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Myself and two friends decided to plan a holiday together. In order to do so there were many factors we needed to consider, time off work, dates, location and length of time away etc. The process of planning the holiday included the use of multiple different literacy forms. I will break down how we decided on our holiday location, including an analysis of the many literacy forms used in order to book a successful holiday.

During this process I used a variety of literacy skills such as:

Literacy - language, reading, writing, speaking and body language.

Numeracy - in regards to pricing up holidays and different exchange rates and currency.

Digital literacy - Snapchat, calendar apps, Tik Tok, google, Trip advisor, power point and more.

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The idea of a girls holiday came up in the girls group snap chat in which myself and two other friends are a part of. Whilst talking about making plans to see each other, we suggested maybe we could take a trip as a part of our catch up. In our conversation through written text messages, we agreed that we wanted to go away and needed to decide on a date best for us all with our work schedules. Snap chat was used as a main form of communication throughout the whole process of booking the holiday.

Analysis

The use of Snapchat was beneficial to us as we regularly use this app from day to day. We were already in a group chat with each other. The messages exchanged through the app are all informal, as a result of this I tend not to worry about grammar or punctuation whilst in casual conversation. Abbreviated 'text talk' is also used such as 'btw - by the way' as it saves time and I am aware each participant in the conversation knows the meanings of the abbreviations used. I predominantly use colloquial terms in my text such as 'lush' or 'banging' in response to messages which shows my enthusiasm towards what has been said. I also use chat reactions, such as love hearting, giving thumbs up or laughing to a message to acknowledge I have read it but no need for a written reply.

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In order to decide on a date we all downloaded the Time tree app, which is a shared calendar app. We created one calendar for all three of us to have access to and input our commitments, be it work or social plans. We then could see when we all had free time available without the need of going back and forth questioning dates. It clearly showed us that Easter half term break was empty for us all and would be the ideal time for us to go away. We also used the app to decide on a Friday night after work we were all available to meet in person.

Analysis

This app was beneficial to us as we are all best friends that are comfortable sharing our monthly plans with each other. I wouldn't share my full calendar with people I do not trust, therefore do not use this app with many people. Text within the calendar is informal and abbreviated a lot, as only I really needed to understand what each of my bookings consist of there was no need to ensure that others understood. As a result I use a lot of initialisms when inputting activities as there is no need to put the full word, saving time. Each member has a different color text when inputting their schedules e.g. mine is pink, another is blue and another is yellow. The use of color allows us to see clearly when there is a day with no color banner in at all, showing us we are all available, without the need for written text back and forth.

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We had a group facetime call, to discuss the calendar app and agree on dates for the trip. We also discussed possible location ideas for our trip. We decided that each person would pick a location and research. We would then meet up to go through our findings face to face.

Analysis

Facetime was used to discuss this as, its ease to use. We all regularly use facetime and was natural for us to do so. It is a more informal way of video chatting as a pose to teams or skype, but perfect for the quick 10 minute conversation needed. We were all able to join the call from different locations with ease, not needing to schedule time to be near a laptop or in a quiet location. Body language and facial expressions are used through this form of literacy, the non-verbal cues contributes to better comprehension and expression of ideas. Conversational language was used on facetime, casual literacy including colloquial terms such as 'sound' 'sorted' and 'class'. As this form of communication is so casual no literacy rules have been applied as body language and casual terminology was understood by all.

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I used Tik Tok as a main research method. Through researching this way, I was able to intake information from 60 second - 3 minute clips with video, and spoken reviews. This allowed me to get through a lot of recommendations quickly saving the ones that I took interest in and easily skipping past the ones I didn’t personally find appealing to me. It allowed me to see up to date reviews starting from 1 hour prior and also gave a personal point of view.

Analysis

The literacy forms on Tik Tok does differ dependent on the creator that has made the content. Some videos use more formal language where as others create videos that replicate a casual conversation with friends with the use of abbreviations. Tik Tok does rely heavily on visual literacy, and I have found that the more well informed videos have more appealing imagery and video clips persuading the viewer to stay engaged. As the videos on the platform are only for a short period of time majority of the clips included bullet points of information without too much depth. This allowed myself to consume the information I was looking for in highlighted sections, getting straight to the point. Although short clips were beneficial at times I needed to pause to be able to look at the imagery and read everything properly. The diversity on the platform also made me need to use subtitles at times, some information was in different languages where as others had strong accents that I found challenging to understand. This meant at times I had to read and listen at times.

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We each created a presentation to show our findings on our holiday destination. Our presentations were created as sales pitches, it included what is in the destination to do, what accommodation is available, weather and overall cost.

Analysis

We decided to use this method as it allowed us to gather the information relevant to us all in one location. While creating my presentation I considered visual literacy as I ensured my slides were easy to read and had all the information available. The incorporation of images, graphs, and other visual elements to complement the textual content. Information literacy is key in creating an effective PowerPoint as I had to to gather, evaluate, and synthesize relevant content to create a cohesive narrative. Thus the use of organizational literacy and digital literacy is evident with my finished presentation.

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After all the research we met face to face to present our information to each other. We decided to hold it in one house, present our findings to each other, decide on our favorite and then we were all together to be able to book the holiday.

Analysis

The presentations started off fairly formal, with the use of professional terminology while describing location and activities. As the evening progressed we moved on to casual conversation, discussing each presentation. The face to face contact utilized many personal literacy skills such as reading the PowerPoint, listening to the presentation and conversing with each other. No one during the face to face meeting felt the need to overpower or take lead in the conversation, each was treated as an equal and respected each others time to talk. This was easy as friends but can be more challenging with others that do not have the respect or patience for one another. After deciding on a location and moving on to booking the holiday the literacy returned to a more formal method whilst discussing numeracy, flight date and times and organizing the itinerary for the holiday.

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Throughout the process of picking a destination, multiple numeracy literacies were used. Numeracy was mainly used when I was researching holiday prices, comparing prices across airlines, booking.com and independent travel companies such as jet2.com. At the end of our face to face we booked the holiday which involved transferring money to pay.

Analysis

Whilst researching holiday prices I had to critically think by analyzing numerical data, identifying differences and make an informed decision on what the best deal was. Also researching exchange exchange rates o see if value for money would be achieved on this trip. This literacy supported my consumer awareness whilst planning my holiday. The numerical literacy supported my other literacy practices well such as my presentation as the numeracy provided a factual basis in which other literacy forms such as talking were then based upon.

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After researching literacy approaches, I took care to incorporate literacy events and literacy texts in order to completely analyze the literacy practices utilized to book a holiday.

The introduction of literacy events by Barton (2012) emphasizes the different situations in which literacy is practiced. My Paddlet reflects the various different ways in which literacies can be used in a social settings. The use of literacy in a more formal context in regards to numeracy and money compared to a facetime call outlines how quickly one will change the literacy practice used in order to comply with the social expectation of the type of literacy that is required in specific settings (Ivanic, 2009).

The use of Tik Tok as my main research tool is supported by Barton's (2012) changing literacy practices. As Barton states, technological advancements will impact local literacies over time (2012). If I was planning this holiday 3-4 years ago Google would have been my main provider of information. The shift in how information is provided and the societal importance put on to new technology such as Tik Tok has completely changed the way in which local literacy

is used and received. This is supported by Lankshear (2008) stating the power in context of digital literacies and communication moving forward.

Mace (2005) stated about the exchange of literacy from verbal to written. This was used within my holiday planning through spoken literacy on face time to putting down a plan on our presentations. This literacy practice worked well with friends as there is an established trusting relationship. Social Literacy now would air on the side of caution in terms of verbal agreements as they can be changed.

Over all, after evaluating the literacy practices I use in my day to day life I can see the importance of being able to change the type of literacy used in order to meet social exception. The way in which professional and social literacies are followed shows that we all comply to a non spoken literacy agreeing to differentiate between the both.

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Mace, J. (2005) Literacy events, practicies and values. J. Mac and E. Fowler (eds) Outside the classroom: researching literacy with adult learners Leicester: NIACE.

Barton, D. and Hamilton, M (2012) Local Literacies: reading and writing in the community 2nd Edition Oxon: Routledge

Ivanic, R., Edwards, R., Barton, D., Martin-Jones, M., Fowler, Z., Hughes, B., Mannion, G., Miller, K., Satchwell, C., and Smith, J. (2009) Imprroving learning in college: rethinking literacies accross the curriculum. London: Routledge

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (Eds.). (2008). Digital Literacies: Concepts, Policies and Practices. New York, NY: Peter Lang.