This second of three volumes of the 1992 Australian Council for Adult Literacy (ACAL) Conference Papers includes 12 papers from workshops, with a national focus. The "Welcome Speech" (Marie Perrson) is followed by "Literacy: An Ecological View" (David Sless) that shares a view of literacy as an interdependent component in a much larger communicative environment. "The Competency Agenda: What Does It Mean for Adult Literacy and Basic Education?" (Mike Brown) sets out a description of the competency agenda as problematic. "Adult Readers' Problems: How a Language-Based Approach Can Help" (Bill Winser) advocates an approach that suggests that teachers and students need to become more aware of the meaning making powers of language. "A Full-Time Literacy Program for Long-Term Unemployed People" (Marian Norton) describes a program that integrates vocational content into a literacy program. "The Right to Literacy--The Rhetoric, the Romance, the Reality, from Policy to Practice--An Industry/Service-Provider Perspective: Literacy and English Language--Social Justice or Economic Imperative" (Wendy Heath, Anne Learmonth) focuses on issues dealing with the development and implementation of the Literacy, English Language, and Numeracy Program in the State Electricity Commission. "Strategic Management in Language and Literacy: Outcomes or Empires?" (Nicole Gilding) explores tensions in adult literacy and complexities facing managers at state and institutional levels. "What Is There to Read?" (Susanne Bruhn) covers the outcome of the National Library's conference, "The Right to Read.""Participant Observation: A Way of Conducting Research" (Jean Serle) describes this technique. "Numeracy and How We Learn" (Jeannette Thiering) describes workshops for teachers of numeracy or general mathematics. "From Radical Rhetoric to the Sobering Reality of Current Policy Options around Adult Basic Education in South Africa" (Marian Clifford) examines trends in adult basic education policy thinking in South Africa in the light of Australian experiences. "NSW [New South Wales] Inmate Education: Literacy in Action in NSW Correctional Centers" (Brian Noad) provides a model. (YLB)