Penetration and Diffusion of Functional Literacy in a Digital Society

Abstract

In any context, it is necessary to be functionally literate to successfully and efficiently perform as a citizen of the country. This research used the Bass Diffusion Model (Bass, 1969) to establish diffusion in terms of functional literacy in Southeast Asian nations, the number of years a state achieves the highest level of adoption, the fraction of the population that adopts functional literacy, and the varying reasons for adoption of the phenomenon. Countries like Malaysia and Thailand will achieve their peak of adoption sooner except Vietnam. Among the 10 countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand was ranked first and Malaysia ranked second with the least number of years to reach the peak of adoption, while Vietnam is seen to have the highest number of years to reach its peak of adoption. The remaining countries will settle for 40 to 65 years. Furthermore, the varying percentages of the population reaching the peak of adoption are ascribed to the distinctive characteristics of the education system that nations have. In a conclusion, functional literacy has a beneficial effect in Southeast Asian nations and its diffusion is determined by the distinctive and systematic variations in their educational reforms. Besides, cultural and economic differences are also key variables to be regarded when predicting the spread of functional literacy in Southeast Asia. As this research only attempted to predict diffusion in terms of functional literacy, this requires further validation.