GC: n

S: UNESCO – https://uis.unesco.org/en/blog/measuring-functional-literacy-and-numeracy-lifelong-learning (last access: 2 July 2024); Springer – https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-4540-4_14 (last access: 2 July 2024).

N: 1. – functional (adj): 1630s, “pertaining to function or office,” from function (n.) + –al (1), or from Medieval Latin functionalis. Meaning “utilitarian” is by 1864; specific use in architecture is from 1928. Related: Functionally; functionality.

– literacy (n): “ability to read and write,” 1883, from literate + abstract noun suffix -cy. Illiteracy, however, dates back to 17c.

2. A person is functionally literate/illiterate who can/cannot engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his or her group and community and also for enabling him or her to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his or her own and the community’s development. (Definition originally approved in 1978 at UNESCO’s General Conference, and still in use today.)

3. Refers to the capacity of a person to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective function of his or her group and community and also for enabling him or her to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his or her own and the community’s development.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=functional+literacy (last access: 2 July 2024). 2 & 3. UNESCO – https://learningportal.iiep.unesco.org/en/glossary/functional-literacy, https://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/functional-literacy (last access: 2 July 2024).

SYN:
S:

CR: illiteracy, literacy.