Kurt Lewin's seminal work in organizational communication could potentially help solve many dilemmas faced by workplace literacy programs as they attempt to ensure that program participants not only learn basic skills but also use them in the context of work. According to Lewin's "field theory" approach, an individual's behavior is a function of the interdependent variables of the person and the environment, and the relative ease of inducing a new behavior is the product of the interplay between forces driving toward change in behavior and forces opposing change. The dynamics of these forces may be understood through the example of a nonnative speaker of English learning to use English in the workplace. Lewin believed that resistance to change depends partly on the value of the group standard for the individual. Lewin's action research suggests a three-step model of change that workplace literacy educators could use to help their students develop, use, and retain workplace literacy skills. The model's three steps are as follows: unfreezing old habits to create a state allowing for experimentation with new behaviors, making the actual change, and "refreezing" (retaining newly learned behaviors on a long-term basis through regular practice and consistent reinforcement.) (MN)