her dilemma of growing up bilingual and bicultural is finally acknowledged, that 'there is a double bind attached to knowing two languages" (663). Tan finds herself interpreting everything in two different ways, the Chinese and the American. In her mind, Tan sees language as what the world depends on. In the brief tour that she provides of her Chinese heritage, she discusses how the Chinese are looked at differently because of their language, in that the American language is more aggressive, whereas the Chinese language is considered more passive or "discreet and modest" (662). In both essays, Mellix and Tan see the conflicts of the different languages as a large factor in their process of assimilation. Mellix's initial feelings of the proper English were not pleasant, as the use of it insulted her culture. Tan questions which of her behaviors are shaped by which language. Each endures their own struggles with language and communication differently, but both come to understand that despite their challenges, knowledge of the proper use of the language was an important tool in their assimilation process.
While there are many ways to communicate, language is the primary means for humans, and there are many variations of language. Different social groups employ different ways of effectively conveying the meaning in their language. However, what happens when another group begins to infiltrate that society or group and doesn't know the language? The may be able to get through the rudimentary meaning, but can they learn the mindset behind the language? Communicating through language is to utilize the rules and grammar to accurately impart the thoughts of the speaker. Mellix quotes Frantz Fanon, "To Speak, means to be in a position to use certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language" (394). Mellix portrays a writing perspective as opposed to Tan, but it transfers the same; writing is talking on paper. Every language and its dialect are distinct. No two are alike. This becomes an important factor in assimilation, as one must take on the mindset of the culture. Mellix states that she "discovered…that through writing one can continually bring new selves into being" (395). She learned that in order to write from another's view she had to adopt or 'bring into being' this mindset. Tan sees it as more complicated than that. "No two languages [or the mindset] are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached" (Tan). Although two languages may reflect similar mindsets, this is only because of a uniting of cultures that brought the two together, particularly in the English language.
Just as important as understanding and effectively using language towards assimilation, literacy also plays a vital part in this process of taking something new unto themselves. The personal and social influences, or the tool's we are given, for our literacy development, greatly impact one's literary pursuits and practices. Literacy skills can be gained independently or as part of a group and both approaches have their own purpose, practice and reward. Such is the case with Mellix, an independent learner, and Eli Fisher, Jr., a group learner, in Andrea Fishman's "Becoming Literate: A Lesson from the Amish." Literacy skills can be developed independently in a manner that works for that person. In her discussion of learning two languages, Mellix conveys how both languages mattered in her world, personally and socially, as she reminisces of an interaction with Toby, the town policeman. "Ain't that a pretty dress you're wearing!' he said to me one day (387)." Of course, ever conscious of when to use the appropriate language, she responded in her best proper English, even though Toby had obviously not bothered to use correct grammar in addressing her. The Black English she spoke at home and the standard English she spoke in social interactions served their purpose of her assimilation. In the same way, literacy skills can be developed in a manner that matters to a group, as Fishman wrote about the Fisher family. The youngest child, Eli Fisher, Jr., was taught literacy skills in a way acceptable to the Old Order Amish traditions. Although the Fisher home was full of a variety of reading materials - from Walt Disney books to newspapers and magazines - the materials are carefully selected by the parents "in an attempt to control the reading material that enters their home" (239). The purpose being to constrain the children to read only what the group - the Old Order Amish - wants them to read. The reward of independent literacy development comes in the form of being able to effectively assimilate in society in an overall sense, as Mellix did not only in her job at the insurance company, but also when she decided to go to college, versus being able to only assimilate in a specific society or culture. Rewards in group literacy include the Old Order Amish culture and lifestyle being able to thrive for generations. For Eli Jr., he is rewarded by fitting in with his group. For both authors, with these rewards came a feeling of self confidence and power
