Argues that while the literacy needs of the adult center primarily on obtaining information from nonfictional texts, literacy instruction in the schools concentrates on fictional texts and literary appreciation. Demonstrates the origins of this chasm in the socialization of schooling over the last 300 years in America. Presents a plan for making…

Adults bring with them a wealth of literate experiences into adult education classrooms. And yet, they and the programs they enter often do not see such experiences as significant to their learning. This is surprising because it is often in the out-of-school experiences where the adults demonstrate the greatest sense of agency and ability with…

Little empirical evidence exists on how adult literacy learners act as consumers. Yet, adult literacy programs often employ a "functional" approach to consumer education and assume that adult learners are deficient in consumer skills. Data from a qualitative study of the consumer behaviors of adult literacy learners are used to explore how adult…

The purpose of this study was to use a component of Everett Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations to understand adult literacy instructors' perceptions of the consequences of adopting the Internet into their classrooms. This study provides information about the types of consequences they saw and their perceptions about the desirability,…

The London Irish Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Set up as a refuge for new immigrants, the centre's focus has changed, as has its client base. Increasingly, as younger members of the London Irish community move away, the centre's work has focused on the learning and support needs of an ageing community. The older generation are coming…

Reported here are the results of a research project that examined the role of UK public libraries in addressing adult literacy including approaches and issues. Eight public libraries were selected as case studies and adult literacy provision was investigated using staff interviews. The interviews provided support for the role of public libraries…

This article presents the personal literacy journey of the author that originated while driving through Scotland. The journey serves as one touchstone of his own personal and professional life. The author shares what he finds on "this" particular journey: (1) Particular (and often peculiar) interest; (2) Active engagement of the four…

Health literacy is important for all adults. Because lower health literacy is associated with lower educational attainment, many adult basic and literacy education programs increasingly provide health education to low-literate adults to improve their health literacy. Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), this study…

Immigrants form an important and growing part of the Canadian population. Governments recognize the need to help new immigrants integrate into Canadian society by learning to speak either English or French, and therefore offer or support Language training programs. The federal Government, through the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, runs…

The Houston Community College (HCC) 2010-2011 Fact Book provides statistical information about the college district. It is important for the reader to be aware that data presented in this publication may differ slightly from statistics found in other district reports. Such variances may result from differences methodology including the source of…

While college composition theory/pedagogy courses are standard offerings in composition and rhetoric graduate programs, specialized basic writing graduate courses lag behind. At the same time, there is a pressing need for highly qualified teachers of nontraditional adult students, especially in community college and adult literacy education…

The purpose of this study was to measure and compare the extent to which three groups of stakeholders in the welfare-to-work process judge a selected list of workplace topics as important for inclusion in the curriculum. Topics were derived from the 1991 report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). A 45-item survey…

This discussion paper is part of a larger Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) project entitled "Linkages: Connecting Literacy and English as a Second Language" (ESL). The goal of the overall project is for MCL to work with national organizations that support the ESL/Settlement and literacy fields to identify common issues and concerns…

The papers in this collection were developed as a basic resource for the National Commission on Adult Literacy. They reflect the ideas, insights, cautions, and recommendations of a group of 102 education and literacy leaders. These professionals were asked by a team of group leaders to respond to questions developed by Commission senior staff in…

This article describes the implementation of an extensive reading (ER) program with 43 first language (L1) and second language (L2) adult literacy students. Among them, 16% were nonnative speakers of English. The main principles considered in the design of the program were (a) purpose of reading, (b) reading tactics, (c) material used, and (d) …