Literacies In the past, people tended to view someone as literate if they could manipulate '... A set of
discrete, value-free technical skills which included decoding and encoding meanings, manipulating writing
tools, perceiving shape-sound correspondences, etc. which are acquired through formal education' (Hyland
2002:53). However, this view has changes radically in the last few years, so that now literacy is seen as
significantly more complex, located as it is in social contexts and, increasingly, in the online world, where
digital literacy (see 11.2.2) is vitally important.