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Through a review of relevant literature, it challenges the assumed “unmarkedness” of “the West” and related terms across three lines of inquiry: the construct’s geographical-spatial dimension, the problematization of the alphabet, and the colonial inheritance shaping literacy research. The analysis identifies biases embedded in “West” and calls for reassessment in literacy scholarship.",{"@graph":69,"@context":114},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-west-in-literacy/594746/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-west-in-literacy/594746.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Ben ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the paper compare “the West” to the autonomous model of literacy?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It states that “the West” operates similarly to the discredited autonomous model: initially viewed as neutral, but later criticized as ethnocentric and insensitive to socio-cultural differences.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":116,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":118,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":120,"site_id":62},594746,1792438740,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":123},{"doc_id":120,"user_id":124,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":131,"language":132,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":133,"faqs":134,"seo_title":135,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":136,"read_time":137},2336478951081,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","UC Berkeley  \nBerkeley Review of Education  \nTitle  \nThe “West” in Literacy  \nPermalink  \n[https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0cr8c46r](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0cr8c46r)  \nJournal  \nBerkeley Review of Education, 2(2)  \nISSN  \n1947-5578  \nAuthor  \nBhattacharya, Usree  \nPublication Date  \n2011-10-26  \nPeer reviewed  \n[eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library  \nUniversity of California  \nAvailable online at [http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre](http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre)  \nThe “West” in Literacy Usree Bhattacharya 1 University of California, Berkeley  \nAbstract  \nThis paper analyzes a construct that, while pervasive, is not often questioned or defined in literacy studies: the “West.” Through a review of pertinent literature, I explore the ways in which problematical assumptions have undergirded its unqualified use in literacy theory. What is the“West,”who is it, in literacy research? I argue against the assumption of “unmarkedness” of the“West” and some derived terms along three axes: by bringing attention to the geographicalspatial dimension of the construct, through the problematization of the alphabet, and by highlighting the colonial inheritance of the construct. My analysis explores some fundamental biases in the notion of \"West,\" and invites its reassessment to arrive at a more particular and critically rigorous stance in literacy scholarship.  \nKeywords: Literacy, West, Colonialism, Alphabet  \n“Western yardsticks are relevant everywhere because all men must become Western or perish”(Musgrove, 1982, p. 42).  \nThis paper analyzes a construct that, while pervasive, is not often questioned or defined in literacy studies: the “West.” It responds to this gap in literacy scholarship, asking: How did a onetime geographical referent for Europe come to denote a standardized culture of literacy, a way of thinking about literacy, and even a way of being literate? What or who is the “West” in literacy research? Which attributes of literacy practices are welded together in the notion of “Western” literacy? Given the vast sociocultural, geographical, and ideological constituency of the “West” as it is loosely understood, what do we gain or lose in persisting in its use? There are no clear-cut answers to these questions: however, they are important questions that merit investigation. I argue here that there is a pressing need for literacy scholars to interrogate the term, its vague theoretical applications, and the loaded histories it brings with it.  \nLiteracy scholars have routinely referenced the “West” in their work. The term abounds in its various derivations: “Western literacy” (e.g. , Akinnaso, 1992, p. 102; Graff, 1987, p. 8; Hickling-Hudson, 2003, p. 395; Mignolo, 1992, p. 813; Olson, 2009, p. 51; Peat, 1994, p. 273; Prah, 2008, p. 37; Thomas, 2009, p. 13); “Western literacy tradition”(Kataoka, 2003, p. 23; Peltier, 2010, p.10); “Western practice of literacy”(e.g., Frake, 1983, p. 369); “Euro-Western conceptualization and practices of literacy” (e.g., Romero-Little, 2006, p. 400); “Western concept of literacy” (e.g. , Harris, 2000, p. 5; Mignolo, 1992, p. 303); “Western literates” (e.g., Harris, 2000, p. 231); “Western culture” (e.g. , Gee, 1986, p. 731; Goody & Watt, 1963, p. 331; Olson, 1977, p.176);“first-world western cultures”(e.g., Willis, 1990, p. 7); “Western thought”(e.g. , Goody  \n1 The author may be contacted via email [at ubhattacharya@berkeley.edu](at ubhattacharya@berkeley.edu).  \nBerkeley Review of Education Vol. 2 No . 2, pp. 179-198  \n180 Bhattacharya  \n& Watt, 1963, p. 320; Wood, 2007, p. 45); “western ideas and concepts” (e.g. , Street, 1984, p. 134); “western ideology” (e.g., Street, 1984, p. 129); “Western alphabetic scripts” (Harris, 2000, p. 173); “Western tradition” (e.g. , Harris, 2000, p. 233; Olson, 2009, p. 60); “Western-type schools”(e.g., Akinnaso, 1992, p. 70; Daun, 2010, p. 410; Frake, 1983, p. 369); “Western-style schools” (e.g., Scribner, ","cbCaimTUMLpHvgAf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimTUMLpHvgAf","pdf",308438,21,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction: Problematizing “the West”\n## Key research questions about “the West”\n## Critique of “unmarkedness” and derived terms\n# Literature on Western literacy formulations\n## Autonomous vs. ideological models\n## Persistence of the “West” as an autonomous construct\n# Conceptual boundaries: “West” vs. “nonWest”","[{\"question\":\"Why does the paper compare “the West” to the autonomous model of literacy?\",\"answer\":\"It states that “the West” operates similarly to the discredited autonomous model: initially viewed as neutral, but later criticized as ethnocentric and insensitive to socio-cultural differences.\"}]","The “West” in Literacy | PDF",1792079766,53]