In Canadian society there are people who are totally illiterate, and they are all the more conscious of their illiteracy as a personal weakness because most of the population is literate. Literacy teaching and practices in Canada are discussed. Illiteracy in Canada and in the third world is also compared. (RM)

Argues that adult literacy instruction should develop slowly over time and begin in the expressive and poetic discourse modes. (HOD)

The DeFord Theoretical Orientation to the Reading Process was administered to 148 ABE and GED instructors to determine how they viewed the reading process. (HOD)

Argues that using the adult learner's needs and interests to choose individual reading material makes better sense than using inappropriate workbooks and other commercial literacy materials, and offers six criteria for evaluating materials. (HOD)

Discussion of illiteracy in Australia: (1) statistical evidence on the incidence of adult illiteracy, (2) explanations for illiteracy, and (3) possible solutions to combat illiteracy. (ABM)

Discussion of the adult literacy problems, current educational programs, and the need to reduce illiteracy in Australia. (ABM)

The National Literacy Act of 1991 (NLA) established the National Institute for Literacy to ensure that literacy would have a place on the federal policy agenda and to invigorate a national effort to improve adult literacy. This report briefly summarizes the primary activities and accomplishments of the National Institute for Literacy over a…

The purpose of this publication is to present the Executive Summary of the Program Year 2004 report on Iowa's adult literacy program benchmarks. The passage of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 [Public Law 105-220] by the 105th Congress ushered in a new era of collaboration, coordination, cooperation and accountability. The overall goal…

This book is a resource for adult education teachers who want to build and strengthen adults' reading skills. It aims first to build background knowledge about reading and scientifically based reading instruction, but the focus is in applying the research on modeling thinking, planning, and problem solving in the context of fictional adult…

In this report, deliberately used is a range of terms to talk about the use of information and communication technologies. The terms include electronic literacy, digital literacy, technological literacy, technoliteracy, multimodal literacies and multiliteracies. There is no argument that the terms are interchangeable, even though they are often…

This study sought to identify ways in which programs can provide effective instruction to improve the English language and literacy skills of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy students. The study also examined attendance patterns of adult ESL literacy students and instructional factors related to attendance and provided descriptive…

The Fairfax County Family Literacy Curriculum is designed to be used in a multi-level adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) family literacy class. There are four modules to choose from: Introductory (self, family, and community); Government (schools and community); Health (medicine and stress); and Consumerism (shopping and making a…

This monograph focuses on the literacy performance of U.S. adults in comparison to adults in other high-income countries, underscoring the fact that the overall U.S. performance is mediocre at best and that the U.S. is a world leader in the degree of inequality between the best and poorest performers. The monograph describes the National and the…

This annotated bibliography was developed to present a comprehensive view of the research conducted on reading development among adult English language learners in the United States in the past 20 years. Articles included were selected through searches of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC, U.S. Department of Education), Modern…

In the past, it has not been possible to "teach oneself to read" at home, because learners could not read the books to teach them. Videos and interactive compact discs have changed that situation and challenge current assumptions of the pedagogy of literacy. This article describes an experimental adult literacy project using video…