Olson, Collins, and Blot

This reading was very interesting, I have to say that I have never looked much into the development of writing and language. To see the arguments for the idea of writing creating a foundation for speech and allowing it to further develop is really interesting, However, what really strikes me and is a link between the three pieces is the relationship that writing, reading, and speech share with cognitive aspects of human development. It is a simple idea but I guess one I have never given much thought, or always taken it for granted. And, that is this idea reading, writing, and speech development our abilities to think and act. For instance when a child repeats a joke or sentiment that has been seen by adult, we find it cute, funny, and charming partially because the child is unaware of the meaning of their actions, they are simply imitating what they have seen done. This is a perfect example of the cognitive development process, a child has not had the experience in the language to understand what the adult understands about their actions. The Collins and Blot Chapter 2, “The Literacy Thesis: Vexed Questions of Rationality, Development and Self”, in the book Literacy and Literacies, discusses many aspects of the cognitive relationship to reading and writing starting with its use in economic development and to how it has helped to perpetuate social status differences in communities. How during the development of nation wide schooling the establishments have essentially drawn a line in the sand, and if you are literate then you will be successful and if you are illiterate than you will help to make up the criminal population with the communities. However, in contrast on some levels David Olson’s piece “Writing and the Mind” shows another aspect to this cognitive development, part of this development allows for the ambiguity in language to be seen. Our cognitive abilities are what allow us to hear or read sarcasm, pain, sincerity and the many other emotions. The idea that the language used to ensue these different sentiments is often the same and the variance is simply in the way it is said or displayed shows a necessity for cognitive development.