Literacy through literature

M.Inf.In this study the state of research on literacy and literature has been looked into. The importance of literacy, the statistics of literacy and illiteracy internationally and locally have been revealed. It has been noticed that there is a high rate of illiteracy in South Africa which is attributed mainly to sociopolitical reasons. Literature surveyed showed that although literacy is so important, there are still children who do not want to read, children who have attitudes towards reading although reading has been proven to be the only way that literacy could be sustained. Reading promotes literacy because when reading, vocabulary is gained and that enhances language development. Learning a foreign language is also easy if books in that particular language are read, which means, reading facilitates second language acquisition. The study also indicates that, for children to become effective and engaged readers, they must have the skill and the will to read. For children to gain interest and the desire to read on their own they need to be motivated, and in this study a variety of motivational programmes have been indicated. Having gained insight into the research done, general concensus reached by researchers on what should be adopted and implemented, with special reference to South Africa, has been revealed. Lastly, based on the findings of the survey, conclusions are drawn, that the use of the school libraries and school library support services should be established in each and every school to support the reading development of children. The use of public libraries is another alternative for pupils with or without school libraries. The READ (Read, Educate and Develop) organisation, which is an organisation that fights illiteracy in South Africa, should be supported and be given an opportunity to utilise its expertise especially in disadvantaged communities